FOX8

CHANNEL: FOX8

COUNTRY: Australia

LAUNCH DATE: October 23, 1995

OWNERSHIP: FOXTEL, Australia’s leading pay-TV programming provider, which is owned by Telstra Corporation (50 percent), News Corporation (25 percent) and Consolidated Media Holdings (25 percent).

DISTRIBUTION: The channel is available on the FOXTEL, Optus and Austar platforms.

SENIOR MANAGEMENT:
Executive Director, Television and Marketing: Brian Walsh
Group Channel Manager: Duane Hatherly
Group Program Manager: Stephen Baldwin

PROGRAMMING STRATEGY: FOX8 has become Australia’s leading subscription television channel with an acquisitions-heavy schedule, primarily filled with content from the U.S. and Europe. Brian Walsh, the executive director of television and marketing at FOX8’s parent company, FOXTEL, calls the channel an "engagingly youthful, slightly irreverent and cheeky entertainment service." Targeting viewers aged 15 to 30, FOX8 has a "good balance of male- and female-skewing programming, big-brand shows and event television," Walsh continues.

Imported American shows, in particular, have been a driver for FOX8. As part of an innovative deal with Nine Network and Warner Bros., FOX8 scored the first-run window to shows such as Chuck, Privileged and Gossip Girl, which has emerged as one of the channel’s top-performing titles. "FOX8 is briefed to stand beside the free-to-air networks as an edgy alternative in general entertainment," Walsh notes. "First runs are definitely a priority in discharging this role."

Other key imports have included Twentieth Century Fox’s Family Guy and The Simpsons and Disney’s Kyle XY. On the unscripted front FOX8 has season eight of FremantleMedia’s ratings juggernaut American Idol, and has acquired the Spike TV series DEA, America’s Toughest Jobs and A&E’s Criss Angel Mindfreak. From the U.K., meanwhile, Walsh cites Skins as a key new import.

Australian content is also part of the FOX8 mix with Australia’s Next Top Model, based on the CBS Paramount International Television format, having been one of the channel’s successes. FOX8 is gearing up to launch season five in the franchise, and has recently aired cycle 11 of the original The CW version from the U.S.

Another local production based on an international format, The Phone, launched on FOX8 earlier this year.

WHAT’S NEW: Upcoming original productions include second seasons of Blood Sweat & Gears and Football Superstar, and the channel has also acquired the rights to do its own version of Mark Burnett’s boxing format The Contender, which is slated to premiere in the middle of this year.

Meanwhile, Walsh is continuing to bolster the overall FOXTEL lineup, both through original content on its owned-and-operated channels, and through taking on additional third-party channels. "In mid-2009, when we receive additional bandwidth, we will be adding new channels for which we are currently taking submissions from channel providers," Walsh says. "We are considering pitches from children’s programming, comedy ideas, documentary sources and additional sports services. Our priority is a richness of offering and depth with programming genres."

Walsh continues: "FOXTEL is already working on new channels, new services and exciting new technology. We are always extending our strategies to grow the business through subscription. This is achieved by savvy niche programming. The ongoing identification and refinement of our offering to particular tastes is our business."

WEBSITE: www.fox8.tv