Foxtel Adapts The 'Can't beat them, Join Them' Approach for Netflix Inc

Netflix, Inc has been giving a rough time to a number of streaming media services in different country, especially Australia.

Netflix, Inc. with its expansion spree has been giving a tough time to a number of streaming media companies in most of the countries, where it has decided to spread its wings. With over millions of streaming media subscribers, the company has managed to establish itself as one of the major streaming content providers in the world. Foxtel, an Australian pay television company has been taking notice of this.

Foxtel is taking the ‘can’t beat em, join em’ approach with Netflix as it is considering adding the on-demand streaming giant to its service. In addition to that, it is also approaching other international right holders which include BBC, Discovery and Viacom to secure as many right of their content as possible, according to a report by Fairfax Media.

The Australian on-demand company has had a few gaps in its service which it is aiming at filling with the help of the international media organizations. Its strong desire to be the country’s most profitable television company is encouraging it to take these measures. However, involving Netflix in its endeavors is definitely a first for Foxtel since it will be allowing another streaming media company’s content onto its service – this would indicate a shift from its ‘traditional wall-garden’ approach.

In the Australian market, the video media provider has made quite mark, making it the most affordable and approachable provider of original TV shows and movies while Foxtel is known is the expensive and rigid video provider in the market. But as per latest marketing strategy launched on Sunday, the Australian cable television provider is working on changing its perception in the consumer’s mind.

Rob Farmer, Director of Content Marketing, stated that the company is working on changing the perception that people in the country has of the service because just like other streaming service providers, Foxtel can be watched in as many places as well, according to Ad News.

Additionally, it has been a rough patch for the company itself as its chief executive officer of five years; Richard Freudenstein was replaced by Peter Tonagh. Currently, the service is contemplating on whether to put Netflix on its Apple TV-style “Puck” streaming service which will be coming out soon.

This move by the on-demand video provider makes sense as Telstra, which is Australia’s largest telecommunication and media company, has decided to sell its 50% stake in Foxtel, mainly because it’s launched its very on puck called Telstra TV. However, presently they are only making this service available to its already exciting customers.

It’s a plus for Foxtel as there is still a huge chunk of market that does not have cable television and are not Telstra customers as well; if it decides to integrate Netflix’s content with its, there’s a good chance that more people will be attracted towards the service and will seem more appealing to the masses.

'Mobile Data Saver' Option For Netflix; Dream Come True for Users

The streaming media company will not be providing data saver option to its customer who watch shows on their smartphone however the feature has not officially been launched yet.

Netflix Inc. has become a master at providing consumers with exactly what they need; sometimes the changes are big while other times they are significantly smaller. At the Mobile World Congress 2016, it had announced some of these small changes to its streaming platform, one of which was giving users a way of managing their data.

Recently, it announced a new ‘data saver’ option which appeared first on the Google Play Store however this was a beta testing program that the streaming media network had not planned to make available to the consumers as yet. It was a beta test program and the company later mentioned that these features should not be associated with the actual features that will be launched later on.

A number of people who joined the beta service stated that they saw a ‘Mobile Data Saver’ option on the program which was also announced at the MWC and was a forthcoming update that will be made available on the iOS and android operating system. During the annual conference, a number of reporters were allowed to preview the feature and take screenshots of it however numerous other users who recently joined the service has also mentioned that they have seen the specific option while streaming via their smartphones.

However, the video on demand subscriber has mentioned that the service has not been rolled out on either of the operating systems yet; additionally, it has not yet announced when it will be releasing either. And the option that was being viewed by a number of users was merely part of a test which was unrelated to the beta program.

Even on the official release on the android system, it lets a user choose whether it will play on Wi-Fi or not, under the specific ‘Video Playback’ option. If the ‘data saving’ option rolls out, the customers of the streaming media network will be able to reduce the video quality below HD 1080 and furthermore will provide more economical bandwidth to the users.

Customers have been facing issues regarding mobile data megabytes as watching shows on mobile can cost people a lot; one of the reasons why T-Mobile has been pushing its Binge on Service. But with the new Data saver option they will be able to lower the data usage on their smartphone. This roll out will the best one yet especially for the people who are on unlimited mobile data plans, as they will be able to watch more shows and movies without worrying about going over their data plan limit.