The Australian company Telstra announced last week that it will launch TV services in September. This comes to answer an increasing market interest in Australia for "all-in-one" video streaming on demand (VoD), bundling together the leading services: Presto, Stan, and Netflix.
This step will also put Telstra in a position to compete with other products the company already offers, such as Foxtel. Telstra has a 50% share in Foxtel and Foxtel Play is a direct competitor of Stan, Presto and Netflix. However, Foxtel is involved itself in a joint venture in Presto, together with Seven West Media.
Foxtel has also completed last year a joint production of Google Box and has recently purchased 15% share in the Ten Network. A spokesperson for Telstra declared that the new service will not be positioned as a substitution for Foxtel, but despite this claim it is possible that Telstra TV would take some customers from Foxtel.
Since the Roku service provides access to HBO Go, which features the most recent season of the popular Game of Thrones, once HBO Go will become available in Australia it could also impact Foxtel audiences, a channel relying heavily on exclusive programs.
Telstra has chosen to run its TV service on the Roku 2 device, a video-on-demand player that is comparable in function to Apple TV and Google Chromecast. The Roku 2 player runs already hundreds of international apps, but it is not clear yet how many and which ones will be available in Australia. Perhaps the new service will give access to Presto, Netflix and Stan. Telstra announced that the company is trying to negotiate a bundled deal for all these leading services for a subscription fee less than AUD$30 a month.
The announcement by Telstra sent a signal that the ISP Australian company aims to become a media distributor as well. Up to date, Telstra is already involved in a number of areas of the Australian media, including streaming and broadcast.
In addition to its various media associations, Telstra provides services that will compete with its new Telstra TV. T-Box, for instance, is offering many similar digital -services to Telstra TV. T-Box provides access to FTA broadcast television, but the Roku 2 is solely relying on app entertainment and internet and does not allow FTA viewing or recording. For this reason is most likely Telstra will discount T-Box after the launching of Telstra TV.
The television market in Australia has become disrupted and fragmented by the introduction of VoD services and even Internet service providers are entering now the competition. This move by Telstra changes the television market in Australia. Time will tell who will become the top media players in the future.
It is still uncertain whether the future of VoD services is to be found whit the current traditional broadcasters, pay-TV, and free-to-air or perhaps ISPs will start to take a larger share and become big players on the market. VoD might also force old players to adapt to the new media landscape. Nine and Seven are already involved with VoD services.
