The Foxtel Group has confirmed it will launch Flash, a first of its kind, dedicated live news streaming service featuring more than 20 local and global live news sources.
To be launched in October, Flash is promising a diverse range of local and global television news sources live and on demand.
The flagship offering of the package will be Sky News Australia and associated streams Sky News Weather and Sky News Extra. Fox Sports News should be part of the package too.
Other existing Foxtel news channels that will join Flash should be Sky News UK, BBC World News, Fox News, CNN, CNBC, Bloomberg Television, Aljazeera, TRT World, NHK Newsline.
Since the demise of Sky News Business and the short-lived News Corp/Nine JV Your Money, Foxtel has carried no domestic business channel. That could make the David Koch ausbiz channel a possible contender for Flash. Giving Flash subscribers access to Ticker News might also be a possibility.
Another highlight of Flash will be the recently revealed News Corp British channel talkTV. Just last week News UK explained: talkTV will offer a mix of programming from News UK’s stable of household brands. There will be proper hourly news bulletins, sports and entertainment shows as well as current affairs, debate, opinion and documentaries.
New format shows will be introduced using talent from News UK brands – talkRADIO, talkSPORT, Virgin Radio, Times Radio, The Sun, The Times and The Sunday Times.
The Foxtel Group today also confirmed the appointment of Kate de Brito (pictured) as executive director, Flash. De Brito was previously editor-in-chief of news.com.au, one of Australia’s most popular digital news sites, with an average monthly audience of over 10 million. She has worked as a news, feature and opinion writer for more than 20 years across digital, newspapers and magazines.
Foxtel Group CEO, Patrick Delany, said: “We are excited to lock in our plans to launch Flash next month, the third streaming service we will have launched in as many years.
“These new streaming products are driving rapid growth in subscribers and revenue as we diversify our portfolio of entertainment brands and reinvent the Foxtel Group as Australia’s most dynamic streaming company.
“The number of Australian households with a streaming service is forecast to grow by almost 20% in the next four years, reaching 85% of all households, with each household expected to have between three and four SVOD subscriptions.
“Flash will ride this wave, offering news-hungry Australians a new way to stay informed about politics, business and local and international events. We believe the product will tap into a growing demand for diverse, trusted news sources by making the best range of Australian and international 24-7 television news sources even more accessible.”
Delany added: “Flash won’t be what the market expects. It will be more than simply aggregating live channels. Our experience and technology platform gives us the ability to draw on successful Kayo features and innovations to provide an outstanding news experience for our subscribers.”
How much will Flash cost?
The big missing piece of the Flash puzzle so far is how much it will cost. For the streaming news channels alone the upper limit will probably be $10. That is the basic cost of a Binge subscription and it would be unlikely to cost more than that at launch.
However the opportunity to bundle News Corp Australia news products could see that price creep higher if a subscriber could get access to The Australian or the News Corp metro mastheads.
Foxtel has promised to reveal more about Flash on Thursday September 7.
See also News Corp woos Piers Morgan: New show for Sky News Australia and Fox News