Kayo Sports, Binge streaming services withdraw from parts of Australia
The Foxtel Group has apologised to some of its Kayo and Binge customers after it incorrectly advised that its streaming services would be cancelled.
In late January, Foxtel announced Kayo Sports and Binge would no longer be available in hundreds of Australian postcodes defined as "very remote" by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The West Australian city of Geraldton, 420 kilometres north of Perth with a population of 40,000, was incorrectly listed as "very remote" by the streaming provider.
Other regional centres including Kalgoorlie, Broome, and Karratha were listed in a group of 58 postcodes published by Foxtel Group where the services would be cancelled in WA.
"We are reaching out to customers who may have received the communications in error to clarify their situation and apologise for the confusion caused," a Foxtel spokesperson said in a statement.
The company has confirmed it has updated its help page accordingly.
However, 32 postcodes in WA and dozens of others around the country including parts of South Australia, the Northern Territory, Queensland, and country Victoria are having their services cancelled.
It will also impact people who take out subscriptions in a serviced area but travel frequently, including the thousands of fly-in, fly-out mine workers in WA's Pilbara.
TV Blackbox news editor Kevin Perry said the decision was made because of uncertainty about the ability to deliver a reliable streaming service over satellite NBN.
Kayo Sports told subscribers they would be able to access a Foxtel subscription at a comparative rate.
Mr Perry said streaming services such as Kayo and Binge were cheaper than the plans generally offered by Foxtel.
Kayo Sports starts at $25 per month, while a Foxtel Sports plan can be accessed under a special rate of $65 a month on a 12-month plan or $103 a month without a lock-in contract.
"It doesn't have that same flexibility of being able to come and go, suspend your service for a few months — that kind of flexibility of service that we've come to expect," Mr Perry said.
He said it appeared the decision was made by people in Sydney who did not fully understand the communities affected.
"It's very disappointing to hear people in areas with a reliable internet service are affected," Mr Perry said.
"Ultimately it's up to customers to decide if their internet is good enough to support one of these services.
"People who are living even in the most remote parts of this country can get a Starlink service and they could have extremely good internet these days."
The announcement comes during the first year of a new AFL broadcasting deal that will see free-to-air games broadcast on Thursday nights but limited Saturday matches for the first part of the season.
A spokesperson for the Foxtel Group provided this statement:
"Foxtel Group is updating the terms and conditions for its streaming products [Kayo Sports, BINGE, Flash and LifeStyle], which will mean that Foxtel [i.e., Foxtel iQ, Foxtel Now and Foxtel Business] is the sole authorised provider of Foxtel Group premium content in Very Remote areas of Australia.
"These changes take effect from 3 March 2025.
"Customers of these streaming products who will be impacted by this change will be contacted in advance and offered a Foxtel subscription at a competitive rate."