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Foxtel To Launch New Channels In 2009?


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i believe there is a chance we will get a basketball channel.

50% nbl, 49% euro bball and 1%nba :rolleyes:

The chances of getting a basketball channel are about the same as Phar Lap winning next years Melbourne Cup. There would not be enough viewers to support what is a marginal sport in Australia.

Level of attendance at Basketball games from the ABS Website:

Basketball

In the 12 months prior to interview in 2005-06, 237,200 people aged 15 years and over attended a basketball game at least once, representing an attendance rate of 2%.

The rates of attendance at basketball ranged from 3% in South Australia to 1% in New South Wales and Tasmania.

Similar numbers of males (132,600) and females (104,600) attended basketball games with the attendance rates for males and females being 2% and 1% respectively.

More than two-fifths of all basketball spectators (42%) attended one or two times, one quarter (25%) had been to a game three to five times, while around one-third (34%) attended six or more times.

Source - http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/4174.0

Also the following information from the ABS website:

Childrens particitpation in Basketball from the 2006 ABS Yearbook: 8.6% with participation for boys peaking at 10 years of age and for girls 11 years of age. Source - ABS Website

Basketball didn't even make the list for participation by adults as the figures were too low.

I think this dispells the myth that Australians would want a Basketball Channel once and for all.

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The current rumour is that Australian FoxSoccer channel is still very much a work in progress....

I have an aquaintance,a big football fan anda bit of an expert on sport TV rights who works at one of the News Ltd dailies and he tells me that Premier Media owners of Fox Sports in Australia are very keen but are waiting to see if they win the next round of EPL rights in Australia before they can seriously think about launching a football specific channel in Oz....

From what he tells me both Oz Setanta and ESPN international are looking at bidding for the EPL when the contract comes up for tender next year as are FTA station lil'ol2%SBS although I'd assume if the jippo channel did make a bid it would be in partnership with Setanta who btw want to launch another channel to complement the current offering.....

He also tells me that over in the US,ESPN the countries major sports content owner are looking to tie up US rights to the EPL,either in partnership with Setanta or if not they'll look at buying Setanta's US operations out.....

No EPL on the US version of Fox Soccer would mean a major loss of subscribers and mifght make the networks owners News Corp think if whether it is worth keeping the channel going although they recently picked up Serie A and became a NIELSEN rated network meaning they now have a much better ability to seek advertiser support.....

Thanks for the update, very interesting.

I hope Fox Sports don't lose the rights to EPL in Australia, that would suck big time. What would be good is if Fox Sports picked up the rights to the UEFA Champions League.

I guess it looks like any Fox Football Channel is still some 18-24 months away though. Damn!!

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Thanks for the update, very interesting.

I hope Fox Sports don't lose the rights to EPL in Australia, that would suck big time. What would be good is if Fox Sports picked up the rights to the UEFA Champions League.

I guess it looks like any Fox Football Channel is still some 18-24 months away though. Damn!!

Agreed - but wouldn't be terrible if they were shared - and it would be great if a FTA channel got a highlights show.

Fox Sports' coverage is good, but what I don't like is that they never replay viewers choice games - also, when a game isn't shown live you can be waiting for a day or two before you see the highlights from it. I wish Fox had a show like "Goals on Sunday" or "Match of the Day" on Sundays - showing all the highlights. They really should use content from overseas more - Simon Hill and Robbie Slater aren't terrible when they do studio hosting for EPL games, but that only happens rarely during daylight savings when games are later at night.

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In relation to the original thread I guess what Foxtel will do (if the rumours are to be believed and they have any sense) is to move all of the channels/features currently on Vertical polarity onto Horizontal polarity thus giving their entire subscriber base access to all of Foxtels services including Box Office and Interactive services. This would then put them in a good position to move everyone onto the IQ platform as mentioned previously in this thread.

There will be more HD content to entice the take up of IQ2 but I think after they have moved everything onto Horizontal polarity.

In terms of "new" channels I think it is safe to assume we won't get any channels retransmitted direct from the UK (such as Sky Sports) or the US (such as HBO) but will get ones that are already available on other platofmrs (assuming there are no exclusivity rights). Examples of which are TMF, Discovery Turbo, Euronews. Not sure about Al Jazeera English or Eurosport Asia Pacific though (although I am crossing my fingers).

Foxtel have always hinted at the fact that the Sky News Active service will go full screen at some point in the future. This will be the time as there will be more bandwidth and thus we will not get a Sky News UK dedicated channel as a lot of people have requested but will simply get it full screen in the active service.

As for new new, new, never been seen before channels I have no idea but can't wait to find out.

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Agreed - but wouldn't be terrible if they were shared - and it would be great if a FTA channel got a highlights show.

Fox Sports' coverage is good, but what I don't like is that they never replay viewers choice games - also, when a game isn't shown live you can be waiting for a day or two before you see the highlights from it. I wish Fox had a show like "Goals on Sunday" or "Match of the Day" on Sundays - showing all the highlights. They really should use content from overseas more - Simon Hill and Robbie Slater aren't terrible when they do studio hosting for EPL games, but that only happens rarely during daylight savings when games are later at night.

If Fox did lose EPL, does anyone think any other broadcasters could/will offer as many games? DO ESPN/SETANTA have the ability for interactive? I guess things like this are as important to the Premier League management as much as $$$.

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The chances of getting a basketball channel are about the same as Phar Lap winning next years Melbourne Cup. There would not be enough viewers to support what is a marginal sport in Australia.

Level of attendance at Basketball games from the ABS Website:

Source - http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/4174.0

Also the following information from the ABS website:

Childrens particitpation in Basketball from the 2006 ABS Yearbook: 8.6% with participation for boys peaking at 10 years of age and for girls 11 years of age. Source - ABS Website

Basketball didn't even make the list for participation by adults as the figures were too low.

I think this dispells the myth that Australians would want a Basketball Channel once and for all.

I think there is a big difference between Australians attending an NBL game (which is some pretty rudimentary basketball), and Australians watching NBA on Tv.

I would think there are far more basketball fans in australia who love to watch the worlds best on tv, rather than pay money to watch to local stuff.

Still, its a pipe dream and will never happen. Meanwhile foxtel will keep filling up our sports channels with soccer :-(

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I think there is a big difference between Australians attending an NBL game (which is some pretty rudimentary basketball), and Australians watching NBA on Tv.

I would think there are far more basketball fans in australia who love to watch the worlds best on tv, rather than pay money to watch to local stuff.

Still, its a pipe dream and will never happen. Meanwhile foxtel will keep filling up our sports channels with soccer :-(

Soccer is the most watched and played sport in Aus though......

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Soccer is the most watched

How is Soccer the most watched sport in Australia?? That's just a stupid statement. Sure the World Cup gets massive numbers every four years, but Friday night football with the NRL or AFL gets more viewers then a whole round of A-League and EPL combined. AFL average attendance would be four times more then the A-League.

Edited by Hosko
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Soccer is the most watched and played sport in Aus though......

ABS 2005-06

Most attended sports

Australian Rules 15.6%

Horse Racing 12.8%

Rugby League 9.0%

Motor Sports 8.9%

Cricket (Outdoor) 4.6%

Rugby Union 4.3%

Soccer (Outdoor) 3.4%

Participants by Sport (000s)

Walking for fitness 3958.3

Aerobics/Fitness 2016.0

Swimming 1447.3

Cycling 1011.7

Golf 875.5

Tennis 768.9

Running 681.3

Bush Walking 519.5

Netball 431.0

Soccer (outdoor) 419.6

Basketball 331.5

Statistcs for non attendence viewing are a litte harder to come by, but i would suggest that Soccer is not the most watched and played sport in Aus :unsure:

Graeme

I've gotta get a life or at least get back to work :P

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ABS 2005-06

Most attended sports

Australian Rules 15.6%

Horse Racing 12.8%

Rugby League 9.0%

Motor Sports 8.9%

Cricket (Outdoor) 4.6%

Rugby Union 4.3%

Soccer (Outdoor) 3.4%

Participants by Sport (000s)

Walking for fitness 3958.3

Aerobics/Fitness 2016.0

Swimming 1447.3

Cycling 1011.7

Golf 875.5

Tennis 768.9

Running 681.3

Bush Walking 519.5

Netball 431.0

Soccer (outdoor) 419.6

Basketball 331.5

Statistcs for non attendence viewing are a litte harder to come by, but i would suggest that Soccer is not the most watched and played sport in Aus :unsure:

Graeme

I've gotta get a life or at least get back to work :P

I meant team sports as in playing, and since when was bush walking a sport ;) Those figures are wrong as they don't include school sports BTW ;-) I also doubt that golf has over 875,000 people playing.

TV Rating as in watching, Google will tell you why Fox put so much football (the round ball) on......

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I am all in for extra sport channels, maybe Eurosport Asia Pacific or fox soccer. If foxsport fail to win EPL right when it up for grab, I will end my foxtel subscription.

IHMO all other channels on foxtel are just bunch of repeat and repeat and repeat and repeat.

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Those statistics are also nearly four years old, they would have changed a fair bit since.

Anyway, we're all getting off-topic.

Any figures before the 2006 World Cup are way too out of date to consider now.

Foxtel loves football because they know it is one sport where they can almost have a monopoly on rights - and that means plenty of people would have signed up for foxtel just to get football coverage. This is obvious when you look at viewing figures (on Foxtel) for big Socceroos games.

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I also doubt that golf has over 875,000 people playing.

Quoted on TV last night (forget which program) that there are over 1,000,000 people in Australia who play golf. 'Golflink' has over 400,000 players with a registered handicap and my golf club in Adelaide quotes on its web site "with 9.6% of the adult population who are 18 or over, playing golf..."

soccer? don't think so 'forumite'

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Quoted on TV last night (forget which program) that there are over 1,000,000 people in Australia who play golf. 'Golflink' has over 400,000 players with a registered handicap and my golf club in Adelaide quotes on its web site "with 9.6% of the adult population who are 18 or over, playing golf..."

soccer? don't think so 'forumite'

If golf has that mnay players they muct include people who play crazy golf as well...therfore for football you have to include anyone who has a kick about in the yard and beach, so the participant numbers go way up.

The facts (I have seen them on school papers) clearly state that football is now the most played team game in Australia at school and adult level. People who still call it soccer are not fans and for some reason are anti the sport, there is room for all sports to live harmonioulsy togerther.

Maybe the education dept papers lie......

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from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2005 - 2006

MAIN SPORTS AND PHYSICAL RECREATION ACTIVITIES

Among Australians aged 15 years and over, walking was the most commonly reported physical recreation activity, with over 4.0 million people participating in the 12-month period prior to interview. The overall participation rate for walking was 25%. The next most popular activities were aerobics/fitness (2.0 million participants and a participation rate of 13%), swimming (1.4 million or 9%) then cycling (1.0 million or 6%). Participation in golf attracted 6% of the population aged 15 years and over (875,500) during the 12-month period, followed by both tennis (768,900 or 5%) and running (681,300 or 4%). Participation in outdoor soccer (419,600 or 3%) was higher than Australian Rules football (268,700 or 2%).

Twice as many females as males (2.7 million and 1.3 million respectively) walked for exercise in the 12-month period. More males participated in Australian Rules football (240,800) than females (27,900) and males also dominated in soccer (indoor and outdoor) (459,600 compared to 155,600 females), cricket (indoor and outdoor) (424,700 compared to 30,800 females) and fishing (220,100 compared to 30,800 females). By comparison, female participation in netball (387,500), yoga (248,700) and dancing (177,300) was higher than that of males (43,400, 24,800 and 47,700 respectively).

Of all the sports and physical recreation undertaken in an organised capacity, the activity most commonly participated in by Australians 15 years and over, was aerobics/fitness (570,000). Netball (333,800) was the next most popular organised sport followed by tennis (250,400) and soccer (outdoor) (248,500). Activities that were commonly undertaken only in a non-organised capacity were walking for exercise (3.9 million), aerobics/fitness and swimming (both 1.3 million) and cycling (913,100). Activities that were commonly undertaken both in an organised and a non-organised capacity included golf (175,000), aerobics/fitness (160,600) and swimming (99,300).

PARTICIPANTS, By top ten sports and physical recreation activities and sex

I couldnt get the graph to copy over but here is the link

http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/La...;num=&view=

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from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2005 - 2006

MAIN SPORTS AND PHYSICAL RECREATION ACTIVITIES

Among Australians aged 15 years and over, walking was the most commonly reported physical recreation activity, with over 4.0 million people participating in the 12-month period prior to interview. The overall participation rate for walking was 25%. The next most popular activities were aerobics/fitness (2.0 million participants and a participation rate of 13%), swimming (1.4 million or 9%) then cycling (1.0 million or 6%). Participation in golf attracted 6% of the population aged 15 years and over (875,500) during the 12-month period, followed by both tennis (768,900 or 5%) and running (681,300 or 4%). Participation in outdoor soccer (419,600 or 3%) was higher than Australian Rules football (268,700 or 2%).

Twice as many females as males (2.7 million and 1.3 million respectively) walked for exercise in the 12-month period. More males participated in Australian Rules football (240,800) than females (27,900) and males also dominated in soccer (indoor and outdoor) (459,600 compared to 155,600 females), cricket (indoor and outdoor) (424,700 compared to 30,800 females) and fishing (220,100 compared to 30,800 females). By comparison, female participation in netball (387,500), yoga (248,700) and dancing (177,300) was higher than that of males (43,400, 24,800 and 47,700 respectively).

Of all the sports and physical recreation undertaken in an organised capacity, the activity most commonly participated in by Australians 15 years and over, was aerobics/fitness (570,000). Netball (333,800) was the next most popular organised sport followed by tennis (250,400) and soccer (outdoor) (248,500). Activities that were commonly undertaken only in a non-organised capacity were walking for exercise (3.9 million), aerobics/fitness and swimming (both 1.3 million) and cycling (913,100). Activities that were commonly undertaken both in an organised and a non-organised capacity included golf (175,000), aerobics/fitness (160,600) and swimming (99,300).

PARTICIPANTS, By top ten sports and physical recreation activities and sex

I couldnt get the graph to copy over but here is the link

http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/La...;num=&view=

that makes sense, organised being the main word. Golf etc is hard to gauge accurately, and as MattWinter said stats from 2005/06 are possibly out of date. Football is now more popular than then so that is why it has taken over from Netball.

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and this but unsure how reliable the site is

http://www.sportbusiness.com/news/166948/t...ort-says-survey

quoted in June 2008

Tennis is Australia’s most popular sport says survey

For the first time in 17 years, tennis was the top-ranked sport in terms of the percentage of Australians who had either attended an event, watched the sport on television or read about it in a newspaper in the last year. Tennis got a 57-per-cent rating, swimming was in second place with 55 per cent, while cricket languished in third, after losing six percentage points in the last year. The survey suggested that interest in cricket has dipped since Australia’s loss to England in the Ashes tour in 2005.

Sweeney Sports general manager Todd Deacon attributed the surge in the popularity of tennis to Tennis Australia’s marketing efforts:

“People are more actively involved in following the sport and I think part of that has been not just the Australian Open but they are getting big names to the lead-up tournaments.

“You get big names and you will get big crowds, and there will be greater interest.”

Golf is another struggling sport according to the survey, with just 23 per cent of Australians having attended an event or followed it on television or in the newspapers – an 8-per-cent drop. This placed it behind fishing, basketball, netball, hiking and gym workouts.

but does not mention footy etc ?

Edited by tomlc
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The chances of getting a basketball channel are about the same as Phar Lap winning next years Melbourne Cup. There would not be enough viewers to support what is a marginal sport in Australia.

Level of attendance at Basketball games from the ABS Website:

Source - http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/4174.0

Also the following information from the ABS website:

Childrens particitpation in Basketball from the 2006 ABS Yearbook: 8.6% with participation for boys peaking at 10 years of age and for girls 11 years of age. Source - ABS Website

Basketball didn't even make the list for participation by adults as the figures were too low.

I think this dispells the myth that Australians would want a Basketball Channel once and for all.

What is the correlation between participation in basketball and the desire for a basketball channel? Does that mean because not many people play rugby league or AFL they wouldn't want a dedicated league or AFL channel. Participation has nothing to do with desire to watch professionals play. I have played soccer all my life but the last game i watched was the one where LA Galaxy played Sydney FC and the one before that was the qualifier where Australia got into the world cup.

I don't know how a basketball channel would rate, but participation is not an indicator of how it would rate or whether or not it should be produced.

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Guest melburn21
I don't know how a basketball channel would rate, but participation is not an indicator of how it would rate or whether or not it should be produced.

Hmmmm. I agree and disagree...

Participation certainly would influence the popularity of a sport channel, but the most important factor would be exclusivity. Soccer does extreamly well on Foxtel because apart from sbs, you don't get anywhere near enough of FTA. Foxtel have ridden this bandwagon with EPL, A league and reality shows like football superstar.

Golf is extreamly popular aswell, but you get a pretty decent coverage on FTA so I don't think it warrents it's own channel.

Remember when Foxtel secured the rights to the AFL again, and instead of bringing back the footy channel, they released foxsports3? I believe this is what Foxtel is likely to do if they are to consider more sports channels. I can see an ESPN2 being released in OZ before a sport specific channel

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Foxtel's 20 brand new channels eh.... hmmmm.

FOXTEL's 20 Channels

1. Lawn Bowling Channel

2. Lawn Bowling Channel +2

3. SBS2

4. ONE (Channel 10 Sport)

5. 111 Hits +2

6. Bio +2

7. How to +2

8. E! +2

9. Lifestyle +2

10. Sci Fi +2

11. Fashion TV +2

12. Hallmark +2

13. Fox Sports 4

14. History Channel +2

15. Adults Only Select 3

16. Playboy Channel

17. MTV +2

18. CI +2

19. Eurosports 2 or +2

20. Sky Racing 2

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The facts (I have seen them on school papers) clearly state that football is now the most played team game in Australia at school and adult level. People who still call it soccer are...

...calling a spade a spade. "football" is a generic term, with many individual codes, and what someone means when they say "football" depends on where they are - grubby league if you're in NSW/Qld, Aussie rules other states, NFL in America, etc. The English insist that "football" exclusively means soccer, but for the people who invented the language, they seem to have a hard time understanding that it's a generic term covering many different types of ball sport played with the feet (as opposed to handball, racquetball, etc.)... or are the Aussie Rules players forgetting to take their racquets on the field with them?

Edited by donaldp
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