The content wars continue to rage on, and still there’s no end in sight. It remains unclear who will be the victor, between content creators, content hosts, or content consumers but today, an announcement has come indicating a victory for the latter, as Foxtel reveal plans to cater to the Netflix crowd with its brand new IQ4.
This week, Foxtel has pulled back the white sheet from their brand-new content package, which is said to be informed by the current industry landscape. The pay TV monolith has read the writing on the wall, and rather than push back against the streaming tsunami that is Netflix, they’ve joined forces.
Going forward, those who subscribe to Foxtel’s new content package will receive an addition 6-month free subscription to Netflix, fit with its own dedicated button on the new Foxtel remote, and the entry package starts from a decent $58 per month.
There’s a bit disparity between the Netflix entry package, which comes to $9.99, however it’s progress when you consider even the most basic existing Foxtel package has set users back $100 a month until this announcement.
Foxtel CEO Patrick Delaney was beaming about the news at the recent announcement, and spoke to ChannelNews about the developments, stating “Our first priority is to deliver value for our existing customers. This is the biggest upgrade since Foxtel first went live.”
Delaney labeled the new content package as an “unequalled content offering for Australians.”
There is also talk of SBS On Demand being accessible via the Foxtel service going forward. On top of that, with no Australian partner announced for Disney+, Foxtel is still very much in the running to nab that licence as well.
The shine also appears to be dwindling from Netflix, who reported a decline in subscribers for the first time ever. So, it isn’t just Foxtel scoring some extra exposure, the deal will cut both ways.
“Both Netflix and Foxtel have to manage churn and this deal adds value and a significantly easy way to access Netflix content for both Netflix and Foxtel customers”
The new content package is already up and running.
