Packer ‘ready to exit Foxtel if the price is right’
James Packer is ready to exit his investment in Foxtel if he can get a good price, The Australian reports.
According to the newspaper, Packer – who only recently bought a stake in Ten – “is uncertain about the medium-term outlook for the pay-TV industry”.
Packer owns just under half of Consolidated Media Holdings which in turn owns 25% of Foxtel and 50% of Fox Sports.
According to The Australian, Packer “has grown tired of the heavy-weight personality clashes that are a regular feature of the Australian media landscape.”
The rest of Foxtel is owned by Telstra and News Corp.
According to The Australian, the most likely buyers would be one of those two, or Kerry Stokes’ Seven which already owns nearly 25% of CMH.
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Consolidated Media Holdings
Foxtel
James Packer
Kerry Stokes
Marketing
Media
News Corp
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Seven
Telstra
Ten
The Australian
My gut feeling is that the young Mr Packer has reason to be worried.
Foxtel is about using a broadband connection for one purpose only: delivering streaming video, with viewers able to select from a limited menu of programs broadcast simultaneously to everyone. The pay TV industry is highly regulated.
The National Broadband Network is a broadband connection that any player, new or old, large or small, can use to deliver any video content they want at any time. The industry is much less regulated.
From a consumer’s point of view, why would I pay for a service that only lets me choose from the material that a middleman chooses to offer, when I could pay for a service that allows me to connect to access material directly from the producer? A prime example is being able to watch Al Jazeera.
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Further to Stilgherrian’s post – the BBCs iPlayer service is set to be opened up to an international audience this year which will well and truly start the land-grab by content producers worldwide.
A $200 BluRay player currently brings ABC and SBS catchup, among others, direct to my loungeroom telly with more ‘channels’ being added on a regular basis. New TVs have this facility built in without the need of an external box.
Broadband technology is making Foxtel’s cable redundant. Time to bail James!
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