Foxtel Group has publicly apologized for incorrectly notifying some Kayo and Binge customers that their streaming services would be cancelled. This followed Foxtel's announcement that Kayo Sports and Binge would cease services in hundreds of postcodes designated as "very remote" areas in Australia, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics definition.
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02-06, 2025Geraldton, a city in Western Australia located 420 kilometers north of Perth with a population of 40,000, was mistakenly listed as a "very remote" area by the streaming provider. Other regional centers, including Kalgoorlie, Broome, and Karratha, were also included in the list of 58 Western Australian postcodes published by Foxtel Group, where streaming services would be terminated.
A Foxtel spokesperson stated in a statement: "We are contacting customers who may have incorrectly received the notification to clarify their situation and apologize for any confusion caused." The company has confirmed that it has updated its help pages accordingly. However, services will be affected in 32 Western Australian postcodes, as well as dozens of postcodes in other parts of Australia, including parts of South Australia, the Northern Territory, Queensland, and rural Victoria.
The move will also affect people who subscribe in service areas but travel frequently, including thousands of fly-in fly-out (FIFO) miners in Western Australia's Pilbara region. TV Blackbox news editor Kevin Perry said the decision was made due to uncertainty about the ability of satellite NBN to provide reliable streaming services. Kayo Sports informed users that they would be able to obtain Foxtel subscription services at a competitive price.
Mr. Perry stated that streaming services like Kayo and Binge are typically cheaper than the packages offered by Foxtel. Kayo Sports starts at AUD 25 per month, while a Foxtel Sports package can be obtained for a special price of AUD 65 per month on a 12-month contract, or AUD 103 per month without a locked-in contract. "It doesn't have that flexibility of being able to turn it on and off at will, or suspend the service for a couple of months—that flexibility that we've become used to," Mr. Perry said. He believes the decision appears to have been made by people in Sydney who do not fully understand the affected communities. "It's very disappointing to hear of people in areas where the internet service is reliable being affected," Mr. Perry said. "Ultimately, it's up to the customer to decide whether their internet is sufficient to support one of these services."
A Foxtel Group spokesperson provided the following statement: "Foxtel Group is updating the terms and conditions for its streaming products [Kayo Sports, BINGE, Flash and LifeStyle], which means that Foxtel [i.e., Foxtel iQ, Foxtel Now and Foxtel Business] will be the only authorized provider of Foxtel Group's premium content in very remote areas of Australia. These changes will take effect on March 3, 2025. Customers of these streaming products affected by this change will be notified in advance and offered competitive Foxtel subscription services."
