Foxtel to change way we get news with Flash streaming service

Foxtel to launch a groundbreaking streaming service featuring more than 20 local and global live news sources under the one roof.

Foxtel chief executive Patrick Delany.

Foxtel will next month launch a groundbreaking streaming service that will feature more than 20 local and global live news sources under the one roof, as the company continues to invest in new technologies.

Flash will bring together a ­diverse range of television news sources – including CNN, BBC, CNBC, Fox News, Al Jazeera and Sky News – in what will be a world-first live news service on such a large scale.

Foxtel Group chief executive Patrick Delany said Flash – the third streaming service the company will have launched in as many years, following on from Kayo Sports and entertainment platform Binge – was about “putting consumers in charge of their own news preferences”.

“There will be no fear or favour … Flash will present a ­diversity of news sources, and people can seek out what they want,” he said.

“We’re not going to change any of the editorial context of these news brands. The whole point is to put them in the one place, fairly in front of Australia.”

Mr Delany said Flash “won’t be what the market expects”, adding it will be a similar model to Kayo Sports in that it will transform the way viewers can access and consume live news.

“It will be more than simply aggregating live channels. Our experience and technology platform gives us the ability to draw on successful Kayo features and innovations to provide an outstanding news experience for our subscribers,” he said.

“This is about putting consumers in charge – you can go down whichever news avenues you want.”

Other news partners, of which there will be more than 20, will be announced at Foxtel’s strategy day next week.

It is understood that the ABC and Foxtel Group (of which News Corp owns 65 per cent and Telstra the remaining 35 per cent) are still in negotiations over whether the national broadcaster will join the Flash news platform.

Mr Delany would not be drawn on the ongoing speculation surrounding the Foxtel Group’s potential initial public offering plans, but he said the company’s “transformation story” – which will be the theme of next week’s strategy day – was self-evident.

“Both shareholders (News Corp and Telstra) are very keen that investors, financiers and Australian consumers hear the message that this is a very different company to what it was three years ago,” he said.

“After Netflix, we are the ­second-biggest paid video entertainment company in Australia, with over four million subscribers. The number of Australian households with a streaming service is forecast to grow by almost 20 per cent in the next four years, reaching 85 per cent of all households, with each household expected to have between three and four SVOD subscriptions. Flash will ride this wave.”

Flash will be officially launched in October, and is expected to cost in the vicinity of $10 a month. Former editor-in-chief of news.com.au, Kate de Brito, has been appointed executive director of Flash.