Foxtel launches special Game of Thrones plan

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news Foxtel is offering a discounted subscription to its Premium plan for the broadcast of HBO’s much anticipated Game of Thrones Season 6, which the company will commence airing on Monday, 25 April.

Customers who sign up to Foxtel Play between 18 and 29 April will be able add Premium Movies and Drama to their first $25 a month “genre pick” for only $5 extra a month for the first three months. Unfortunately, customers that already subscribe to Premium Movies and Drama are not eligible for the offer.

As well as the latest season, subscribers will also be able to catch up with Game of Thrones seasons 1-5 via the company’s on-demand service, Foxtel Anytime.

In addition to Game of Thrones, a library of other premium dramas will be available including, Veep (Series 5), Orange is the New Black (Series 4), Penny Dreadful (Series 3), Hap and Leonard (Series 1), Turn: Washington’s Spies (Series 3) and the popular Throne Cast, which recaps on the previous episode.

Customers will also have access to Foxtel’s BoxSets channel, which features a number of dramas, along with blockbuster and library movies as part of the subscription.

Game of Thrones has seen unprecedented popularity on its service, Foxtel said, with Season 5 achieving nearly 900,000 viewers on average – up 57% on Season 4.

The show has also received widespread acclaim from critics, although frequent use of nudity and violence has brought some criticism. The series has won 26 Primetime Emmy Awards and many other awards and nominations.

Foxtel Play enables customers with a broadband connection to stream and watch content from a range of devices, including eligible Samsung, Sony and LG Smart TVs, games consoles, some Samsung Blu-Ray and home theatre systems, and PC and Mac computers. Those with smart phones and tablets may be able to use the service via the free Foxtel Go app.

Customers get instant access to content within minutes of signing up and can subscribe by the month and pay as you go without lock-in contracts.

Image credit: HBO

35 COMMENTS

  1. I’m just annoyed that the series which will ruin the next book if you will is coming out first!! and as good as GoT is the books are simply far better!

    At this rate there’s a chance season 7 will come out before winds of winter arrgh!

    Also what plan do you get stuck on once GoT is over? usually these deals lock you in in the past so the actual cost thereafter is a bit of a gotcha.

    • There is a good chance that the TV show and the books are going to be diverging significantly.

      As much as George RR has apparently told the show runners “what happens”, that doesn’t mean he hasn’t written and rewritten what happens differently many times over, considering it takes him seemingly 700 years to write a book ;-)

      • Oh they already have done, I’ve had several wtf I’m sure that didn’t happen moments. I guess its due to the book and Series leaving fairly large cliffhangers which the series will spoil this season is one of the things which will disappoint me the most.

        I’m happy to wait for the book as what is produced when it finally comes out is epic and well kind of used to the long waits these days lol.

        I dunno series being first may mean this is one time I don’t buy the book! (might borrow a copy from someone or library instead) which will be a first for me.

  2. Personally I try not to support exclusive content. (Although that is almost impossible)

    I would like to see exclusivity contracts removed, except in situations where the entity is significantly responsible for the creation of the product. Even then the exclusivity should be limited to months, not years.

    After which other companies would be allowed to purchase the right to show the product.

    This would then make the service quality and performance the defining factor rather than the money that they have to spend on exclusivity.
    It would also invite companies to invest more heavily in the creation of product, as it would be the only way to ensure a limited period of exclusivity.

    • Exclusivity isn’t really the issue, it’s more about how high the paywall to get to said exclusive content is.

      Better Call Saul is on Netflix weekly, their originals like House of Cards, Daredevil, Jessica Jones et all, all on Netflix in their entirety when released, all for the low price of $10 a month.

      Compared to if you only want GoT in Australia, you’re looking at $30 a month for 3 months, so $90 in total. That is a ridiculous paywall to jump if you only want Game of Thrones.

      If I only want to watch Daredevil and Jessica Jones, I can pay for 1 month of Netflix, and watch them all back to back in that month, and be finished.

      • When they went out of their way to shut down the iTunes option a couple of years ago, I lost what little respect I had for Foxtel.

        Rather than help people work within the system, they only care about protecting themselves. Its monpolistic, and detrimental to every anti-piracy argument they care to put forward.

        So I simply dont watch the show. I havent been exposed to it, so dont crave it. When its all done and dusted, I’ll buy the box set.

        • Yeah, I don’t listen when content “owners” (I say owners, but they aren’t, they just happened to have the biggest wallets to buy the rights from the creators) get all uppity about piracy but refuse to change their business practices.

          Locking people out from being able to purchase the series from a legitimate provider just because Foxtel paid HBO millions to get it, then complaining that Australia pirates GoT the most out of the rest of the world….. It is their own fault.

          • You could call it for what it is, an unnatural monopoly. no wonder people find ways around it.

          • See thats part of what shits me, they DID change their business practices.

            First, HBO put 720p versions on the net, released as they went to air, for ~$40ish a season (working from memory, was around that, maybe less).

            Then Foxtel changed THEIR business practice to buy those rights as well, just to force people to use their service as the only legitimate way to see it on release.

            GoT wasnt the first time they’ve cockblocked the viewer, but its the worst. Showcase is an abomination that only fuels their extortion mentality.

            I spend enough on discs that I’m not going to spend the money they demand to get the few new shows I care about. I’ll just buy them later and bypass Foxtel altogether. Or never watch a show, and be a missed sale completely.

            Because of their efforts, not mine.

          • Gav, sure, HBO did change their practices, then turned around and willingly sold the rights to Foxtel.

            They then continue to bleat high piracy rates of GoT in Australia after changing their spots twice.

          • They then continue to bleat high piracy rates of GoT in Australia after changing their spots twice.

            That’s the bit that shits me, they blame everyone but themselves and their anticompetitive business practices, same as that Village Roadshow jerk.

            And in the meantime, I’m happy to watch Netflix or Bigpond Movies if I can pull myself away from whatever game I’m playing lately (more usually if the wife orders me off :o)).

          • It also feels to me like Foxtel exploits GOT more because they know how easy it is to see spoilers. A show as big as GOT and with as many twists as it has means that fans (such as myself) really need to see it ASAP. Waiting for a boxset release a year later is not an option. By then the story would be spoiled for sure.

            We need to get rid of Foxtels control over HBO and get our own equivalent of ‘HBO Go’. I would pay for HBO Go if I was able to stream HD episodes on release. No option to do this? Well I sure as hell ain’t signing up to a Foxtel plan.

      • Exclusivity isn’t really the issue, it’s more about how high the paywall to get to said exclusive content is.

        Yep, and when the paywall is $40 more than the blu-ray, thats a pretty steep paywall….

      • I disagree. With exclusivity you now must select multiple different products.

        Lets use Better call Saul as an example. It isn’t on Netflix, its on Stan.
        So for me to get it, I have to get both Netflix and Stan.
        By forcing content to be available across the board, I would have a choice, Stan or Netflix. Or I could go some other service.
        If I became dissatisfied with the performance on Netflix, I could choose to go to Stan, and still be able to watch what I want.

        Don’t get me wrong, the paywall thing is an issue. But I think the whole system is fundamentally flawed.

        • Ah, apologies, I am using Netflix in Japan, and Better Call Saul is on Netflix here as it also is in the US, I did assume that Netflix in Australia had that too.

          Having said that, I don’t think it is fair to force Netflix to make their original programming available to other streaming platforms. If Netflix doesn’t have exclusivity over its own content, then how do they attract customers and keep producing said content?

          • Well banning content exclusivity worked great for 20+ years in the bricks and mortar video rental business so I see no reason why it wouldn’t work in the Online version.

          • I’m not really sure I agree.

            Netflix is able to produce its original content because of the fact it has exclusive rights to it. The only reason some of its content is currently not exclusive to Netflix, is due to content deals they made with Foxtel and the like before they expanded their international offerings of their service.

            Imagine telling Channel 7 that even though they produce Home and Away, they are legally required to sell it to any other channel who wishes to buy the rights, and they have no control over their content they produce for their own network.

            Exclusivity isn’t the bugbear here, the ridiculous paywalls to get to the content is.

            You don’t see complaints that Home and Away is only available on Channel 7 because its FTA. You have a literal zero high pay wall to access it.

            EDIT: Apologies for using Home and Away as my go to example, it was all that popped into my head at the time xD

          • I accept the appology R0nin. I keep going to use Neighbours as an example, solely because a friends daughter made her acting debut on it this week.

            And I havent seen more than a minute or two of it in 30 years.

          • Because they would still get paid for the content, and as I suggested a short exclusivity time for the creators could be allowable.

            The point being to get product as wide as possible, preventing platforms from “dominating” simply because they can outmoney other platforms

            Force them to compete on you know service, performance etc. Rather than I paid big bucks to ensure exclusivity to product XYZ, thus ensuring I remain market dominant, and only others with similar bankrolls can stand a chance of competing.

          • Agreed, I’d be ok with say a 3 month exclusivity window and after that all movie/tv content must be made available at industry standard FRAND rates.

            This would prevent another “foxtel” from coming into existence.

          • Given how long Netflix has existed, albeit outside of Australia, and they haven’t really made any moves to become anything like Foxtel or a true cable television service, I don’t think we are going to see that happen Derek.

            I dunno, I just guess I don’t see how Foxtel charging $30 a month essentially as a minimum to access something like GoT the same as signing up to multiple services.

            I could sign up to Netflix, Stan and Presto for essentially the same as Foxtel and get better entertainment because of the nature of VOD. I can watch everything I want TV wise in a single month then cancel my sub with no issue.

            Foxtel I am very likely locked into a 12 month contract.

            IF, and thats a big if, all the streaming services started upping all their prices to ridiculous amounts, price gouging like Foxtel does, I could see the point. But, as it stands… Eh…. It isn’t really a big deal.

            Similarly, if I want to watch something thats on Stan but I have Netflix but I dont want to pay for two services? I can cancel Netflix at the end of the month, sign up for Stan, watch what I want, then cancel Stan again to go back to Netflix.

            I just don’t see it as being even close to what the situation with Foxtel or other PayTV is.

          • You might be right, but I just personally don’t really see the issue… If you’re worried about paying for multiple services, to the point where $10 a month is a strain, then ~probably~ you’re going to be worrying about far more financially than your entertainment.

            Keep in mind I am only specifically talking about Netflix here, who create their original series because of their customers. If they are forced to sell their content to any bidder who comes knocking for it after an exclusive period, I’m not sure how long their service would stay at the price it currently does.

            If I can just have one service instead of having two or three, why would I pay for the others when I can just wait a few months and my purchased service will be able to get everything everyone else had anyway?

            As it currently stands, the only thing keeping me signed up to Stan is exclusive content (not that I use it from outside Australia….. >,> <,<), if Stan didn't have that? I'd cancel in a second and I'm not sure I am alone in that.

            (Unrelated: But I find it amusing we never see Reality et al commenting on non-NBN related comment threads. If they commented elsewhere, we might actually be able to find common ground that we agree on things….lol)

          • The only way it could work is regulated wholesale. You can’t sell exclusive rights once you license to one party you mush make it available to all on equal terms. So HBO Netflix ect.. could keep the originals in house but once they decide to cash out(sell the rights to others) they have to make it available to all comers.

            The issue is the elephant in the room called sports

          • Matthews, that actually makes more sense and I wonder if that is what Derek meant and I just wasn’t understanding.

            Forcing content to be made available to everyone IF it is sold to someone makes sense to me, but forcing content to be sold to everyone whether the content creator wants to sell it or not, doesn’t.

            It would mean that if Netflix didn’t want to sell the rights to their own original content, they wouldn’t have to, but if they did sell the rights to say “Daredevil” they couldn’t sell them to just one buyer, and would have to make them open for all to be able to purchase.

            That is fair.

            The elephant in the room called sports… what… what is this “Sports” you speak of? :-P

          • Yeah Mathews has nailed it, I guess I didnt make that point very clear. I was mainly aiming the idea at content producers who sell their content to others. As soon as you make it available to purchase at the wholesale level it has to be available to all FRAND style.

            Sports is a whole different ball game – I’ve always suggested that there should be multiple legislated “tiers” so one company or group of companies cant buy the rights to all “outlets”. eg FTA rights / PayTV & Streaming rights so that way one platform cant lock out the others.

            eg F1 atm is only live on Foxtel (PayTV & Streaming) and those of us that dont have Fox have to wait for the delayed showing on 10 and have to live without Qually coverage too.

            Only issue is I suspect FTA is going to go the way of the dodo soon. Had we had a real NBN the Gov could have pushed them onto a national IPTV Multicast platform to free up the valuable RF spectrum.

          • “Only issue is I suspect FTA is going to go the way of the dodo soon. Had we had a real NBN the Gov could have pushed them onto a national IPTV Multicast platform to free up the valuable RF spectrum.”

            Yet another thing that should have been focused on by the previous party in power pre-election in addition to focusing on upload capabilities ;-)

    • I’m with Ronin I’m happy if its exclusive as long as its not priced as such trying to screw folk out every last cent just because they can.

    • So we can pay $30/month for SD quality video. No wonder Telstra is trying to separate from Foxtel. They know how many customers it must be shedding…

    • I signed up to watch Formula 1 this season, and after watching two races I’m cancelling. The quality is atrocious. I’m on 100mb NBN FTTP and the live video is blocky, choppy… Even movies like Harry Potter are awful SD chock full of compression artefacts. It’s a truly woeful effort.

  3. The last two surviving heroes have a massive battle to win the game of thrones!
    Hodor vs Patch Face
    Hoo-ooh-ooh-ooh-dor

  4. Foxtel offered me a free 2 week trial of Foxtel Play this week, I was only interested in it for the formula 1 … I cancelled it after only 3 days for the following reasons:

    1/ unless I watched the F1 live it wasn’t available on their catchup service for days or at all.

    2/ the F1 qualifying was available 24 hours later on the catch up service but only on the mobile “go” app, not on Foxtel play on my Xbox. 48 hours later the race still wasn’t on either the mobile app or play app.

    3/ to get the sports channels I would have had to 1st buy an entertainment package full of crap I didn’t want. Total cost was going to be $50 per month despite me using my own hardware and internet connection!

    4/ I could only register 1 mobile device and 1 Xbox… Wtf for $50 I should be able to register any number of devices and stream to at least, at least 2 at a time. Netflix lets me do this for 1/5th the price!

    Seriously Foxtel needs to go bankrupt, their business model stinks and it’s a joke that they have such rubbish conditions in 2016!

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