Foxtel is undergoing some changes. It just announced, following much speculation, that it is axing Presto, the streaming operation it operated in a joint venture with Seven West Media after buying the FTA broadcaster out of the partnership.
Presto will be rolled into its newly revamped Foxtel Play platform, which now offers lower cost access to Foxtel channels through IPTV.
It's also decided to add access to streaming rivals such as Netflix and Stan to its platform, but is it too little too late and is this really a consumer-pleasing move?
I commend any move that makes TV viewing life easier for consumers and improves the experience, but Foxtel itself has just (at long last in mind) arrived a tad late to its own table with its new diced up varying platters of SVOD options and costs, so why now is it pimping out its intentions to let rivals take a seat? Does it really need to do this? Why now? What’s in it for Foxtel and is this something set-top box users really need and want?
I’m not bashing the TV space, quite the contrary in that I am continually fascinated by the TV sector here and I genuinely feel the industry has progressed massively in the last two years. Content has improved, there's more available online, with some even streamed live. Industry ambition and automation has rapidly grown and FTA catch-up has much improved - although there's a way to go. The viewing experince is still hamstrung by ad experiences that are clunky with repetitive ads and imbalanced ad-loading.
My cynical side questions whether I have just got used to how things are here. By way of background, I arrived from the UK two years ago like a spoilt child of TV who grew up with Sky and then the heady heights of Sky Plus. Channel 4 on Demand and BBC’s iPlayer were best in-class five or six years ago. I had no need for the likes of Netflix or downloading. So why does on demand here in Australia feel as though it still hasn't reached that level?
Fast-forward to my Down Under TV touchdown where I was greeted with a cluster of free-to-air (FTA) channels here that instantly rubbed me up the wrong way. Prehistoric episodes of The Bill on in the day? The Thunderbirds before 7am? Tiresome infomercials during morning news shows and don't get me started on the amount of ad breaks and promos for netowrk programming. How to get Away with Murder and The Block were hyped so much I was sick to the back teeth of the shows before they even started. And what’s with the big format shows like the XFactor being on a Tuesday? And then again two or three times a week? And why did these food shows, which I liked – MasterChef and MKR, need to be on night after night, back to back – how could I keep up with that? Catch-up I hear you cry? No. Just no.
But I don't believe it's worn me down. I think it's genuinely gone from strength to strength - but that's because there's a broad range of options available from FTA, Pay TV and SVOD players.
In addition to the FTA offering my partner hooked up to Foxtel Go with the $50 basic sports package. Then we added Netflix due to an Optus offer for a six month free trial. We were converted to the $15 a month deal.
A year later Hayu’s free trial pulled me in when I was craving a trashy TV fix. Stan is next. I've heard great things, but there are only so many TV-watching hours in the day.
So back to the news that Foxtel is responding to customers’ desires by making it more accessible through streaming, and allowing third-party applications from rival services onto its set-top box.
It’s worth adding that a ‘consumer-pleasing move’ to me would be my $50 a month Foxtel Go being able to work on my new ish Mac, which for some reason it doesn't. I have to use an old laptop to watch the content as from what I can see on the Foxtel website Go is a few versions behind.
Being able to Chromecast would help get over this. Netflix, Hayu and even Channel Nine link up with Chromecast, but Foxtel? Not as yet. But hey, we can’t have it all.
So Foxtel's recent moves signal that it is thinking differently. It might not fix all consumer gripes (let's not get into the IQ3 box) but it is progress.
A white flag move? A mass data play in order to learn more about who and how people are flexing the cord? Or is it a genuine play to make viewers lives that bit easier with that one simpler dashboard? Only time will tell.
Would this stop people ‘cutting the cord’ or encourage more people to sign up? Comment below and share your views.