Foxtel mulls streaming device
February 22, 2016
By Colin Mann
Australian pay-TV operator Foxtel is planning to launch a TV streaming device in an effort to compete more effectively with OTT players such as Netflix.
Any such initiative would pitch Foxtel against Telstra TV, the service owned by Foxtel’s 50 per cent shareholder Telstra. Foxtel’s other shareholder is Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp (Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc. & News Corp; 50 per cent, through News Corp Australia).
Foxtel chief executive Richard Freudenstein told The Australian Financial Review that Foxtel was going to make sure that it maximised all of its distribution platforms, with it being really important to have a great user experience on them.
Currently, Foxtel’s own streaming service Foxtel Play does not appear on Telstra TV, suggesting that it could feature on Foxtel’s own competing service once it is launched.
Telstra partnered with streaming platform and streaming device specialist Roku in October 2015 to introduce TelstraTV.
UK pay-TV operator Sky – which has some shareholding in common with Foxtel – has made some $12.9 million equity investment in Roku between July 2012 and October 2014. 21st Century Fox, which holds a 39.14 per cent controlling stake in Sky, also made a further equity investment in Roku, alongside Sky in October 2014.