Sky vs Foxtel Australia

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Duffuss

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#113680 24-Jan-2013 11:26

Hi
Just an observation
I've just come back from a holiday in Melbourne.
Boy What a choice they get on their Foxtel.
Discovery, Nat Geo, BBC Knowledge UKTV ESPN2 plus heaps more all in glorious HD!!
My disappointment is they have Comedy Channel not Comedy Central and even though The Daily Show and Colbert Report are comedy Channel shows we don't get them due to "Licensing issues"
The all inclusive package is $130 AUS
I don't know if the cabling and satellite services are identical but still the huge choice available to our "cuzzies" compared to what we receive here.
Slightly off topic their Freeview has Channel One so you don't need ESPN to see NFL etc
Joys of living at the bottom of the world I suppose.
Cheers

DjShadow

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#750101 24-Jan-2013 12:12

Key difference is the size of the market served, Aussie is a lot bigger population wise than NZ!

Also have to note there are 2 Satellites serving Foxtel (Optus C1 and D3) where we only have Optus D1 that is pretty full.

Niel

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#750261 24-Jan-2013 15:46

NZ even has a population smaller than that of Cape Town, which is a smallish city... Can't wait for good internet bandwidth and pricing to support IPTV for the masses.

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Klipspringer

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#750269 24-Jan-2013 16:02

Niel: NZ even has a population smaller than that of Cape Town, which is a smallish city...

Pointless counting the masses that live on $1 a day. NZ has far more taxpayers than CT. I think the entire South Africa only has about 5million taxpayers. (45 million people)

And things in SA are far cheaper, that’s why I don’t buy into the "NZ has a small population we can’t have it here" nonsense.

hairy1

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#750270 24-Jan-2013 16:02

Niel: NZ even has a population smaller than that of Cape Town, which is a smallish city... Can't wait for good internet bandwidth and pricing to support IPTV for the masses.

Decent broadband isn't the problem. It is Sky NZ with all the content rights.... I would pull the pin if I could but in order to watch the All Blacks I have to pay $46 for a bunch of channels I don't watch and then another $15 odd for sports. Sky really have us by the short and curlies....

PS: The All Blacks are just an example. Nope. I don't think Igloo pay per view is a viable alternative...

My views (except when I am looking out their windows) are not those of my employer.

Klipspringer

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#750272 24-Jan-2013 16:07

hairy1:
Decent broadband isn't the problem. It is Sky NZ with all the content rights.... I would pull the pin if I could but in order to watch the All Blacks I have to pay $46 for a bunch of channels I don't watch and then another $15 odd for sports. Sky really have us by the short and curlies....

PS: The All Blacks are just an example. Nope. I don't think Igloo pay per view is a viable alternative...

I agree. Its content rights.

I pulled the pin on Sky. Am happily using Freeview, Netflix and Hulu+ and have never looked back.

Sport is not even a problem anymore. Its all free on cricfree.tv. Sure its not in HD quality, but its good enough for the odd game every month. Better than bank rolling Sky with $100 every month.

Behodar

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#750275 24-Jan-2013 16:10

It's definitely content rights; if Foxtel was allowed to broadcast to NZ then they probably would (assuming that Optus doesn't charge more to reach both countries). The movie and TV industries need to be dragged kicking and screaming into this millennium.

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hairy1

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#750290 24-Jan-2013 16:18

Correct me if I am wrong but aren't foxtel and sky owned by one owner?

My views (except when I am looking out their windows) are not those of my employer.

Behodar

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#750291 24-Jan-2013 16:21

As far as I know, Foxtel is owned by 20th Century Fox and Telstra.

gareth41

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#750296 24-Jan-2013 16:24

Im getting foxtel here, large 3.7m solid dish. You just need to know people in aus to get a foxy/austar decoder sent over.

Duffuss

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#750302 24-Jan-2013 16:31

They are lucky enough to have the Tennis live on 7 and cricket on 9 on freeview no need for Foxtel/sky
Fox sports on Foxtell also has a different tennis match than 7.

Population wise Geelong has same or bigger population now than Chch so with Melbourne just 45min away with it's 4million + population the market is vastly stacked in their favour

allan

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#750321 24-Jan-2013 17:01

Duffuss: They are lucky enough to have the Tennis live on 7 and cricket on 9 on freeview no need for Foxtel/sky
Fox sports on Foxtell also has a different tennis match than 7.

I'm pretty sure there is legislation in place in Australia requiring significant sporting events to be broadcast free-to-air.

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hairy1

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#750333 24-Jan-2013 17:23

allan:
Duffuss: They are lucky enough to have the Tennis live on 7 and cricket on 9 on freeview no need for Foxtel/sky
Fox sports on Foxtell also has a different tennis match than 7.

I'm pretty sure there is legislation in place in Australia requiring significant sporting events to be broadcast free-to-air.

Yes there is. Info about it here: http://www.keepsportfree.com.au/

It seems to be under review. I wouldn't be surprised to see something happen here in the future along the same lines. Sky is getting to big for it's boots.

I am awaiting their annual June letter saying they tried their hardest but couldn't do it with all the "value" they have added in the last year such as the shopping channel and rental will be going up by the obligatory $1 per month.

My views (except when I am looking out their windows) are not those of my employer.

nickb800

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#750342 24-Jan-2013 17:50

According to Wikipedia (Yeah...I know) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/News_Corporation#Satellite_television:
Sky TV NZ is 44% owned by NewsCorp
Foxtel Australia is 25% owned by NewsCorp (Although I believe that figure is now 50%)

Also there is speculation that with change in NewsCorp that they will buy up minority shareholdings in some of their entertainment subsidiaries, so I guess from that you could speculate that if they became sole owners of Foxtel & SkyTV then things might improve for NZ somewhat if they look for synergies between the business (yes I'm really grasping at straws here)

1080p

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#750370 24-Jan-2013 18:39

DjShadow: Key difference is the size of the market served, Aussie is a lot bigger population wise than NZ!

Also have to note there are 2 Satellites serving Foxtel (Optus C1 and D3) where we only have Optus D1 that is pretty full.

I'm sure they won't mind me downloading the content I miss out on since I am such a small segment of the market :)

Jas777

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#750598 25-Jan-2013 10:07

Can't see how the rules as they are in Australia could work here. The biggest losers would be the sports bodies who would get less money. There isn't the competition to bid high as 1 government station and 1 private station.

Also to appease those that watch occasionally do the true sports fans want to go back to the way it was before?
Games not being shown live or not where you live because the venue is not sold out or missing part of the game so the news and 7 sharp could be shown.