Foxtel Unveils Digital Content,
Set-Top Box

Australian pay-TV provider, Foxtel, has released plans for the content of its soon to be launched Foxtel Digital service, including an array of new channels and key interactive features. The company also presented its new set-top box and remote control, but has left announcements on pricing until February.
Announced at Sydney's Museum of Contemporary Art, features of the new servies will include new channels, expanded news, choice of camera angles in sports coverage, and a range of widescreen channels with AC-3 sound.

Viewers will not need to purchase a new TV set to receive Foxtel Digital, but can access all available features through their existing TV, via a new digital set-top unit and remote control supplied and installed by Foxtel. Click here for pic of remote
The company is now in the final stages of operational and technical testing and says it is committed to launching the new service in the first half of 2004.

"Today, we sow the seed of a genuinely liberating digital television revolution for consumers in Australia," Foxtel Chief Executive Officer, Mr Kim Williams, said. "We have always challenged established norms and broken the mould of traditional television delivery where choice has been confined.
"Foxtel Digital is television at the service of Australia."
With more than 130 channels and services at launch, Foxtel Digital will include Foxtel's current suite of subscription channels and a range of new channels, together with time-shifted channels designed for greater choice and convenience for viewers.
Additionally, 30 CD quality audio music channels and 30 channels dedicated to providing the near-video-on-demand Foxtel Box Office movie service will be central to Foxtel Digital.

The Foxtel Digital channel line-up will include:

• 10 movie services (including Foxtel Box Office)
  
• 27 Foxtel Box Office channels
• Eight sports channels (including the Main Event channel featuring pay-per-view boxing, wrestling and special events)
• Five kids channels
• Seven news channels
• Six music video channels and 30 audio music channels
• 11 documentary channels
• Eight lifestyle channels
• 14 general entertainment channels
• Three adult services including pay-per-view channels
• Two ethnic a-la carte channels
• Two Games channels
• One Digital Help Channel

New channels which join Foxtel's existing channel lineup include: Adventure One; The Biography Channel; Boomerang; Club [V]; Country Music Channel; Discovery Health Channel; Discovery Science Channel; Discovery Travel and Adventure Channel; E! Entertainment; Eurosport News; FUEL; ; How to Channel; LifeStyle Food; Nick Jr.; TechTV; VH1.

"Foxtel Digital represents the most dramatic change to Australian home entertainment since the introduction of subscription television," Foxtel Director of Television, Mr Brian Walsh, said. "Significantly, the addition of new channels to Foxtel Digital represents the most prolific and comprehensive selection of television brands available in the world. They are all here.
"We have secured the absolute best in television programming, for every interest, for every taste, for every age and from every genre. Entertainment to documentaries, new sports channels, children's channels, music choice and more.
"Renowned brands such as Discovery, E!, Biography, Nick Jr., VH1, to name a few, join channel extensions from three of the best subscription channel producers in Australia - FOX Sports, XYZ Entertainment, and Foxtel itself.
"This is a carefully crafted programming ensemble. Foxtel has secured, and Australians will enjoy, the best television from every corner of the world."

Also new to Foxtel Digital will be Foxtel Air, 30 digital-quality, stereo audio channels that cater to all music tastes and moods - from Light Classical, New Age and Top 100 to Just Rock, Smooth Café, Retro Beat, Latin Heat and Soul Train.

Foxtel Digital will also feature 10 TimeShift channels that have been selected based on their popularity with subscribers. TimeShifts, which broadcast a single service on two different channels with a two-hour time difference, doubles subscribers' viewing choices at any point in time, and provide further opportunities to view favourite programs.

These channels are highly popular with subscribers in other more established digital television markets such as the UK.
The TimeShift channels are: FOX8 + 2; History + 2; Comedy Channel + 2; Fox Classics + 2; Showtime 2; Movie One + 2; UKTV + 2; TV1 + 2; LifeStyle + 2; Arena + 2.

The company says it will announce full details of the pricing and packaging for its new digital service during February and that it will offer savings incentives to its subscribers through that new range of packages. The company also maintains that the entry price to Foxtel Digital will not exceed that of the current satellite basic package ($48.95 from March 1).

Key features of the new Foxtel Digital service include:

• More than 130 channels and unique services at launch.
• Foxtel Digital Guide, an intuitive electronic program guide that allows subscribers to easily navigate around Foxtel Digital and to plan their viewing with a simple but comprehensive on screen guide detailing all programs according to time, genre or channel. It even has program synopses and a memory/reminder function to recall and indicate what you have selected in advance to watch (up to seven days in advance).
• Foxtel Box Office, a near-video-on-demand service with approximately 300 screenings per day of a range of blockbuster movie titles showing at frequent and convenient intervals - as often as every 15 to 30 minutes.
• Sky News Active, an interactive service allowing viewers to control and choose the news they want to view from eight live video and five live text screens.
• Sports Active, an interactive sports application which enables viewers to select multiple camera angles and match replays together with game statistics, player profiles and even different audio feeds on selected sports broadcasts.
• Foxtel Gamesworld, offering subscribers two games channels and 10 different games with easy to play titles and games that test the mind.
• Digital quality pictures and CD quality sound are a given with Foxtel digital on each and every service.
• Widescreen and AC3 Surround Sound: Foxtel Digital will include more than 45 channels that will broadcast in 16:9 widescreen at launch and 13 channels with enhanced surround sound.

"Every Foxtel Digital subscriber will have access to Sky News Active, Sports Active and Foxtel Box Office. All are new, unique features that have been designed totally with the viewer in mind, giving them choice, convenience and control over their television viewing experience," Foxtel Director of Digital, Mr Patrick Delany, said. "News viewers will love being able to access news at the touch of a button, sports fans will love directing the action of their favourite sports, and movie fans can now have the latest release blockbuster films delivered direct to their homes, in widescreen and with surround sound, all at the click of their remote control.
"Wrapped around all these services is the intuitive and easy to use Foxtel Digital Guide, which combined with the new Foxtel remote control, will be the gateway for Foxtel Digital subscribers to navigate this wondrous new universe and plan their viewing like never before."

For more launch pictures, click here

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