Foxtel Now box drops Kayo and Binge apps: Dumb, Dumb, Dumb

For a company that was once at the pinnacle of innovation and at the forefront of entertainment, Foxtel sure has lost its way. From today, Foxtel Now box owners can no longer watch Kayo or Binge with the company instead keen to sign them to an upgraded Foxtel Now package.

It’s confusing, let’s clarify. Foxtel Now is the name of the streaming only version of Pay TV provider Foxtel. You don’t need a Cable access, or Satellite, nor an IQ3/4 box.

Instead, you use an app on your phone, or as many people did, you buy Foxtel’s own little mini box for this and other streaming services, called the Foxtel Now box.

So now imagine you’re a Foxtel Now subscriber, just $25 a month maybe, watching Sky News, bit of the other channels in the basic pack, but, recently you signed up to Binge for $10 a month, and Kayo for $25 a month because those apps are on the Foxtel Now box.

Awesome, live sport, loads of TV shows, all on one box.

No no no, that’s too simple. Foxtel doesn’t like that, so emails have been going out to users letting them know that as of Today, Kayo and Binge are dropping off the Foxtel Now box.

EFTM reached out to Foxtel for comment, and a spokesperson confirmed that “Effective Friday, the Kayo and BINGE apps will not be available on the Foxtel Now box.”

They went on to say “BINGE and Kayo content is already available to Foxtel Now customers.  For example, the Sport Pack can be added to the Base Pack for a similar price (currently $25/month) to Kayo, and this provides a simpler, all in one place solution for Foxtel Now customers.“

There’s other changes we’re aware of with Foxtel explaining that “BINGE and Kayo remain available on a wide-range of Android TVs, and are also available through the Apple TV, Android TV and Telstra TV boxes. BINGE and Kayo subscribers will continue to be able to use Chromecast to watch on their television through their smartphone, tablet or computer.“

In addressing customer concerns, they say “We know a small number of customers have chosen to access Kayo and BINGE through the Foxtel Now box.  We apologise for the inconvenience associated with this change and we a happy to discuss with them the range of options available through Foxtel Now including the Sport Pack and the mobile access they have through Foxtel GO. “

Social media users aren’t happy.

Here’s the bigger problem, communication.

Foxtel’s own Social team responding saying it would be Kayo’s decision.

Bullshit, complete bullshit.

Kayo wants subscribers, but somewhere in the crazy executive dicussions among Kayo and Foxtel who are all one company, though operating out of separate “businesses”, it was clear they needed to ensure Foxtel Now was boosted.

A look online and this was first reported by the legends at TV Tonight, and we, like everyone simply can’t understand it.

Honestly, this may be the single dumbest decision in the history of streaming. Let customers choose how to watch, where to watch, and when to watch – those are the fundamental principals of the future of viewing.

Foxtel’s simple blindness to the marketplace is staggering. Kayo, Sky News, Their HBO content, there’s lots of reasons to love what Foxtel do, and what they own outright.

But why not put Kayo on Fetch TV? We know Fetch would take it. We know Fetch could probably add over 100,000 new subscribers to Kayo in no time, it’s simple corporate rivalry and arrogance that prevents it.

I cancelled my Foxtel boxes and payment of $115 a month last week, never felt better. They need a complete clean out to start over, build new strategies to grow audiences without concern for their ownership rivalries, and then build a business around that growth and those revenue plans.

Get your act together Foxtel or you’ll disappear fast. Sad times for a once great business.