Satellite TV Australia

Companies in the Satellite TV Australia market include Foxtel, Austar, and Optus Vision.

According to the company, Foxtel is connected to some 1.2 million homes in Australia, while Austar is considerably smaller at some half a million subscribers.

Foxtel operates both cable and satellite services to all state capital cities (except Darwin and Hobart) and the whole of Western Australia.

That makes Foxtel Australia's leading subscription television provider, offering over 45 channels of movies, sport, news, music, documentaries, children's TV and other entertainment.

You can get Foxtel through Telstra, which offers a bundled product of subscription TV, telephony, internet and broadband services.

Austar, meanwhile, provides a comprehensive range of premium TV programming, delivered principally using satellite technology, plus narrowband Internet services and mobile telephony.

Satellite TV Australia – Foxtel

Foxtel is jointly owned by Telstra (50% ownership), News Corp (25%), and Publishing and Broadcasting Limited (25% equity).

Foxtel offers a number of options to receive the service.

These options include subscribing to FOXTEL directly on cable or satellite, or through Telstra, which offers a bundled product of subscription TV, telephony, Internet and broadband services.

Foxtel is also available to all subscribers of Optus. Also, if you’re in Canberra, TransACT provides FOXTEL services on cable there, and Neighborhood Cable has the rights to broadcast FOXTEL in Geelong.

Foxtel can be subscribed to approximately 70% of Australian homes via cable or satellite.

Satellite service is available where cable is not installed: Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Geelong, Melbourne, Newcastle and the NSW Central Coast, Sydney and parts of Western Australia.

Satellite TV Australia – Austar

Austar is Australia's number two subscription television provider in regional and rural Australia and capital cities Hobart and Darwin. More than 2.1 million homes in Australia can now subscribe to Austar.

Austar also holds a 50% ownership in a joint venture, XYZnetworks, which is a significant program provider in the Australian market and distributes Nickelodeon, Discovery, Channel [V], musicMAX, Arena, The Lifestyle Channel and The Weather Channel.

Austar’s coverage information and coverage maps are located at:

austar.com.au/television/coverage/