For decades the only channels available were a limited number of free to air broadcast channels. The 1990s saw the birth of Pay TV in Australia, and with this the huge range of channels that these services provide. New technological developments have also been integrated into Pay TV, such as HD broadcasts and electronic, on screen TV guides.

Some people still associate the notion of Pay TV with selective interests such as Selectv, which caters specifically for Australia’s Greek community, or Sky TV, which is commonly associated with racing, boxing and business broadcasting. However, in the popular consciousness, more and more people’s notions of Pay TV have now shifted to focus on domestic television feeds with a variety of different channels catering to a broad range of potential viewers. This can be delivered as satellite TV or cable TV, with services to regional and rural Australia, such as those provided by Austar, predominantly satellite TV.

Foxtel provides channel packages that appeal to different family groups – some focusing specifically on children, or mostly broadcasting sport, movies or documentaries. But while Foxtel is an extremely popular, with well over a million subscribers, there are a range of other options that have entered the market recently. Internet TV (sometimes known as IPTV) is one of the new technologies that could revolutionise the marketplace, with the capability to view shows ‘on demand’ at a time of your choosing or to simply ‘stream’ a broadcast over the internet. Telstra’s T-Box and iinet’s Fetch TV are two products that will supply internet TV.

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