news Corp's Australian Netflix challenger shuts up store

After opening for commercial enterprise in March 2014, the equal month Netflix arrived in Australia, Presto will stop its carrier on Jan. 31, 2017, its co-proprietors Foxtel, half-owned by means of information Corp, and free-to-air broadcaster Seven West Media Ltd stated in a announcement.

The assertion didn't supply a reason for shutting down the organization, but it did say Seven sold its half of proportion of the employer to Foxtel, and that Foxtel made the decision to shut it.

The choice quantities to the biggest casualty thus far in what has become a 3-manner war for manipulate of the quick-growing Streaming Video On call for (SVOD) market in Australia.

nearly 1.9 million Australians, or a 6th of the person populace, had paid subscriptions to Netflix, in comparison to 332,000 humans with paid subscriptions to No. 2 provider Stan and 142,000 with paid subscriptions to Presto, Roy Morgan research said in June.

"The Australian SVOD market turned into always going to be consolidated," said Brian Han, a media analyst at Morningstar.

"The likes of Netflix have opened our eyes to how a whole lot we have been procuring a packaged channel, ninety percent of which we do not even watch, (and) compelled the hand of Foxtel," Han brought, relating to Foxtel's halving of its subscription prices in 2014, some months after Netflix released.

Presto additionally halved its subscription fees quickly after Netflix started in Australia.

A spokeswoman for Stan became not right now available for comment, even as spokespeople for its joint assignment proprietors, newspaper writer Fairfax Media Ltd and seven free-to-air rival nine leisure Co Holdings Ltd, were additionally now not without delay to be had for remark.

Seven, which does no longer escape its earnings for Presto, stated in August that its "different commercial enterprise and New Ventures" unit generated a loss of A$five.6 million ($four.3 million) inside the 2016 economic yr, in comparison to a pre-tax earnings of A$3.five million the previous year.

"Losses from early level investments reflect new groups inclusive of Presto and our portfolio of digital investments," Seven said then, adding that "these groups are all investing heavily for growth in an effort to restriction their contribution to the institution within the close to term".