Foxtel Completes Austar Takeover

May 24, 2012 World Screen
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SYDNEY: Foxtel and Austar have completed their merger, creating a unified national pay-TV service under the Foxtel brand that has a reach of 2.2 million subscriber households.

The new company will operate under the Foxtel name, but the billing, equipment and pricing will remain the same for customers of both companies. Foxtel customers will get two new 24-hour English-language news channels, Al Jazeera and CCTV News. XYZ Networks will merge with the Foxtel channel group to become Foxtel Networks. Austar customers gain access to Foxtel’s coverage of the London 2012 Olympic Games. Austar’s sports subscribers will join all other Foxtel sports package subscribers in receiving Foxtel’s exclusive coverage at no additional charge.  

Richard Freudenstein, Foxtel’s chief executive, said: “This is a great day for Foxtel and Austar customers, and for all consumers wanting world-leading home entertainment. The new national Foxtel will offer the widest range of high-quality channels, the most innovative technology and best customer service of any television provider in Australia.

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“We will physically bring the Foxtel and Austar platforms together over the coming months. Soon consumers will receive the same great Foxtel content whether you live in regional Australia or the cities. Austar customers will not need to do anything; they will transition seamlessly to Foxtel.

“The scale of our new business means that we have the resources to keep innovating and improving our services. We are particularly pleased to be able to offer existing Foxtel content to our new customers in regional Australia and we will take some of the extra content that Austar offers and bring it to Foxtel’s existing customers.”