With Netflix kicking down the door for affordable streaming prices in Australia, Foxtel is more desperate to woo new customers than ever. One of its chief carrots is the popular HBO series Game Of Thrones which remains exclusive to the pay TV network during its initial run. In a bid to entice fans of the show, Foxtel Play is knocking $20 off its monthly Premium Movies & Drama package — just in time for Game Of Thrones season five. The process is a bit finicky, however.
[credit provider=”HBO” url=”http://hbo.com”]
So how does this offer work? Basically, new Foxtel Play customers will be able to sign up for Premium Movies and Drama genre picks (which includes Game Of Thrones) for just $5 extra per month. Usually, the premium picks cost $25 per month. This means the minimum you’ll pay for Game Of Thrones on Foxtel Play is $30 per month, instead of the usual $50.
There’s a slight catch, however — the offer is only valid for the first three months after signing up. After that, it reverts back to full pricing. Thankfully, there are no lock-in contracts, so you are free to cancel your subscription as soon as the show ends for a total spend of $90.
That’s still a pretty steep proposition if Game Of Thrones is all you’re interested in. On the other hand, you’ll be getting access to a range of other premium content, including new episodes of Veep, Mad Men and Orange Is the New Black. The deal also includes access to Foxtel’s BoxSets channel which provides on-demand access to every episode of popular dramas from Foxtel’s back catalogue.
We’re not convinced that this new offer will sway too many consumers over to the pay TV fold. With interest in Netflix-style streaming services hitting peak levels, the only people likely to be interested are hardcore, law-abiding Game Of Thrones fans. Mind you, the show currently holds the record for Foxtel Play downloads, so there seems to be a quite a few of these people out there. Let us know what you think in the comments.
To get the deal, you need to sign up to Foxtel Play between 23 March and 30 April 2015.
[Via Foxtel Play]
Comments
27 responses to “Foxtel Really Wants You To Pay For Game Of Thrones”
I’d happily pay for HBO Go if it ever launched here, just to cut Foxtel out of the equation. Instead, I’ll probably torrent the show as it’s released and buy the blu-ray box set, like I did with the other seasons, Boardwalk Empire, etc.
You can get HBO Now in April. Just need a VPN like Netflix.
Only on AppleTV/iOS
Web also.
Still pretty sure you can’t web signup, only iOS or through your US cable provider.
You can. the web version will go online same time it comes out for appleTV. apple has device exclusivity at launch
That’s a bit of a laughable “deal” Foxtel. Watch me laugh all the way to Usenet.
Shh, don’t mention Usenet. Keep the attention and focus on bittorrent so the rest of us can enjoy it.
Foxtel Really Wants You To Pay Them For Game Of Thrones.
I fixed it for you. If Foxtel’s only concern was people paying for Game Of Thrones then they would let it be available the next day on iTunes like it used to be.
Foxtel doesn’t make Game of Thrones, so if you buy it on iTunes it makes nothing.
I think that’s what he means – if Foxtel just wanted people to pay for GoT, they’d let it be available in a whole range of legal places. What they want is for you to pay /them/.
Your article (while completely clear in it’s intent, so no one is being critical here) can be read as Foxtel want people to pay in the general sense – but of course what they have done is monopolise the content for a limited period to prevent people from any legitimate means of accessing the content other than Foxtel in a bid to drive subscriptions. Ergo: Foxtel Really Wants You To Pay Them For Game Of Thrones.
I purchased the first three seasons at release on iTunes, something I can thank Foxtel for shutting me out of. I honestly don’t care if they make any money or not. I’m not giving them a cent, and I’m going to bliss on schadenfreude when Foxtel’s whole backwards, craptastic business model bites the dust.
Well Foxtel can get fucked
Why can’t I upvote this a bunch of times?
Don’t worry, me and 9 others have got your back.
Nup.. I shall download and buy the blu ray box set when its done and dusted.
Par for the course. Going to marathon my season 4 blu-rays this week to prep for season 5.
Too little too late, after years of crazy pricing and heaping more and more ads into their broadcasting I’ll be glad to see foxtel go the way of the dodo thanks to services like netflix,stan etc.
Amazing what a bit of competition does….too little too late Foxtel, maybe should of thought of offering something worthwhile earlier…
Nope, Getting HBO go when it comes out over Getflix/VPN
Does HBO Go still require a HBO cable subscription? Because if I can just Hola over to the US and sign up for HBO Go on a month-to month basis, then count me in.
You can signup for the web version, or you can go on reddit and find someone who will activate a device for you for you. http://www.reddit.com/r/hbogoshare/
HBO Now was supposed to be the answer to this, “It’s Standalone!” “HBO Anywhere for everyone!” “Remove any barrier to people who want HBO”
and then they released it…. for Apple iOS/ Apple TV users only.
It’s quite the cash cow for them isn’t it.
I only use Foxtel for Sports which I dont mind paying the price of. I will still watch or download online as its more convenient and comfortable for myself. Foxtel has nothing on me because i have paid for their services ahha
I am quite happy to never be a Foxtel Customer. If Game of Thrones is the only carrot they have it is greatly outnumbered by the amount of sticks they have.
I enjoy a Song of Fire and Ice, so it’s no surprise I like it in a viewable format. But I’m more than happy to wait for the box sets, even if Foxtel force them to be delayed here.
Buy the boxsets from USA?
I am sick of getting ripped off by Foxtel when the only thing I use it for is sport. Other than that its terrible…Also – Bring HBO to Aus!!
more and more it’s becoming clear that live sport is the last remaining reason to have foxtel and it still costs you $50 a month… i’d be happy to pay for JUST SPORT, I don’t want any of the base channels or any other crap, there are loads of alternatives for that stuff with varying degrees of legality. Even then it’s only while they have the streaming rights. This year I’ll be attempting to stream live afl games via an outside aus proxy through the afl.com.au “international” streaming site.
Great Idea on the AFL streaming, its easy to stream cricket, rugby etc…just not the greatest quality. But worth everything i dont have to pay.
I will gladly pay you in tomorrow, for Game of Thrones today
– Wimpy
HBO make the show, so HBO should sell it to the public. If I could subscribe directly to HBO and have the show on my computer the day it came out, I would happily pay a fair fee. But, no, they decided to go dodgy and flog it to FoxTel. So they can, in fact, go fuck themselves. They legitimize piracy by being fuckwits.