Foxtel hopes new Hubbl bundle will lure back customers

Foxtel is launching a new streaming bundle product, bringing together free-to-air television and streaming services, as the company fights a steady decline in traditional set-top box sales and plateauing digital subscriptions.

The News Corp-owned company’s chief executive, Patrick Delany, said its new product, Hubbl, would give consumers the simplified viewing experience they wanted.

Hubbl’s TV guide.

Hubbl’s TV or plug-in devices will allow customers to access streaming services and digital free-to-air services in one interface, in some cases bundling subscriptions through a single billing account. Its new set-top boxes will cost $99, and its smart televisions retail between $1595 and $1995.

However, launching from ground zero, Hubbl will have to contend with high levels of competition in the market, with Apple TV, Amazon Fire Stick and Google Chromecast all established hardware providers, while Telstra is migrating about 700,000 customers to its streaming aggregator Fetch TV.

Developed by American media and telco giant Comcast, Hubbl offers more than the established players, Delany says. Putting everything in one place is now not enough: “Anyone can do that,” he says.

“Making things simple and easy again, allowing you to bill on and off the platform, making things faster, easier and cheaper – that’s the future,” he says.

The details of the product were announced at an event on Sydney Harbour on Wednesday evening; however, it is yet to hit shelves.

Foxtel’s customer base has steadily moved online in the past five years with the launch of several streaming platforms, including Binge and Kayo. Foxtel has also made less successful attempts with the news subscription service Flash.

During this period, traditional Foxtel broadcast subscribers have continued to leave at a rate of about 160,000 a year.

After initial rapid growth, Binge and Kayo subscribers are now plateauing. In the recent December quarter, Foxtel Group lost 256,000 paying customers, largely through Kayo. Foxtel now has fewer subscribers than it did 12 months ago.

It has struck deals with all major streaming platforms, including Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ and more, alongside all free-to-air networks, to carry their services. It also has deals with Stan, Paramount+ and Optus Sport, it says, however they won’t be on the platform at its launch.

Foxtel’s Patick Delany says Hubbl is ‘faster, cheaper, and easier’ than competitors.Credit: James Gourley

The launch comes as legislation will be ironed out in Canberra on Friday to set out rules giving free-to-air apps preferable treatment on new traditional and smart TVs.

Delany says Hubbl poses no issues with free-to-air access. “And that’s without any laws requiring it.” He will appear at Friday’s inquiry alongside the bosses of Nine (the owner of this masthead) the ABC, SBS, and Seven, alongside representatives from Netflix.

Traditional pay TV services globally, including major media companies in the United States such as Fox, Disney and Warner Bros, are grappling with a shift away from broadcast television. Discovery announced a new sports streaming joint venture in January, pooling resources to provide an overwhelming majority of all major American sports under one roof. Consolidation is widely tipped to follow elsewhere.

The risk, and one that Foxtel will also face with Hubbl, is that success may accelerate the decline of subscriptions to its traditional broadcast service.

While some older bolted-on Australians still prefer Foxtel, Hubbl is an evolution “for the streaming generation,” Delany says. “SINKs, DINKs, and young families. That’s what this is about.”

Foxtel contributed to the reporter’s travel costs.

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