Foxtel Play

Foxtel Play is an Australian internet television service which offers subscriptions to over 50 live channels and hundreds of video on-demand titles. The service is owned by Foxtel, and officially launched on 11 August 2013.

The service is available on internet connected devices such as computers, game consoles and selected smart TV's and Blu-Ray players. In addition, Foxtel Play subscribers have access to Foxtel's Foxtel Go app for smart phones and tablets.

History

On 14 March 2013 at the Australian Subscription Television and Radio Association (ASTRA) conference, Foxtel CEO Richard Freudenstein announced that in August 2013 the company would launch a new service named Foxtel Play. The service is an internet television alternative to Foxtel's existing cable and satellite pay television service, allowing consumers to subscribe without a lock-in contract and access it via a range of internet compatible devices (as opposed to requiring a set-top box).^[1]

The service launched on 30 July 2013, nearly two weeks ahead of its official launch of 11 August 2013. At launch, the service offered over 40 live channels and hundreds of video on demand titles, with subscriptions starting at $25 a month and 6 subscription packages on offer.^[2]

Australian singer Guy Sebastian is the ambassador for Foxtel Play.^[3][4]

Channels

The following is a list of the subscription packages on offer and the respective channels included:^{[2][5][6][7][8]}

Entertainment: Arena, The Comedy Channel, E!, Fox8, The LifeStyle Channel, LifeStyle Food, LifeStyle Home, LifeStyle You, MTV, Style, & TVH!TS

Drama: 13th Street, BBC First, BBC UKTV, FX, SoHo, Syfy, & Universal Channel

Documentary: A&E, BBC Knowledge, CI, Discovery Channel, Discovery Turbo MAX, History, National Geographic Channel, & Nat Geo People

Kids: Baby TV (video on demand only), Boomerang, Cartoon Network, Cbeebies, Discovery K!ds, Disney Channel, Disney Junior, Disney XD, Nickelodeon, & Nick Jr.

Sport: ESPN, ESPN2, Eurosport, Fox Sports 501 Fox Sports 502, Fox Sports 503, Fox Sports 504, Fox Sports 505, Footy Play (not available on PC/Mac), & TVN

Movies: BoxSets, Foxtel Movies Premiere, Foxtel Movies Masterpiece, Foxtel Movies Disney, Foxtel Movies Family, Foxtel Movies Action, Foxtel Movies Comedy, Foxtel Movies Romance, Foxtel Movies Thriller, Showcase, & World Movies

Additional channels included in every package: Fox Sports News, Sky News, Sky News Business, Channel [V], & [V] Hits

Former channels

• Fuel TV - replaced with Fox Sports 4 following Fuel TV's closure.^[9]
• SF - replaced with Syfy following SF's closure.^[10]
• Speed - replaced with Fox Sports 5 following Speed's closure.^[9]
• TV1 - replaced with TVH!TS following TV1's closure.^[11]

Compatible devices

The following is a list of Foxtel Play compatible devices.^[2][12]

• LG Smart TV's (selected 2013 models)
• Mac (requires Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6, Mac OS X Lion 10.7 with Safari version 5 or above)
• PC (requires Windows XP with IE8 or above)
• PlayStation 3 (since 1 April 2014)^[13]
• PlayStation 4 (since 1 May 2014)^[14]
• Samsung Smart TV's and Blu-Ray Players (2012-2014 model TVs. Any Smart Hub enabled 2012-2013 model Blu-Ray Players and Home Theatre Systems)
• Sony (2014 model Smart TVs)^[15]
• Xbox 360 (required a Xbox Live Gold Membership prior to 4 June 2014)^[16]
• Xbox One (since 13 April 2015)^[15]

See Also

• Now TV (UK) - the UK equivalent of Foxtel Play, owned by Sky plc
• Sling TV - the U.S. equivalent of Foxtel Play, owned by Dish Network

References