Galaxy is a former provider of
pay television
Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichannel television providers, b ...
programming in Australia via
satellite
A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioiso ...
and
wireless cable (microwave) delivery methods.
Galaxy was founded in 1993, and begin test broadcasting on 1 January 1995 via
microwave transmission
Microwave transmission is the transmission of information by electromagnetic waves with wavelengths in the microwave frequency range of 300MHz to 300GHz(1 m - 1 mm wavelength) of the electromagnetic spectrum. Microwave signals are normally limi ...
, making it the first provider of pay-TV services in the country. It was officially launched on Australia Day (26 January).
At launch only two channels were fully operational, the local
Premier Sports and international news channel
ANBC.
Digital satellite broadcasts began in September 1995.
Galaxy was a joint venture between Continental Century Pay-TV and Australis Media. Each held licenses allowing them to provide four channels of satellite delivered television
Continental Century Pay-TV and Australis Media held exclusive licenses to broadcast pay-TV in Australia via satellite until 1997. Their main competitors were
Foxtel
Foxtel is an Australian pay television company—operating in cable television, direct broadcast satellite television, and IPTV streaming services. It was formed in April 2018, superseding an earlier company from 1995. The service was establi ...
and
Optus Vision
Optus Television is the cable television division of Australian telecommunications company Optus.
History
Its immediate predecessor was Optus Vision, a joint venture between Optus and Continental Cablevision, with small shareholdings by media ...
, both of which operated separate
cable networks. The Galaxy channel package was franchised to
CETV (Later Austar) and
East Coast Television in regional areas.
At its peak, there were around 120,000 Galaxy subscribers. The service ceased shortly after Australis Media went into liquidation on 18 May 1998.
History
In January 1992, the
Government of Australia
The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Governmen ...
called tenders for Australia's first pay-TV licenses. Surprisingly, the first license was purchased not by one of the major media players but by an entrepreneur, Albert Hadid, who quickly onsold it for a rumoured $33 million profit.
The licenses ultimately ended up in the hands of Continental Century Pay-TV, a joint venture between Australian venture capitalist CVC and US cable company Century Communications (now part of
Charter Communications
Charter Communications, Inc., is an American telecommunications and mass media company with services branded as Spectrum. With over 32 million customers in 41 states, it is the second-largest cable operator in the United States by subscribe ...
) and Australis Media, an upstart company in which
TCI and
Guinness Peat Group
Guinness Peat Group was an investment holding company with interests in Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
History
The company, which had been formed as an investment offshoot of London based investment bank Guinness Mahon in the 1980s, was acq ...
were major shareholders. Australis paid a total of A$333 million for the satellite and microwave licenses they would require to launch a pay-TV service to be branded Galaxy.
Galaxy secured contracts with three major
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywoo ...
studios –
Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group
Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group (commonly known as Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, formerly known as the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group until 2013, and abbreviated as SPMPG) is a division of Sony Pictures Entertainmen ...
,
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...
and
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
(the latter two both partners on a joint venture,
United International Pictures
United International Pictures (UIP) is a joint venture of Paramount Pictures and Universal Pictures that distributes their films outside the United States and Canada. UIP also had international distribution rights to certain Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer an ...
)– for the exclusive first-run rights to broadcast their film and TV product on its Galaxy service. The output of these studios formed three channels –
Showtime,
Encore
An encore is an additional performance given by performers after the planned show has ended, usually in response to extended applause from the audience.Lalange Cochrane, in ''Oxford Companion to Music'', Alison Latham, ed., Oxford University Pre ...
and
TV1 – that would become the mainstay of Galaxy's programming.
After the remaining output from the major studios was purchased by
Optus Vision
Optus Television is the cable television division of Australian telecommunications company Optus.
History
Its immediate predecessor was Optus Vision, a joint venture between Optus and Continental Cablevision, with small shareholdings by media ...
, Galaxy's other competitor, the
News Corporation
News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp.), also variously known as News Corporation Limited, was an American multinational mass media corporation controlled by media mogul Rupert Murdoch and headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in New ...
and
Telstra
Telstra Group Limited is an Australian telecommunications company that builds and operates telecommunications networks and markets voice, mobile, internet access, pay television and other products and services. It is a member of the S&P/ASX 2 ...
owned
Foxtel
Foxtel is an Australian pay television company—operating in cable television, direct broadcast satellite television, and IPTV streaming services. It was formed in April 2018, superseding an earlier company from 1995. The service was establi ...
, was forced into an embarrassing deal to purchase content from Australis at a reported cost of A$4.5 billion over 25 years.
Despite this lucrative deal, the financial situation at Australis was troubling. The installation cost of equipment was high (reportedly around $500 for a microwave antenna and $1000 for a satellite dish), forcing them to greatly subsidise installation costs. Furthermore, increased competition from Foxtel and Optus Vision forced Galaxy to lower prices further or lose customers.
The financial crisis at Australis meant that much of Galaxy's life seemed to be spent trying to save the company from receivership. In October 1995 a merger was proposed by Australis and its biggest rival,
Foxtel
Foxtel is an Australian pay television company—operating in cable television, direct broadcast satellite television, and IPTV streaming services. It was formed in April 2018, superseding an earlier company from 1995. The service was establi ...
.
The proposal was rejected by the
Australian Competition & Consumer Commission
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is the chief competition regulator of the Government of Australia, located within the Department of the Treasury. It was established in 1995 with the amalgamation of the Australian Trad ...
(ACCC), citing fears that a merger between the two businesses would stifle competition. Another Australis-Foxtel merger was proposed in July 1997 but was also vetoed for similar reasons. Another proposal made in August 1996 under which Australis and Optus would share satellite infrastructure (while still trading separately) was approved by the ACCC but later blocked by the
Federal Court of Australia
The Federal Court of Australia is an Australian superior court of record which has jurisdiction to deal with most civil disputes governed by federal law (with the exception of family law matters), along with some summary (less serious) and indic ...
.
With hopes of a merger dashed and serious cashflow problems continuing to plague the company, Australis relied on "rescue packages" of capital injections from a number of new investors (including
Kerry Packer
Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer (17 December 1937 – 26 December 2005) was an Australian media tycoon, and was considered one of Australia's most powerful media proprietors of the twentieth century. The Packer family company owned a controlling ...
's
PBL, among others) to stay afloat.
On 18 May 1998 the
Supreme Court of New South Wales
The Supreme Court of New South Wales is the highest state court of the Australian State of New South Wales. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in civil matters, and hears the most serious criminal matters. Whilst the Supreme Court ...
declared that Australis was insolvent and the company went into liquidation. It has been estimated that losses totalled A$800 million. Of those who purchased assets after the company's collapse, the biggest beneficiary was likely their biggest competitor Foxtel, who were able to purchase Galaxy's 65,000 remaining subscribers as well as terminate their crippling programming deal and renegotiate directly with the studios.
There has been considerable controversy over the role Foxtel may have played in Galaxy's demise: in 2003 it was the target of legal action by Australis bondholders, who sued Foxtel's parent company News Corporation for the $6 billion which they alleged Australis would have earned had it not lost the rights to the programming content.
Legacy
After Australis's insolvency, its eight channels continued to run on the Foxtel platform, and five of them are present in some form on all the major pay television providers in Australia. Two of Galaxy's general entertainment channels,
TV1 and
Arena
An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectator ...
, are part of the basic entertainment package on Foxtel (although TV1 closed down on 31 December 2013), Galaxy's sport service became
Fox Sports
Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world.
The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the F ...
, Galaxy's music channel Red was renamed
Channel V
Channel '' ("V" standing for the letter, not the Roman numeral "5") is a Chinese and former Asian pay television musical network originally launched by Star TV Hong Kong (now Fox Networks Group Asia Pacific). It was part of the unit of Disney ...
in 1997, and Galaxy's two movie channels ran as
Showtime Australia
Showtime Movie Channels is a group of Australian pay-TV movie channels, available on the Foxtel, Optus and Austar TV platforms. The service consisted of five original channels (showtime premiere, showcase, showtime action, showtime comedy, showt ...
until 2012, when it merged with the
Movie Network to become
Foxtel Movies
''Foxtel Movies'' is a suite of 11 pay television film channels in Australia which began broadcasting on 1 January 2013. Owned by Foxtel, the channels replaced the now-defunct Movie Network and Showtime suites.
History
In June 2012, specula ...
.
See also
*
Subscription television in Australia
References
External links
Australis Background – an in-depth log of the life of Australis Media– a news article on the allegations that Foxtel unfairly contributed to Galaxy's death.
which recounts the negotiations between Australis and PBL for the first rescue package.
– an editorial using the death of Galaxy as an example of the negative effects of Australian media regulations.
announcing that Australis has collapsed.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Galaxy (Australian Television)
Australian subscription television services
Companies based in Sydney
Defunct broadcasting companies of Australia
Mass media companies established in 1993
Mass media companies disestablished in 1993
1993 establishments in Australia
1998 disestablishments in Australia