With more streaming service rivals on the marketplace like Netflix, Stan, Amazon Prime, and many others it’s naturally got many people wondering if Foxtel is going to survive. After all, with so much competition Australian consumers have more choice than ever before when it comes to choosing Pay TV. So where does that leave good old Foxtel? To answer this, This guide answers is Foxtel worth having? and shows you where it stands when it comes to the competition. So, we highly recommend that you read it before you take out a Foxtel subscription or renew your existing subscription if you’re already a Foxtel customer.
An Overview of Foxtel
Foxtel is an Australian subscription-based pay television service. It offers subscribers a premium content service that is a mix of movies, television shows, sports, news, and entertainment. You can receive Foxtel across both metropolitan and regional areas of Australia over broadband and broadcast via satellite distribution systems. In many instances satellite or installation isn’t required as Foxtel offers self-install kits. Many wonder is Foxtel still a thing amid all the new streaming services and is Foxtel dying? This guide explains what you need to know.
Formed in April 2018, ‘Foxtel’ is a blend of News Corporation’s ‘Fox’ Broadcasting and ‘Tel’ from Telstra. Telstra’s shares in Foxtel took a major hit with COVID-19 losing around $450 million so we are talking big money. But Telstra can take comfort that Foxtel is still in the game and favoured by millions of households across Australia who have a subscription to the service.
Foxtel changed the Australian landscape forever in the 1990s. Despite the competition from rivals like Netflix and Stan in recent times it still continues to be popular with millions of households across Australia. It has been the go-to place for the popular Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead series as well as for HBO shows like Boardwalk Empire.
Australia’s Only Premium Content Provider
It’s important for consumers to realise that Foxtel is Australia’s most innovative, dynamic and only premium content provider at least currently in 2021. This means that when you have a subscription with them, you are getting high quality content and often hard to get content like live sport from America and Europe. It should be mentioned too that with Foxtel you can access some home-grown Aussie television like Selling Houses Australia, which aren’t available on platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime. Foxtel also offers Australia’s only dedicated, live, 4K broadcast channel.
Along with this you get to see newly released movies that have just been taken off the cinemas. Foxtel has first priority with HBO and Warner Brothers for this deal. In recent times, they offer customers Premium Channel Packs which are essentially packages of TV shows, movies and sports. They are highly popular as they can be mixed and matched to suit your lifestyle and budget.
What is Foxtel Now?
Foxtel Now is a subscription streaming service delivering great entertainment including TV shows, movies, news and live sport. Members are only charged for the packs they select and can cancel anytime. Read on for more information about how Foxtel Now works, the difference from cable and satellite Foxtel, other streaming services, costs, compatible devices, and more details. Subscribers can easily browse shows and plan their week using the Foxtel TV guide.
Foxtel’s set-top-box experience works with a satellite or cable connection. Foxtel Now is a streaming service that requires an Internet connection to give you access to Foxtel’s content. You can also stream on demand and live TV in HD. Foxtel claims the shift to satellite will provide a better and more reliable service to subscription TV viewers. Satellite is less prone to outages than the HFC cable and also delivers great quality HD signals. Foxtel is now able to offer the best of both worlds.
How Much Does Foxtel Cost?
Being the only premium pay TV service in Australia, they have the prices to show it. But many households don’t mind paying extra if it means they are getting quality and exclusive content. This is what continues to drive a lot of customer loyalty. Loyal subscribers understand and appreciate what’s on offer so to them Foxtel is thriving and definitely a market leader in Pay TV despite the competition being cheaper. The reality is that people are more than happy to pay a premium price when they know they are getting a premium service that offers exclusive content.
But to stay in the game and to be competitive, Foxtel offers a great range of subscriptions and deals to suit a variety of budgets and preferences. Something to suit everyone! You’re spoiled for choice when it comes to choosing the cheaper deals for you and your family for both your Pay TV and utility deals. Cheap Bills is your go to place for the best deals in energy, internet and streaming plans in Australia. To give you an idea of some of Foxtel’s pricing, we’ve put together a list of some current great Foxtel packages:
- The base pack (Foxtel Plus) costs $49 per month and gives you access to more than 50 channels.
- Movies HD which cost $69 per month and gives you access to 50+ channels of entertainment, drama, lifestyle, docos, reality & more.
- Sports HD which cost $74 per month and gives you unlimited access to live sports.
- Promotional Period offers around festive times like Easter and Christmas.
- Waiving of standard connection fee ($35), professional installing fee ($100) and waiving of set top box equipment fee ($150) when you speak to our team as we’ll set up Foxtel from our end hassle free for you.
The King of Sports – Foxtel
Foxtel takes out the undisputed title of being the king of sports coverage with 12 dedicated sports channels offering LIVE and exclusive sports coverage. All in HD too so you get higher quality viewing. This means sports lovers and aficionados can watch every round of the AFL, NRL, Super Rugby, A-League, Tennis, Supercars and Formula One. In recent times, they have added European football (UEFA Champions League, Serie A, Bundesliga, and La Liga) as well as American sports including the NBA and even international rugby and cricket all LIVE. There are no commercial breaks to interrupt the live action either. A strong reason why many still ask: is Foxtel worth it in Australia and not dying despite rivals.
Most recently, Foxtel launched 24-hour channels for many of its sports including cricket and rugby so you can just imagine die- hard sports fans lining up to take out a subscription.
It’s Foxtel’s coverage of sports that give it a huge competitive advantage over its rivals that don’t have such exclusive content like Netflix, Stan, Amazon Prime and pretty much all of the other streaming services. During COVID-19, Foxtel’s sports coverage took a major hit with sports worldwide coming to a stop. Now with sports slowing coming back onto the field and onto our televisions, Foxtel will be no doubt be doing what they can to offer customers a great experience. To find out more about their wide range of sports deals and packages on offer, contact our expert comparison team.
Foxtel is known as the King of Sports among Pay TV and streaming services. This is definitely a well deserved title with a huge range of sports on show, delivered in HD. Their exclusive content deals give sports fans access to events that other services can only dream of.
How Can I Get Foxtel?
To make it nice and easy you can sign up to Foxtel directly through Cheap Deals by calling us on 1300 786 045. Our team will help you find the best deal for you and your family and take care of the sign up and any additional installation and extra bits required. You can now watch it on all devices including your Smart TV, computer, iPhone, Xbox One or PS3, PS4 and PS5. Android TV, Google, and Apple can all support the Foxtel app. Keep in mind we will post updates too on our website to inform consumers about technology changes and upgrades that affect Foxtel viewing. That way you can be in the know and be prepared to pivot and even upgrade to another deal if needed.
Subscription TV Services on the Rise
New data from Roy Morgan reveals that Australians consumed subscription TV services at increasingly higher rates than usual during the early part of 2020. It’s not surprising given that more people were at home due to COVID-19 and the nation-wide lockdown from late March till late May. Victorians went through a second lockdown soon after so naturally it kept more people home. It should be mentioned too that even the summer bushfires of 2020 and the smoke kept people indoors. Television since the early days of its invention has always been a great source comfort to people along with being a source of news. Despite online news, millions of people still get their news from television. So, when it comes to COVID-19 and subscription TV services, what does some of the Roy Morgan data reveal?
- 17.3 million Australians, (82.1%) watched a subscription TV service like Foxtel and Stan in an average of four weeks in 2020.This was up 2.4 million, (16.2%) from the previous year 2019.
- All the major subscription TV services—Netflix, Foxtel, Stan, Disney + and Amazon Prime were winners in 2020 with huge increase in viewership.
- All these major subscription TV services had three times the sign up of new customers than in the previous year.
- Foxtel’s call centre in Victoria experienced one of the highest call volumes with both existing customers and new customers ringing up to make inquiries about deals and offers with COVID-19.
Foxtel’s Amazing Incentives and Perks
To stay popular and in the game, they have worked hard at coming up with a range of amazing incentives and perks for both its existing customers and new customers. So, it’s going to be really hard for them to be taken over by the competition with these great incentives and perks. Let’s take a look at some of these here for you:
- During March 2020, they gave access to all 10 movie channels and library of more than 1000 movies on demand till June 30, 2020.
- From 31st of May 2020, it gave customers accessibility to additional tiers of content including news services and documentary content like BBC Earth, National Geographic, and many others.
- Unlimited broadband data for all of their broadband and NBN customers.
- A partnership with Viacom CBS Networks International (VCNI) expanding its music channels with a wide variety of music genres which includes a kid friendly music channel.
- As part of the agreement, Nick Jr., Nickelodeon, and MTV are now restored.
- Foxtel Now – a streaming service like Netflix and Stan and available even to non-Foxtel customers.
- Foxtel Now gives you access to large screen devices including PlayStation 4, Telstra TV, Sony Android TV, and the Foxtel Now box.
- Package deals on offer in conjunction with Netflix so you get the best of both worlds.
- FoxFlicks, Foxtel’s answer to Netflix in which you get 1 new movie a day in addition to about 1,000 other movies.
- Foxtel Go, an app for customers to stream shows on the go.
- BINGE, a streaming service with a huge library of TV and movies starting at $10 a month.
It will just keep getting better as they are in no way going anywhere. Its going to stay for a while even if sceptics predict that it’s doomed because of Netflix and other streaming services. As we have shown here and will continue to show in the rest of this article this is far from the case.
Current Foxtel Offers Through CheapBills
As one of the premium partners of Foxtel, CheapBills currently offers customers free installation and setup with the following Foxtel deals:
$99 Premium Package
- Foxtel Plus + Sports + Movies + Kids + HD.
- 0-month contract.
- Free TV Install.
- Free iQ3/4.
- Free 1st month.
Sports HD & Netflix Bundle
- Entertainment, Drama, Lifestyle, Docos, Reality & more.
- Over 50 sports on 12 live HD sport channels.
- World’s best drama.
- Netflix Standard Plan included.
- No setup costs*.
- $69 per month on a 12-month contract. Would be $88 a month without Cheap Bills.
Australian Company
It’s important to know that Foxtel is an Australian company. This means you are helping to support local jobs and industry when you take out a Foxtel subscription In a time when so many jobs are going offshore, and companies have foreign ownership its great to be supporting some local industry.
The Foxtel Television Centre at North Ryde in Sydney is the headquarters of their national subscription television operations and contains Foxtel’s television studios, broadcast operations and cable and satellite transmission facilities. Foxtel also has two customer solutions centres based at Moonee Ponds in Melbourne, and Robina on the Gold Coast.
Why Foxtel isn’t Decreasing in Popularity
Hopefully by now you can tell that they are not going down in popularity in fact it’s the opposite—it’s thriving in Australia with so many households getting subscriptions. These consumers like yourself perhaps want premium content and Foxtel being the only premium content provider in Australia gives it to them. So naturally it has a competitive advantage and generates a loyal following amongst its customers.
The TV giant is clearly preparing to get bigger and bigger and is planning for the future. Currently its content is fantastic and so its prices reflect this. They are more on the pricey side, but you get what you pay for right?
As technology changes and new rivals enter the market, Foxtel will adapt and pivot to stay in the game and be competitive. One needs to differentiate itself to stay relevant and alive in an overly saturated and competitive market.
Looking for more information on Pay TV and streaming services? Want to find a great deal suited to your situation? Need help choosing a plan and installing your new service? Want a clear answer? Call us on 1300 786 045 to find out is Foxtel worth having. Our Australian staff are readily available from 9am-9pm, Monday to Friday.
