More people are signing up to streaming services than ever — but Foxtel numbers are still growing

DESPITE the streaming services boom subscription TV is continuing to grow with Foxtel’s numbers on the rise.

Foxtel’s numbers are continuing to grow despite the rise of streaming services. Picture: Foxtel magazine/Peter Brew-Bevan

NEW research shows that despite more Australians signing up for streaming services, Foxtel’s subscriber base has continued to grow.

The survey by Roy Morgan Research found that half the population, or almost 10 million people aged 14+, now have access to one or more subscription TV services at home.

But the survey of almost 16000 people shows the introduction of streaming services has expanded the overall market, rather than taken share from Foxtel.

It found 5.6 million (28 per cent) had an SVOD service, just ahead of the 5.3 million with traditional Foxtel (27 per cent).

Foxtel chief executive Peter Tonagh at the 2016 ASTRA conference in Sydney on September 6, 2016. Supplied

But Foxtel has also been expanding its linear TV subscriber base since the arrival of Netflix in March last year by an average of nearly 100,000 people per quarter.

And Foxtel’s own streaming service Foxtel Play — can now be found in the homes of around 1.4 million Australians.
At the ASTRA industry conference in Sydney this week Foxtel’s chief executive officer Peter Tonagh announced lower priced, and contract free access to Foxtel Play in an effort to take on Netflix, Stan and Presto at a comparable price point. Five new packages will launch in December for viewers who bring their own device, such as a connected television. He also announced a new deal to offer five times as many hours of HBO programming as present and to make it available on demand all the time, anytime.
And Tonagh said Foxtel’s “amazing slate of award-winning Australian content” — such as the just announced six part Picnic at Hanging Rock in addition to existing original programming such as A Place to Call Home and Wentworth — was something SVOD services such as Netflix can’t compete with.