There’s another streaming service in Australia, and with Foxtel running things, it means you may be able to get some of the shows Foxtel is known for at a lower price.
Australians sure have a selection of streaming services to check out on their TVs, computers, tablets, and phones, and the number is set to increase very, very shortly.
As it stands, Aussies can pay to tune into Netflix, Stan, Disney+, Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video, Ten All Access, Hayu, and Kayo, to name a few, with some other paid options out there, on top of the free streams from ABC iView, SBS On Demand, Seven, Nine, and Ten’s freebie, too, with Freeview uniting aspects of these in a guide.
Or to put it simply, there’s no shortage of streaming solutions out there for Aussies to check out, though there’s about to be one more.
Foxtel is throwing its own take on a Netflix into the ring, launching “Binge”, an ad-free on-demand service that grabs content from some of the companies that typically supply to Foxtel, including BBC, Discovery, FX, HBO, NBCUniversal, Paramount, Sony, StudioCanal, and Warner Bros, to name a few. It’s a service that will include movies both old and new, as well as TV shows from those partners, and support much of the HBO line-up that usually hits Foxtel first before iTunes, including Westworld, Big Little Lies, Game of Thones, and more.
“Binge speaks to the heart of what great entertainment viewing is about, something that is so good you can’t switch off,” said Julian Ogrin, CEO of Binge.
“This is a next generation streaming service that we want to go beyond providing the best content by creating an emotional connection with viewers based on unapologetic entertainment pleasure, a place you can escape to for that precious ‘me time’,” he said.
“We couldn’t be more excited to pull the curtain back and show Australia this incredible product.”
Set to launch this week, Binge will offer over 10,000 hours of ad-free content on its service, and quite a few devices, as well. At launch, Binge supports mobiles, tablets, and devices such as the Apple TV, Telstra TV, plus carry support across both Android TV and Chromecast devices, and run on web browsers, making it accessible for most Australians. It even comes with a feature or two to stand out.
While streaming services typically cater for what’s trending, Binge appears to offer content exploration by theme and mood, plus top lists. Alongside the movies and TV shows, Binge is following suit with Disney+ by adding a little more to what’s on offer, to let you check out some of the behind the scenes and extra content for titles on the service.
It’s not yet known if Binge will deliver the entirety of what Foxtel offers from its content library and company partnership, but our initial guess is no. While the company has confirmed a large list of titles, some appear to be missing in action, such as Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, not to mention the absence of sports, which is not on Binge in any shape or form.
There’s also the matter of Foxtel’s other streaming service, Foxtel Now, which instead relays Foxtel’s service as a whole and not just select parts, which is what Binge appears to do.
However the price is the part that could win people over, with a lower price than the typical amount Foxtel tends to ask for.
While Foxtel Now is charged on a channel package price much like the regular Foxtel service, Binge will have a more Netflix-like price point, starting at $10 for the standard definition (SD) plan, though will cost $14 or $18 for high definition (HD) and support for up to two or four simultaneous screens, respectively. All plans have a two week trial before payment kicks in, with the service set to start from May 25.
