Hubbl boss departs as Foxtel restructures again

The head of Foxtel’s new streaming aggregator Hubbl has quit six months after the launch of the service, posing new challenges for the media business as it overhauls its reporting structure, and the owners search for a buyer.

Hubbl managing director Les Wigan left last month, the second senior executive departure at Foxtel in as many months. Amanda Laing, chief content officer and head of streaming service Binge, left the business last week. Wigan has taken up an advisory role at Venu, Fox Corp’s new sports streaming joint venture with Disney’s ESPN and Warner Bros Discovery in the US.

Hamish Blake and Andy Lee fronted an advertising blitz for Hubbl.Credit: Foxtel

News Corp splashed some $77 million on Hubbl’s launch in March, which included a marketing blitz featuring celebrities Hamish Blake and Andy Lee, according to recent financial reports. Global News Corp chief executive Robert Thomson flew to Sydney for the event in Sydney’s botanic gardens overlooking the harbour.

But Hubbl sales have fallen short of weekly targets, according to three people with knowledge of initial figures, but who are not authorised to speak publicly.

Foxtel reorganised its corporate structure in mid-2023 before the launch of Hubbl, splitting the company into four divisions.

A subscription-TV division housing the legacy Foxtel business was to be led by former Fox and Sky executive Hilary Perchard. A streaming sports and advertising division with Kayo was to be led by Julian Ogrin, while the entertainment division housing Binge was assigned to Amanda Laing. Wigan was appointed to lead the aggregation (Hubbl) division. The four executives were to report into chief executive Patrick Delany.

Now, after the exit of Wigan in August and Laing last week, significant power has been handed to two executives, with two divisions reporting directly to Delany. Perchard has absorbed responsibility for Hubbl, and Laing’s duties have been split between the two remaining executives.

Ogrin now leads a streaming and advertising division, which houses Binge and Kayo and the company’s sales teams, while Perchard has been handed content acquisition, on top of his existing remit. A Foxtel spokesperson confirmed the changes.

The moves position Ogrin as the key contender to succeed Delany should he eventually decide to stand down.

Hubbl was launched at a retail price of $99 through JB Hi-Fi and Harvey Norman, or directly via the company. However, it has been marketed on sale for $79, with an extra three months of Binge for free with the purchase.

A Foxtel spokesperson said Wigan’s exit was not related to Hubbl’s performance, nor does this masthead suggest there is a link.

A software failure impacted Hubbl devices last week affecting users’ ability to watch AFL and NRL finals fixtures on Kayo. The company issued users a $25 voucher to use towards their subscription.

In a surprise move at its full-year earnings call in August, News Corp announced Foxtel would go up for sale.

Foxtel Group CEO Patrick Delany has reorganised the business after the exit of two of his most senior executives.Credit: James Brickwood

Thomson praised Foxtel’s transformation but sidestepped the initial performance of Hubbl, providing only vague statistics.

While commending Foxtel for the “courageous launch”, general manager of advertising agency Spinach Ben Willee said potential Foxtel buyers would likely think there were more pressing challenges for Foxtel and media than the problem Hubbl was trying to solve.

“Foxtel have been very quiet on the uptake [of Hubbl], not to mention ongoing discounting, which leads me to assume it is not a stand-out performer,” Willee said.

Foxtel spent about $15 million on the ad campaign led by Hamish and Andy, according to agency figures with direct knowledge of the outlay.

While the marketing blitz achieved good name recognition, Delany said last month most Australians “are still not quite understanding what it does”.

Hubbl was established as Foxtel’s push to regain its position as the leading distributor of content in Australia, replicating the days when one in three households owned a Foxtel box. While Foxtel was largely unchallenged at that time, Hubbl now faces competition from similar products, including Apple TV, Fetch TV and Google Chromecast.

Foxtel’s streaming services previously sat in a holding company named Streamotion, which was renamed Hubbl.

However, the “Everybody’s Hubblin’” marketing campaign has been routinely satirised on popular ABC advertising panel show Gruen, with former agency executive and Qantas board director Todd Sampson suggesting Hubbl was simply a “repositioning of Foxtel”.

The sale process comes at a crucial time for Foxtel with the looming exit of HBO content on Binge. Negotiations for the next NRL rights deal are also due to formally kick off soon, and are no certainty, with co-broadcaster Nine, owner of this masthead, keen to replicate its cross-platform Olympics coverage with rugby league.

How Foxtel now positions itself will become more evident at its annual Upfronts event next month at Sydney’s White Bay Power Station.

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