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7mate and GEM on Foxtel?..the fine print

An update for Foxtel viewers wondering about 7mate and GEM....

An update for Foxtel viewers wondering about 7mate and GEM….

They will be available only to cable viewers who already had 7HD and 9HD as part of their HD subscription.

A spokesperson told TV Tonight, “Foxtel is retransmitting both 7mate (channel 207) and GEM (channel 209) using the existing HD channel agreements with 7 and 9. This means only cable Foxtel iQ2 set-top-unit subscribers will be able to view the retransmitted channels 7mate and GEM.

“Retransmission is a complimentary service provided to Foxtel subscribers for subscriber convenience. The Foxtel service does not guarantee subscribers access to all of the commercial free to air channels via retransmission.”

46 Responses

  1. Love it when V8 supercars is on 7 one day and 7 mate the next day.. no warning during the broadcast .

    Turns out i could not watch as i did not have HD subscription with Foxtell.

    Brilliant
    I am sure the people running V8 supercars can explain that to their sponsors and advertising partners.

  2. It’s really simple – all pay TV operators (cable & satellite) should be required by law to carry all local channels to any given market. That includes SD and HD channels.

  3. If many many people threatened to cancel their subscription I wonder if Foxtel will change their mind and give all subscribers all the FTA channels – including the 5 HD FTA channels at least in SD as a downscaled version for those that don’t have an HD setup…with many more FTA channels available now, Foxtel should be doing alot more for their customers if they want to keep their business…from November they will be charging $2 more for the new channels, but the only new channel I will be getting is the new Speed channel which I will not watch anyway…in January while we might get channel Eleven, that may be cancelled out with One SD being removed from Foxtel…hopefully though One SD stays on Foxtel as a courtesy to their non HD sports package customers.

  4. Paul says:
    September 30, 2010 at 1:04 am
    In the US, their federal government made it law that all cable / satellite TV providers were to retransmit all FTA stations.

    All I can say Paul is right on and hear hear, if someone at Foxtel have their brain switched on they would think “we don’t want our subscribers cancelling subscriptions so we will transmit all FTA channels regardless of their subscription to all our customers”

    I agree with the comments about the SD set-top boxes they should be stopped being sold as a lot of low income and seniors would be buying these because they are the cheaper option. I am not sure of the prices at the moment but there should be a couple of HD boxes that are in the more affordable bracket.

  5. I had shows on series link from 207 – 7HD and didn’t realise in time I had to re set them from normal Channel 7 again. Home and Away hasnt recorded for this week. but I thought I can just see the missing episodes from the 7TWO Saturday marathon and guess what !! They stopped it the week its needed the most !!!
    Unbelievable .

  6. @Paul : Completly agree the federal government needs to stop protecting foxtel. They are a profitable company and being forced to provied FTA to all subscribers (cable & Satellite). with all the new channels my tivo and it’s 2 tunners is not enough.

  7. If it wasn’t for all the sport on Foxtel which isn’t shown on FTA , my family and I would never subscribe…jsut get the basic package and sports and that is all you need now with all the new FTA channels. Haven’t we all noticed how much crap and endless repeats there are on Foxtel, as for TVSN…….we are mazed anyone would buy anything from them..they are the biggest con going

  8. In the US, their federal government made it law that all cable / satellite TV providers were to retransmit all FTA stations. They also made the cable / satellite providers give all these FTA stations low channel numbers. I don’t see why we can’t start some kind of petition on this website to help influence the Australian federal government. How bout it?

  9. ABCNews24HD…GemHD…7MateHD…OneHD…SBSHD

    as a collective of HD FTA channels, pretty crap in terms of combined content

    many people will not bother upgrading to Foxtel HD just for those 5 channels

    many Foxtel SD subscribers will not bother getting a separate FTA HD box either

    I watch more live sport and TV shows on the internet than I do on TV

    I don’t care about HD quality, I want to see channels with quality content

    I don’t want to wait months to watch a show, I want to see it the same day as USA

  10. I think a lot of people would have been duped into buying SD set top boxes and only now realise they can’t get all the channels with it. They should be outlawed I really don’t know why they are still selling them.

  11. ABCNews24HD…GemHD…7MateHD…OneHD…SBSHD…looking at the programming on these channels, there is hardly much I would watch on them.

    What will be interesting to see will be the backlash on January 11(the supposed date that channel Eleven(SD) begins) if Foxtel pulls the already existing SD cable channel 531 – One SD – as I was told by Ten management that they have not yet made a decision as to wether they will pull channel 531, or wether Foxtel and One will do a deal to keep it as a downscaled version of One HD, so that Foxtel SD sports subscribers can continue to enjoy One as part of their package and One can have more viewers watching rather than just those with an HD setup. Ten told me negotiations are ongoing and said that both scenarios for One SD are still currently being considered.

    In my opinion all the FTA channels(both HD and SD) should be available in SD on Foxtel cable, as well as the HD FTA channels being available in HD with the Foxtel HD package for those that want HD.

    With TV, people get really fussy about the quality of picture(ie HD), when the quality of programming, content and production values should be more important in my opinion.

  12. I am on Foxtel Satelite…does that mean I’ll never get 7mate or Gem? Luckily I have Playstation PlayTV so I can tape free to air stations..no way I am missing ‘The Big C’.

  13. @ Luke W – can’t you just record those shows on FTA TV?

    Pay TV made sense in Australia before digital. But now with 16 decent channels on FTA, there’s no point. Save your cash and spend it on DVDs or online rentals for the shows you can’t get on regular tele.

    Given that nearly all current shows show on Free to Air stations, not Pay TV, surely buying a box set a month – or a season pass on iTunes for one or two shows makes more sense. And you can have it on as many TVs as you like for no extra fees.

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