blog Pay TV giant Foxtel this morning launched its live streaming service Foxtel Go on the iPad. For existing Foxtel subscribers, the offering allows them to watch Foxtel channels live on their iPad. The company’s media release:

From today, Foxtel customers* can watch Foxtel Go on their iPad simply by downloading the Foxtel Go App from the App Store – it’s a new way to experience television, anytime, on the go.

Available to residential customers* included as part of their subscription, Foxtel Go offers 21 live channels including lifestyle, kids, music, live English Premier League, and dedicated 24-hour news channels, plus catch up episodes from hundreds of titles with award-winning drama, documentaries, as well as the edgiest shows from around the world express from the US.

The Foxtel Go live channels available now include The LifeStyle Channel, A&E, Sky News, National Geographic Channel, Discovery Channel, Disney, Cartoon Network, Channel [V], Cbeebies and dedicated sports channels such as SPORTS PLAY Powered by FOX SPORTS (live sport highlights are Rugby Union, Cricket, A-League and Tennis), FOX SPORTS PLUS 1, 2 3 and 4 which are four Barclays Premier League specially programmed football channels, and Eurosport.

Catch up titles include ROVE LA (FOX8), The Walking Dead (FX), Magic City (SoHo), Territory Cops (CI Network), The Only Way is Essex (LifeStyle YOU), Project Runway Australia (Arena), Grand Designs Australia (The LifeStyle Channel), Aqua Teen Hunger Force (The Comedy Channel), Haven (13th Street), Duck Dynasty (A&E), MegaTruckers (A&E), Gossip Girl (FOX8), Vampire Diaries (FOX8), Wicked Tuna (National Geographic Channel), Deadliest Catch (Discovery Channel), Copper (FX), Married to Jonas (E!), The Amazing World of Gumball (Cartoon Network), Gravity Falls (Disney), Harry Connick Jnr. Live on Broadway (Studio) and Spooks (UKTV).

Richard Freudenstein, Foxtel CEO said, “The TV landscape has changed, viewers are not just watching TV in the living room they’re watching TV on the way to work, at the beach or in another room of the house. Foxtel Go is the biggest thing we’ve launched since digital and iQ, it lets customers take their entertainment with them on the go, and as the App is included with a customer’s subscription, it’s a fantastic value proposition. We’re really excited and we think our customers will love this new way to watch Foxtel.”

Jim Rudder, Foxtel Executive Director of Product said, “Foxtel has always been about giving our customers more value for their subscription. The new Foxtel Go App does just that. It’s easy to download on iPad and the user interface is simple and intuitive.

“Today’s launch, however, is just the beginning of our mission to give our customers the content they love anytime whether they’re home or out and about. Over the coming months we’ll be announcing a number of initiatives which will extend our customers’ ability to take their Foxtel with them.”

*Foxtel Go is only available on iPads with iOS 5 and higher. A Foxtel residential cable or satellite subscription with a STU and a Foxtel online account linked to a subscription account are required. Customers will see channels and content from the channels they subscribe to only. Two iPad devices can be running Foxtel Go at the same time linked to the one account. The Foxtel Go App includes Remote Record directly to the iQ or MyStar. Foxtel Go will be available over 3G/4G networks as well as WiFi. Recommended Internet speeds apply. Internet connection required. ISP and data charges may apply. Video quality may vary according to 3G/4G and WiFi service. Not available to Optus TV featuring Foxtel, Foxtel on Xbox 360, Foxtel on Internet TV or Foxtel on T-Box customers. Only available for use in Australia.

Image credit: Screenshot of Foxtel Go

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1. Leigh
   Posted 07/11/2012 at 2:20 pm | Permalink | Reply

   Will this work for NT subscribers? This sort of stuff is spotty at best.

2. Dan
   Posted 07/11/2012 at 2:24 pm | Permalink | Reply

   That’s not a bad thing for Foxtel customers. Additional STU rental was about $15/m last time I worked there, so adding iPad support is probably a good thing, especially since Apple TV 3 runs the same basic iOS, and only costs ~$100 outright.

   I can see people putting Apple TV appliances in place of additional STUs in future.

   • Jim
     Posted 07/11/2012 at 4:16 pm | Permalink | Reply

     “I can see people putting Apple TV appliances in place of additional STUs in future.”

     Well you could if Foxtel saw fit to support AirPlay…

     Will Foxtel Go work with AirPlay?
     Foxtel Go does not support AirPlay. You will only get audio.

     http://www.foxtel.com.au/support/foxtel-go/faqs/default.htm#subtopic20

     • Dan
       Posted 07/11/2012 at 5:08 pm | Permalink | Reply

       Sounds like they missed HDCP encoding. Still, it may be added in the future.

3. Wayne
   Posted 07/11/2012 at 5:55 pm | Permalink | Reply

   And what about Android….

   • seven_tech
     Posted 08/11/2012 at 6:09 pm | Permalink | Reply

     @Wayne

     But don’t you know? Apple is the only important market share….even if it is less than 50%….and even if Android IS more than 50%…..

     Apple ranting aside, it’s because Android is fragmented. It would mean they’d have to release several versions of the App. Apple is cheaper to code for and overall, a relatively large market share. This is cheap, easy, extra revenue. Android is harder and therefore less inviting.

4. Samuel
   Posted 07/11/2012 at 6:21 pm | Permalink | Reply

   Still not as convenient as RSS & Torrents.

   When it comes to TV shows, PayTV is going to have to change some day. I would pay for NetFlicks style ‘one big library’ or even a flexible pro rata Fee per channel system that charged you for individual channels and let you pickup a new channel for a few days if something looked good but then drop it just as easily if you dont like it enough.

   If foxtel wasnt pretty much a total monopoly on “TV Content” (we have a few movie oriented services, but nothing tackling the TV market) we might have some growth. Doesnt help ISP’s love their bandwidth caps still. Then again… 400GB goes a long way when compressed right.

   As a former maximum cost foxtel package subscriber. I have seen what it offers, I do like the convenience, but their price is unjustifiably high. I don’t want to pay for ads and limitations.

5. Adam Nelson
   Posted 08/11/2012 at 5:58 pm | Permalink | Reply

   The quality of these channels is still 480p and poor bit quality

6. Android come on!
   Posted 08/11/2012 at 6:09 pm | Permalink | Reply

   Of course IPads are the only tablets out there and have more than 50% market share. Wonder why these putz’s cannot develop IPad and Android at the same time, rather than piss off an entire sector. No one seems to be particularly pleased with Foxtel with the increase in ad’s, repeats and multiple channels running the same shows, yet they choose to alienate a market that is bigger than the one they’ve pumped out. Time to reassess my subscription.

7. seven_tech
   Posted 08/11/2012 at 6:16 pm | Permalink | Reply

   So, hang on, let me get this straight.

   Foxtel have released an App that still requires customers to pay exorbitant fees (like ABOVE $75 a month), WHILE watching ads during shows. And they can’t do this anywhere other than WiFi areas, as the price of mobile data just went up by 1/3 for most new plans. And the ads would waste 1/4 of that anyway….

   Yeah, that seems like a REALLY good incentive for people…..

   A proper incentive, would be to remove ads on the streamed versions……but then, that’d decrease ad revenue wouldn’t it?….

   All Foxtel have done here, is add a very small extra feature, which will cost customers extra money (via data) and Foxtel basically nothing to provide.

   /slow clap for Foxtel profit margins….

8. Nine_tech
   Posted 19/02/2013 at 3:21 am | Permalink | Reply

   Nice.
   I have to try it. Because I like video streaming so much.
   I have found ArkMC application https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/arkmc/id405487397 which allows to stream all the media from home PC and network drive to my iPad.
   I listen to music and I watch to my favorite shows downloaded and stored there!

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