Foxtel, in one of its biggest ever launches, is firing its next shot in the battle for Australia’s TV viewers.

Foxtel CEO Kim Williams yesterday announced a significant milestone for the company with the launch of 30 additional channels (including 12 specific-themed channels, 10 high-definition channels and 8 timeshift channels) to come this year.  The new channels will bring Foxtel’s total offering to almost 200 channels.

Foxtel will also launch an online service, allowing catch-up downloading of program content, and significant upgrades to its television guide and new customer packages.

The Next Generation package will also provide viewers with a free IQ recorder, enabling multiple viewing options for Foxtel programs – live, On Demand or recorded via IQ.

News channel Sky News Australia will also increase its coverage of local news for the five major capital cities and offer improved weather reporting.

These new additions to the Foxtel platform come as the free-to-air networks (Freeview) have almost exhausted their current bandwidth for additional channels, with ABC3 and Seven’s second channel expected to launch later this year adding to digital channels ABC2, SBS2, GO! and ONEHD and high-definition simulcasts of ABC, SBS, Seven and Nine.

Foxtel Next Generation launches 15 November this year, and the Foxtel Download service launches tomorrow, Thursday 1 October.

Source: Foxtel