was the first provider of subscription television in Australia, launching a MMDS service on 26 January 1995. Originally Premier Sports Network was the only local channel to be fully operational, with Showtime and Encore launching in March. They were later joined in April by TV1, Arena, Max, Red and Quest. A satellite service was launched later in the year. Optus Vision and Austar launched their cable services on 19 September followed by Foxtel on 22 October. Northgate Communications launched their service on 13 March 1997. It was later acquired by Neighbourhood Cable. Galaxy was closed on 20 May 1998. Two weeks later Foxtel significantly boosted its customer base by acquiring Galaxy subscribers from the liquidator of Australis Media and immediately commenced supplying programming to Galaxy's subscribers on an interim basis. In February 1999 Foxtel began offering its own satellite service to new customers. Following the collapse, ECTV quickly signed a deal with Optus Vision. Less than two months later, it was acquired by Austar, along with its stake in XYZ. Austar replaced the ECTV packages with their own in September.
2000s
launched in 2001, beginning with VoD followed later by linear channels. UBI World TV launched in 2004. Also in 2004, TV PLUS launched its Ethnic platforms catering for Balkans, Russians and other Eastern European communities. Foxtel and Austar both launched their digital offerings in 2004, with a total of 130 channels. The following year, Foxtel introduces their Foxtel iQpersonal video recorder. SelecTV launched on 12 April 2006. It ceased its English programming in late 2010. Neighbourhood Cable with its hybrid fibre coaxial cable networks in three Victorian regional cities of Mildura, Ballarat and Geelong was acquired by TransACT at the end of 2007. In November 2011, TransACT was acquired by iiNet Limited, which in 2015 itself became a subsidiary of TPG. Foxtel commenced their HD service in February 2009.
2010s
entered the market in 2010 with a subscription service over a few ADSL2+ networks.
2020s
Channels available
Almost all channels which currently or previously operated in Australia were available through Foxtel and Austar, being the dominant player in the market. However, some smaller competitors offer a subset of channels which are exclusive or unavailable on Foxtel services. The majority of channels not available through Foxtel are non-English language channels. UBI World TV offers a number of ethnic satellite TV and radio channels nationwide, and other companies offer some channels via satellite, and some channels are available over the internet.
Delivery
Satellite
is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location. The signals are received via an outdoor parabolic antenna commonly referred to as a satellite dish and a low-noise block downconverter. In Australia, paid satellite television is or has been provided through the following satellites:
Hybrid fiber-coaxial is a broadband network that combines optical fiber and coaxial cable. It has been commonly employed globally by cable television operators since the early 1990s. In Australia it is used or has been used by:
Optus use their own cable network in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to provide subscription television. However, the service has reportedly become unavailable in areas where the National Broadband Network is rolled out.
Neighbourhood Cable provides a TV service over their own cable to Geelong, Ballarat and Mildura.
Internet television in Australia is the digital distribution of movies and television content via the Internet. In Australia, paid internet television is provided by a number of generalist streaming service providers, in addition to several niche providers that focus on specific genres. Major providers of streaming services in Australia include:
TransACT's TransTV service uses VDSL over a fibre-to-the-kerb network in some suburbs of the A.C.T.
Foxtel uses the Internet to provide some extra content to its iQ2 platform. It also offers Foxtel on Xbox, a subset of Foxtel channels via any internet provider
Defunct Services
A number of subscription television services in Australia have become defunct or are no longer supported in Australia:
Austar previously delivered an analogue MMDS service into selected regional areas, however the system was dumped in the late 1990s/early 2000s. Austar also briefly tested a digital MMDS service on the Gold Coast.
TARBS leased some of Austar's metropolitan licenses for their service.
ECTV and Galaxy also used MMDS.
SelecTV used Intelsat 8 until administrators shut the service down in January 2011.
UBI World TV used Optus D2 and Intelsat 8 until United Broadcasting International Pty Ltd ceased to trade on 8 June 2012.
Austar has ceased transmission 24 May 2012, prior to this, Foxtel had acquired Austar.
