Foxtel CEO calls for free to air TV extension in Australia

Jane Schulze in today's Australian reports

Pay-TV group Foxtel has joined the growing chorus of media companies seeking a comprehensive review of Australia's media and telecommunications regulation ahead of the $43 billion national broadband network rollout.

Speaking to the National Press Club in Canberra yesterday, Foxtel chief executive Kim Williams also said the federal government should allow a fourth digital-only free-to-air TV network as soon as possible.

"It should issue licences to new players to provide new networks, either terrestrially or via satellite. That will help to drive digital television take-up," Mr Williams said.

"Why shouldn't a company like Foxtel or others have the opportunity to offer a fourth free-to-air network or a fifth over satellite if we can make a business case work? Why shouldn't any other reputable and well-financed company be able to offer a fourth network terrestrially if it can make the business case work?"

IMO this is an excellent idea, not least because the boundaries between free to air and pay TV in Australia are artificial. In the UK there is a crossover or hybrid area where channels such as the local Sky News are available as free to air. In Australia the so-called "Freeview" has added some channels and quasi-channels but otherwise has done little to engage with the pay TV sector. (Of course, the reverse is also true).

While Foxtel could put a few rooms in its own house in order, eg by making Al - Jazeera TV available (not just as a counterweight to Fox News), it does otherwise provide a variety of programs some of which which deserve a wider audience. Sky News Australia reports on events in Canberra and Sydney in some depth (and occasionally runs an eye over happenings elsewhere) while the relatively new A-PAC channel has caught the ABC asleep at the wheel by providing live video coverage of federal parliament (check it out to see how rapidly each chamber empties after question time).

As the internet and other technology increasingly provide alternative means of viewing TV programs perhaps there's less need to bang on about this, but while my monitor is smaller than my TV screen it would be good to have the bigger, and broader, picture.

Sky seeks piece of pie

From today's Australian

Tensions have ignited between the ABC and Sky News, with ABC managing director Mark Scott suggesting pay-TV's push to operate Australia's international television network could harm diplomatic relations.

Mr Scott's comments follow remarks by Sky News chief executive Angelos Frangopoulos at a broadcasting conference yesterday, when he said Sky would re-tender to provide the Australia Network TV service next year when the current contract with the ABC expires.

Sky News, which is part owned by News Corp, provides a good if Sydney and Canberra-centric news service on a shoestring (its coverage of last year's WA state election was run out of Sydney). The ABC, which is funded by taxpayers, has a more substantial news gathering and reporting infrastructure which draws upon other sources without being dependent on them as Sky's budget obliges it to be.

IMO it would be foolhardy to hand over responsibility for a TV service which, as the Oz article concedes, is designed to supplement outr diplomatic efforts, to an organisation whose roots reach well beyond our borders. In this instance what's good for Mr Murdoch is clearly not good for Australia.

Why isn't AJE broadcast on Australian TV?

"Gaza war coverage raises Al Jazeera hope" is the headline in today's Australian over a story about Al Jazeera English (AJE)'s attempts to gain access to Australian television screens.

Just as the 1991 Gulf War gave cable news channel CNN a boost, the war in Gaza has given Al Jazeera English a chance to break into the American and Australian markets.

Al Jazeera English (AJE) managing director Tony Burman told Media the network was the only one to have its own reporters inside Gaza during the war because Israel barred international networks CNN and BBC World from entering.

So keen were people to get an alternative source of information, AJE's web video stream saw a 600 per cent jump in worldwide viewership -- from 3 million to 17 million minutes.

A good point this. It's not the only time that AJE has been able to provide on the spot coverage when the big two were excluded: last year's Zimbabwe elections is another example.

I regularly watch AJE reports on YouTube, which has probably hitherto been the easiest means for most people here to access them, though another source Livestation, is now available.

It appears that Foxtel has considered ( is considering?) adding AJE to its current suite of mostly western-oriented news channels or, IMO a less desirable option, allowing subscribers to pay an additional fee (presumably like the Setanta Sport option)

[A] Foxtel spokesman says the decision to take AJE depends on demand from consumers. "Foxtel has not had significant commercial discussions with Al Jazeera for a number of years," he says. "Our decision on whether or not to incur the costs of adding AJE to our current choice of channels would depend on whether our customers value it compared with many alternative channels we could provide.

"Al Jazeera could make AJE available to Foxtel customers through our Access Undertaking, which has been approved by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. This agreement enables them to offer their channel over Foxtel's digital television platform to Foxtel customers."

Al Jazeera does present a different perspective on the news, though it is far from a mouthpiece for radical Islamic ideas. While it's not shown in the USA it is available on pay TV networks elsewhere, eg in the UK where the Fox affiliate Sky TV shows it.

I've tried to contact Foxtel to state that I would "value" AJE "compared with many [unspecified] alternative channels we could provide." Unfortunately I've not yet been able to make my point through its written feedback processes.

Update 24 February

Have contacted Foxtel by phone to convey my views,