Foxtel launches Netflix integration, new user interface

Fierce competitors Foxtel and Netflix are now good friends, and it’s all good news for Australian viewers.

Foxtel has confirmed a partnership with Netflix among a raft of changes to its customer experience.

For the first time, Foxtel customers will be able to directly access Netflix’s popular TV shows and movies from IQ4 set-top boxes. On the redesigned interface, a Netflix carousel is included and curated with general, non-algorithmic suggestions.

Foxtel has also rolled out a new remote control with a Netflix button that immediately launches the Netflix app within Foxtel’s platform. Within the Netflix app, viewers will see customised suggestions.

Existing Netflix customers can log in through their IQ4 boxes, while new customers can sign up through Foxtel and be billed under one account. There is also a six months free Netflix trial for Foxtel customers signing up to a drama and sport package.

The change only applies to Foxtel’s broadcast customers. The Netflix app is still not available on Foxtel Now streaming set-top boxes.

Netflix content will be integrated within Foxtel’s IQ4 boxes

The addition of Netflix is part of a broad redesign of Foxtel’s user interface, which the company has dubbed “The New Foxtel Experience”.

Primarily designed to surface TV and film titles from Foxtel’s deep library of content, the interface has been rejigged to shift the emphasis away from live viewing to on-demand viewing to highlight the breadth of Foxtel’s content beyond the TV guide.

The new look and functionality is the result of extensive user testing and is an evolution of the user interface of Foxtel’s streaming-only app, Foxtel Now.

The flashy new home screen will be populated with carousels, grouping together on-demand content suggestions by genre and popular titles. It will also feature personalised suggestions, as curated through algorithms based on a viewer’s watch history.

The SBS On Demand app will also be incorporated into Foxtel’s platform later this year.

Netflix and SBS’s integration into Foxtel’s platform heralds the possibility of more third-party streaming players to join the service. The new interface is built to include the likes of Amazon Prime Video, Stan or other brands in the future if deals are inked.

The new Foxtel remote will feature a Netflix button that directly launches the app.

The new remote has haptic censors, supports both infrared and bluetooth, and will also feature voice command integration — like Apple’s Siri or Amazon’s Alexa — through which you can ask the search page to “Show me Sandra Bullock movies” or the like. But this function will not be available at launch, and there is no commitment to when it will be.

The remote will be available to customers for purchase and promotional offers based on their subscription package and tenure. All new IQ4 boxes will be shipped with the revamped remote.

Foxtel chief executive Patrick Delany said: “We want our customers to have the best of TV and on-demand in Australia all in one place.

“With our new user interface, accessing Foxtel’s 16,000 hours of TV and on-demand content is as simple for customers as one click on the home of their existing remote.”

The changes will be rolled out to IQ4 boxes today and will be available on IQ3 boxes within months.

The Netflix collaboration and the redesigned user interface are designed to bolster Foxtel’s fortunes, which have been under pressure in recent times.

Parent company News Corp*, which owns 65 per cent of Foxtel alongside Telstra’s 35 per cent, contributed $300 million to Foxtel’s books to cover the payment of maturing debts.

In its latest financial results released in May, Foxtel lost 100,000 broadcast subscribers from 2.5 million in the previous quarter to 2.4 million but had encouraging growth in its streaming products Kayo (209,000 subscribers) and Foxtel Now (505,000 subscribers).

*News Corp Australia is the publisher of this website

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