No deal has been done yet but James Packer is already thinking about a Foxtel exit strategy.The media magnate is ready to give his Foxtel interests the slip, if the price is right, according to media reports.
Packer’s Consolidated Media Holdings owns 25% of Foxtel. The media mogul owns just under half of CMH.
And why? Because Packer isn’t sure about how lucrative a business proposition pay TV will be in the future, reports suggest, probably due to the onslaught of free TV channels that has hit Aussie screens.
Foxtel is already struggling to deliver new customers, with their CEO blaming the launch of Freeview, new free to air TV channels and new content services, includes the likes of BigPond TV, Fetch TV and other IPTV services.
And just yesterday, Telstra, who owns 25 per cent of the pay TV giant Foxtel, launched its movie streaming service for all Samsung new Smart TVs, Blu-ray and home theatre systems and already offers free content streaming to its broadband subscribers.
Foxtel has recently been associated with a takeover of regional pay TV outfit rivals Austar, although no deal has been set in stone.
The deal, first flagged several weeks ago, needs approval from all three of Foxtel shareholders: Telstra, Consolidated Media and Rupert Murdoch’s News Ltd as well as Austar.
Packer, who recently bought shares in free TV Channel Ten, may be thinking his interest better lie here, given the lack of growth in subscription viewing.
