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Foxtel unveils new and refreshed channels

Updated: Drama, documentary, travel, true crime channel shake-up from August 1.

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EXCLUSIVE:

Foxtel has unveiled a line-up of new and refreshed channels being added to iQ* set top boxes, from August 1.

They include British, Real History, Real Crime, Famous, Travel, DocPlay channels and the return of Fashion TV.

DocPlay will also be available as an app** from today, in addition to becoming a channel in September.

The channels follow the impending departure of BBC First, BBC Earth, BBC News and CBeebies on July 31, and recent losses of SciFi, Foxtel Movies Thriller, PBS Kids and beIN Sports.

Foxtel will be launching the following channels in the coming months, including:

• British (ch.118): Featuring beloved shows like Vera, London Kills, Madam Blanc Mysteries, Whitstable Pearl, Miss Scarlett and the Duke, Agatha Christie’s Marple, British is the new definitive home for a quintessentially English experience. Offering a mix of content including entertainment, factual, children’s and lifestyle, the new channel is the true authority for all things British. Launching 1 August.
• Real History (ch.130): Through uplifting & affirming accounts of our past, Real History takes you on a journey back in time, uncovering the events that have shaped and continue to shape our world with a focus on compelling, entertaining content touching on military, ancient, modern, topical & tabloid history. Launching 1 August.
• Real Crime (ch.135): Lifting the lid on the drama of real-life crime, Real Crime shines a light into the darker recesses of human nature and is Foxtel’s premiere destination for credible, entertaining, investigative true crime programming. Launching 1 August.
• Famous (ch.115): Bringing you closer to your favourite personalities – from the glitziest Hollywood A-listers, controversial political figures, larger than life sports stars and everything in between – Famous is the defining source for true stories of some of the most accomplished personalities of the past and present. Launching 1 August.
• Travel (ch.129): Evoking your sense of wanderlust right from the comfort of your home, Travel is Foxtel’s go-to destination to transport viewers to places near and far. Launching 15 August. Update: Pop up channel until November 20.
• DocPlay (ch.119): A dedicated channel bringing you a selection of the world’s most amazing and thought-provoking documentaries available on the DocPlay app. Launching 3 Sept.
• Fashion TV (ch.151): Presenting the latest fashion, beauty and lifestyle trends from an insider’s view with designers, models and professionals, showcasing the best International and Australian events and brands. Launching 6 August.

Foxtel studio partnerships include Sky Studios, ITV, NBC Universal, BBC Studios, and Warner Bros. Discovery.

Stephanie Quinn, Director of Content Partnerships – Foxtel Group, said: “Over the past decade, the content distribution model has changed, reinforcing the need for our business to remain dynamic and focussed on what’s best for our customers. The addition of these new channels, as well as the DocPlay app, reflect the changing marketplace and gives us the freedom to make content acquisition decisions that best reflect our customers viewing preferences.

“We’re proud to offer our customers a diverse mix of premium content. These new channels and integrated app will provide customers with uninterrupted access to some of their favourite shows and titles across popular genres including drama, history, documentaries, and true crime.”

Details of additional channels and integrated third-party apps will be announced soon.

*The new channels will be available to all customers via the basic tier with iQ4+ set top boxes, with select content available On Demand.

**DocPlay (app) will be available to all customers with iQ4+ set top boxes and requires separate subscription.

Updated:

    • The History Channel becomes Real History *
    • Crime & Investigation becomes Real Crime *
    • Sleuth becomes British *
    • Docos becomes Famous *

A&E (Ch. 131) will be removed but A&E shows will move to FOX8.

All the new and refreshed channels will be available on Binge.  New and refreshed channels will also be available on Hubbl except for Travel.

* Foxtel owned + operated channel.

45 Responses

    1. Exactly as I stated in my comment on 24th…phew….I’m also assuming this will apply to the latest IQ 5 set top boxes..not mentioned …David I’m glad you have updated in case I fluffed it. 🤭

    2. This doesn’t make sense. Why are they moving Docos to Famous? Docos contained more documentaries than just about celebrities. Sleuth becoming British is weird as well, but I reckon till Docplay launches we won’t get other documentaries for a month.

      In essence, we are losing 7 channels – BBC First, Earth, CBeebies, BBC News, History, A&E, C&I and are only getting 5 new channels –
      DocPlay, FashionTV, Travel, Real History, Real Crime.

      They haven’t replaced the kids channel loss and the nature channel loss and are covering that by channel rebranding!

  4. Looking through the list of new channels,it just seems that these ‘new’ channels are just a repackaging of channels that are leaving Foxtel or a renaming of old channels.There’s very little new content there as far as I can see.Probably the travel channel and the fashion channel are the only real new channels coming to Foxtel.

  5. No frills branded in house Foxtel channels, nothing ground breaking. This is just the start of more premium branded channels leaving Foxtel. Before you know it you will have the same quality & content of channels like when we had Galaxy TV launched in the late 90s before Foxtel purchased them.

  6. Sadly as a platinum Foxtel subscriber (originally I joined under the now defunct/merged Austar) I have seen so many of these “refreshes” I could predict the moving of content around with new (yet very unoriginal) channel names. But to relaunch Fashion TV tells me they must be running out of ideas.
    David Knox – can you clarify about the footnote “…with iQ4+ set top boxes”. Does this mean subscribers with IQ3 or older won’t be able to access the “new” channels?

      1. Thanks David. Also, any idea how many of the channels will be Foxtel owned and operated? I’m assuming all bar Fashion TV and docplay but would love clarification. Thanks again.

  7. David, it appears Foxtel don’t really engage with their subscribers. No emails, snail mail or even text messages to “educate” or advise that changes are afoot. Not even a Foxtel promo inserted into channels advertising the new lineup and removal for yet more channels. I gather most people will find out about these less than ideal changes when they switch on their set top box on August 1st. Any plans on your part to engage with the Foxtel PR team and ask exactly what they are doing apart from press releases? Seems arrogant as usual to my eyes.

    1. Hi, I would expect subscribers will be advised of channel changes but it may take a little longer than media announcements. The reason this story is an exclusive is because I engage with Foxtel PR and ask them about these kinds of changes. I am currently awaiting clarity around which other channels are departing / impacted. To be fair, there is still time to advise subscribers before August 1.

      1. Thanks David for your kind reply. I am afraid your “exclusive” is not so exclusive. It was released as a press release earlier for general distribution. As for Foxtel contacting subscribers directly, don’t hold your breath … it is not how they do it – even in 2024

  8. I was hoping for the return of TCM but of course I was disappointed
    I’m wondering where do movie lovers get their fix of movies from the 30’s-70’s without using a VPN ?

  9. David, does this mean that Foxtel will launch more channels?

    “Details of additional channels and integrated third-party apps will be announced soon.”

    History and CI have been replaced with 2 channels and ofcourse they can’t replace BBC drama content, so those make sense.

    However, BBC Earth with all nature and science docos being replaced by docplay isn’t good enough. Atleast move animal planet to HD

    1. I use the My Foxtel app..which allows me to remote record 2 weeks in advance…and I check each channel daily…over the last week I have noticed they have been putting shows from A&E on Fox8 as an example…and there are more that have been moved that I have watched that are listed in my previous comment about the “renaming” of channels..from what I’ve looked at so far..they are rearranging the deckchairs..and their website with “Coming Soon” doesn’t elaborate much further than the end of July.

  11. It’s the number of studios that count more than the number of channels. It’s less content spread thinner over these channels.

    Pluto on 10Play will be superior to these once WBD exits Foxtel.

  12. What a load of crock they have just renamed the channels more like, ”British”.is Sleuth, ”Real History” is History, ”Real Crime” is Crime and Investigation, “Famous” is Docos.. the shows on “British” have been on recycle mode same with “Real History” full of war and Nazi docos..with a bit history thrown that ends up on SBS anyway “Travel” a lot of that is on Docos including Portillo and his wanderings that are on SBS..”Real Crime” some of that is on Investigation Discovery and occasionally on Showcase/Docos and now some A&E shows are on Fox 8 like Storage Wars…as for Fashion..they will probably roll out rubbish from the last time they had a fashion channel..but with a bit of new stuff to fill in. I honestly believe Foxtel think their subscribers are numpties and think they are fooling us…When they say they are “proud” to offer diversity in programs…that’s a load of crock too..they should call Universal channel Law and Order because that’s what it is with “Monk” thrown in recently.

    1. Possibly not same content, since they have tieups with docplay, HBO, Sky, NBC, etc and they’re gonna shuffle content from them around based on categories.

  15. Id really like the return of PBS Kids channel again, i miss some of those older cartoons. Is their any other platform that this channel can be streamed from?
    And Foxtel should look at getting the Me Tv Toons channel added with all the old classic 70s and 80s cartoons on one channel.

  16. Honestly surprised that they let the BBC channels go. Next to the HBO content, I’d have thought that would be their next biggest selling point.

      1. I wasn’t there but I must say I too had the same thought as craigj77 given all except BBC First were renewed for Fetch TV (if Fetch can afford to pay for the BBC suite of 6 channels then surely the much larger Foxtel could if they wished). And Foxtel haven’t instilled much trust in their customers over the years with repetitive behaviour of pushing out independent networks for owned and operated channels (Showtime and Movie Network replaced by Foxtel Movies, TV1GEP’s TV1 and SF replaced by Foxtel One and Foxtel Sci Fi, Universal’s 13th Street replaced by Foxtel Sleuth, and the list goes on).

    2. In the past Foxtel has forced out independent channels and replaced them with their own to boost their profits. But this time the BBC is withdrawing content to put them behind paywalls on Britbox and BBC.com. British is sleuth + whatever ever else isn’t behind Britbox’s paywall (dramas docos, kids whatever) and includes stuff that has aired on 72 and Gem multiple times. Disney is withdrawing History and CI to put them behind a paywall on Disney+. A lot of the History channel doco were sold on the open market and ended up on SBS, but now SBS is having to subtitle a lot of German, French and Spanish docos, when they don’t have stuff about railways.

  22. We need another animal documentary channel. We’ve lost all the National Geographic channels & are going to lose BBC Earth. Now we are left with just Animal Planet. What’s happened to the Irwins shows? They haven’t done anything new since Bindi had her baby 2 years ago. Are they no longer doing them? Most of the stuff on Animal Planet is repeats of stuff I’ve already seen.

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