Reaper1503560721 Posted April 4, 2007 Posted April 4, 2007 http://www.smh.com.au/news/Business/Austar...5366290829.html Regional pay television company Austar Ltd says it has received confidential approaches from third parties about its ownership."Austar confirms that it has received confidential approaches from third parties regarding possible transactions however discussions are preliminary, incomplete and highly conditional." The federal government's new media ownership laws have now come into effect and are expected to spark a flurry of takeover activity in the sector. I don't dare speculate who would be interested in Austar. I agree though with the changes to media ownership it could certainly open the doors for Austar to become more independant of Foxtel, with the right funding and marketing. Your thoughts?
DrP Posted April 4, 2007 Posted April 4, 2007 I'm not sure how Austar can become more independant. Foxtel more or less supplies all the content for Austar. Austar would have to lease more space of their own on C1/Dx and then make arrangements to supply their own separate programming - all of which costs $. http://www.austarunited.com.au/investor/default.asp
lizclinton Posted April 4, 2007 Posted April 4, 2007 WOW a company pretending to be a pay TV provider taken over by a company pretending to be a national TV network. How bizarre..
Woomera Posted April 7, 2007 Posted April 7, 2007 (edited) According to the financial channels on Thurs it is Foxtel that is making the approach for a takeover. ============================================================= From "The Australian" 5th April http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story...73-7582,00.html Austar revealed it had been in negotiations about "transactions", as speculation strengthens that Foxtel - or possibly a consortium involving Publishing and Broadcasting Limited and News Limited, but not Telstra - is about to launch a takeover bid for the regional pay-TV operator. The company said in a statement: "Austar confirms that it has received confidential approaches from third parties regarding possible transactions." Foxtel head of corporate affairs Rebecca Melkman said yesterday: "Foxtel has a longstanding policy of not responding to media speculation of this kind." Some also speculated yesterday that Mr Stokes - with billions of dollars to spend in the Australian media after starting his media joint venture with private equity firm KKR - was a possible buyer for Austar. But Greg Fraser, media analyst with Shaw Stockbroking, said this was a scenario that Foxtel's owners, Telstra, PBL and News Limited, publisher of The Australian, would prefer to avoid. "I don't think they'd like Austar to fall into Kerry Stokes's hands," he said. Austar said in its statement yesterday that its discussions with the third parties were "preliminary, incomplete and highly conditional". If Austar were in discussions with Foxtel, it would not be the first time the possibility of such a merger had been discussed. It is understood a similar scenario was floated around the pay-TV groups in 2003, but the proposal did not proceed. One market analyst said last night such a merger was logical from a financial standpoint. "It makes a lot of sense for that to be one company," he said. A senior media industry figure agreed, saying a consolidation of the country's two main pay-TV operators could help to expand the industry's penetration. "The industry has only got 25per cent penetration at the moment, in an industry where economies of scale are a very important part of maximising profits. "The fastest way for Foxtel and Austar to get to the magic 35-40 per cent penetration level is one cohesive marketing push through one brand, and really focused owners." One obstacle any such merger could face is price. Yesterday's news of the approaches made to Austar drove the company's shares 6.5c higher to $1.695 on volume of 6.8 million shares, more than 5 per cent of the total stock in the company. The latest rise means the company's shares have risen by 25 per cent in less than two weeks. With the company capitalised at $2.25 billion by the close of trade yesterday, some analysts yesterday questioned whether the group represented fair value. Another issue for Foxtel in any takeover of Austar may be regulatory concerns, particularly at an Australian Competition and Consumer Commission level. Last night government sources were cautious on the issue. One noted: "The focus in the past has been on the method of distributing content. With convergence, the method of distribution of content is not quite so relevant as the acquisition of that content from content suppliers." ACCC spokeswoman Lyn Enright was noncommittal about the possibility of a Foxtel takeover: "If Austar was under offer from another party, we would review it. Until such time as the details of which parties were seeking to acquire Austar become apparent, it's difficult for us to make any comment." Mr Fraser said he did not expect the ACCC to block any such deal. "I wouldn't expect the ACCC to block it," he said. "I think they'll look at subscription television as part of a wider broadcasting market." If it could get ACCC approval, Mr Fraser said there would be "every reason" for Foxtel to want to get hold of Austar, pointing out the purchase would add about 600,000 subscribers to the 1.3 million that Foxtel already possessed. Another reason was the potential spreading of costs across a growing subscriber base: "The larger the subscriber base you have, the more you can spread the cost content across that base," he said. =================================================================== Edited April 7, 2007 by Woomera
Reaper1503560721 Posted April 14, 2007 Author Posted April 14, 2007 That's quite interesting. Well it does make sense, I mean not much point 2 companies fighting for market share when the content is identical. Will have to watch closer for this one.
lizclinton Posted April 15, 2007 Posted April 15, 2007 Sounds like salvation at last for Austar customers.
DrP Posted April 15, 2007 Posted April 15, 2007 The last thing I want is for Foxtel to gain ownership of Austar.
chatham Posted April 15, 2007 Posted April 15, 2007 I might have to register "Foxstar" as a company name...lol
lizclinton Posted April 15, 2007 Posted April 15, 2007 Look on the bright side DrP we would finally get a PVR.....Probably the only way we will get a PVR now I come to think of it.
davmel Posted April 15, 2007 Posted April 15, 2007 Look on the bright side DrP we would finally get a PVR.....Probably the only way we will get a PVR now I come to think of it. You obviously don't realise that Austar customers right now at least have a CHOICE of using a large variety of 3rd party PVR's with features far beyond what a Foxtel IQ will provide or allow. The reason simply being that Austar uses the Irdeto encryption system which allows for a wide variety of 3rd party equipment which provides features and functionality that Foxtel would never allow with it's closed NDS Videoguard encryption system that restricts you almost exclusively to their own shitty equipment. If Foxtel took over Austar you could kiss goodbye to that choice. No thanks, I would much prefer it if Austar took over Foxtel so that current Foxtel subscribers finally discover what you can do when you're NOT locked into using the provider's equipment.
lizclinton Posted April 15, 2007 Posted April 15, 2007 Isnt the only reason Austar use Irdeto because the boxes they supply are so bad they cant do NDS ?. We have waited years for Austar to get a PVR out to its long-suffering customers and we are still waiting. I dont dare to think just how long we will have to wait for HD pay when Foxtel launch it next year. At the speed austar moves its not likely to be in my lifetime so I'll be happy to have Foxtel at my place as soon as they want to start servicing my area.
DrP Posted April 15, 2007 Posted April 15, 2007 Isnt the only reason Austar use Irdeto because the boxes they supply are so bad they cant do NDS ?. No. Any box can do any system if appropriate firmware is written for it. NDS versions of some of Austar's boxes are available 'off the shelf' right now. At the moment, according to all indicators, Austar's Irdeto2 ver 5 cards are more secure than Foxtel's NDS cards. Irdeto is supposedly cheaper than NDS too. So Austar would have to purchase licences to use NDS for all their STBs, replace the firmware on all their STBs assuming NDS is available for all their models and finally issue new cards - to end up with a less secure, more expensive system. Doing that just doesn't make any sense at all.
lizclinton Posted April 15, 2007 Posted April 15, 2007 No. Any box can do any system if appropriate firmware is written for it. NDS versions of some of Austar's boxes are available 'off the shelf' right now. At the moment, according to all indicators, Austar's Irdeto2 ver 5 cards are more secure than Foxtel's NDS cards. Irdeto is supposedly cheaper than NDS too.So Austar would have to purchase licences to use NDS for all their STBs, replace the firmware on all their STBs assuming NDS is available for all their models and finally issue new cards - to end up with a less secure, more expensive system. Doing that just doesn't make any sense at all. Then why does Foxtel use NDS then ?
DrP Posted April 15, 2007 Posted April 15, 2007 There could be several reasons but, if you like conspiracy theories, look into the ownership of Foxtel and NDS. Sitting behind both is Rupert Murdoch. So by having Foxtel use videoguard, Rupert has effectively funnelled money out of Foxtel and into his pocket. Nice work if you can get it.
davmel Posted April 16, 2007 Posted April 16, 2007 Then why does Foxtel use NDS then ? In the grand scheme of things the Rupert Murdoch led News Corporation decided to purchase and integrate the conditional access technologies of NDS so that profits were not leaving his empire for the important function of security access control for his pay TV companies. It's no coincidence that NDS Videoguard is ONLY used by pay TV operators that have a major ownership stake by News Corporation such as Sky UK, Sky NZ, Sky Italia etc. It's well known now that NDS is inferior to other conditional access technologies but as long as it remains a secretive closed proprietary technology that is only shared amongst suppliers of set top boxes made for the relevant pay TV companies within News Corporation then it won't have any competition. As it stands, News Corporation doesn't need to have a majority share to control Foxtel etc since now that NDS has been adopted News Corporation literally controls who can and can't watch the programming which is an essential core component of pay TV operations. So currently the suckers stuck with Foxtel will never have the luxury of decoding the MPEG-2 video stream from the sat directly and allowing easy storage of the video on their choice of medium, the closest they can get is a crappy analogue real time copy from the output of their set top box or PVR which has a limited storage capacity. The proposed optional portable TV viewing appliance is also a pathetic joke since it will use DRM to restrict usage to yet another external proprietary device, whereas Austar users with a HTPC and legal Irdeto CAMs and smartcards can transfer or transcode video unencumbered by DRM to their existing portable video devices (video iPod etc) already without any stupid restrictions and dedicated devices. It is the freedom and flexibility of Austar service that makes it superior to Foxtel and I for one wouldn't want to pay for subscription TV content unless I could view it on MY choice of hardware, not some restrictive piece of crap by the pay TV company.
lizclinton Posted April 16, 2007 Posted April 16, 2007 With two separate encryption systems in use does this mean that two programs streams have to be transmitted via sat for each channel or can both encryption systems be sent on the one program stream?
DrP Posted April 16, 2007 Posted April 16, 2007 One set of program streams, just with different encryption systems being applied to the keys.
lizclinton Posted April 16, 2007 Posted April 16, 2007 Are there third party pvrs on the market that are ready to use out of the box with Austar for non technical people? and if so what are the chances of buying one and then having it disabled by Austar at a later date? Have spoken to alocal supplier who say Topfield have a box that should do the job but with the loss of some features currently on the Austar service.
DrP Posted April 16, 2007 Posted April 16, 2007 3rd party PVRs are readily available, but... you get no EPG beyond now and next you can't receive the 'interactive' services your STBs channel numbers will have nothing to do with Austar's channel numbering scheme your STB may not notice when a channel is moved to a different transponder, requiring you to 'rescan' instead Austar doesn't like you using a 3rd party box and might well change their encryption system's specific configuration at some date which might stop your box from working* Once Austar finally releases their PVR, its possible that they may take a more proactive stance in preventing 3rd party boxes being used, since 3rd party PVRs will be 'depriving Austar of its income' as subscribers would continue to use their own PVR rather than Austar's. *this actually happened recently when Austar/Foxtel changed a few options with their cards.
chatham Posted April 16, 2007 Posted April 16, 2007 There are quite a number of 3rd party STBs available, either embedded (inbuilt) Irdeto or with an appropriate Common Interface (CI) module, for example I have both a Topfield TF4000PVR and TF5000PVR that I can receive AUSTAR on. AUSTAR does not support customers using any box except that supplied upon installation, and it is not beyond the realms of possibility that at some time in the future AUSTAR can config the smart cards over-the-air to disable the cards in anything other than a provided STB - read Dr Ps signature for a more succint warning. AUSTAR, like other pay TV providers, actively seeks to protect its revenue stream by introducing counter measures to overcome theft of it's programming, aka piracy. Having said that, while I've not seen any problems with my service (V4), the more-recently issued V5 Irdeto smart cards are rumoured to include configurations that can be so configured OTA...I suppose you take your chances with buying your own PVR but the absence of any concrete box from AUSTAR is disappointing, the ease and convenience of the Topfield's PVR function is enough for me to take my chances. I support the comments about there being one "Foxstar" pay TV provider, I'd be surprised if that happened and disappointed for the industry, amalgamations inavriably cost jobs and don't save the $ expected, and to swap out all AUSTAR STBs for a Foxtel model would negate any savings and as Dr P says the Foxtel NDS encryption is not as secure as the current AUSTAR one...or so I'm told ;P
lizclinton Posted April 16, 2007 Posted April 16, 2007 There are quite a number of 3rd party STBs available, either embedded (inbuilt) Irdeto or with an appropriate Common Interface (CI) module, for example I have both a Topfield TF4000PVR and TF5000PVR that I can receive AUSTAR on.AUSTAR does not support customers using any box except that supplied upon installation, and it is not beyond the realms of possibility that at some time in the future AUSTAR can config the smart cards over-the-air to disable the cards in anything other than a provided STB - read Dr Ps signature for a more succint warning. AUSTAR, like other pay TV providers, actively seeks to protect its revenue stream by introducing counter measures to overcome theft of it's programming, aka piracy. Having said that, while I've not seen any problems with my service (V4), the more-recently issued V5 Irdeto smart cards are rumoured to include configurations that can be so configured OTA...I suppose you take your chances with buying your own PVR but the absence of any concrete box from AUSTAR is disappointing, the ease and convenience of the Topfield's PVR function is enough for me to take my chances. I did read DrPs signature with some concern so I guess we Austar customers have to live without an Iq which is a great pity. Being a shiftworker I find my free to air PVR invaluable and it would be great to have have the same convenience for pay.
davmel Posted April 16, 2007 Posted April 16, 2007 I did read DrPs signature with some concern so I guess we Austar customers have to live without an Iq which is a great pity. Being a shiftworker I find my free to air PVR invaluable and it would be great to have have the same convenience for pay. Don't assume that DrPs experience with not having correct firmware for a set top box or using an outdated CAM which caused a loss of Austar reception. I've had my Austar supplied STB's sitting in a cupboard collecting dust for over 4 years now and I don't see any reason to ever use them until such time as I decide to cancel the service. The only countermeasures Austar have applied are to do with card sharing which is illegal anyway. Austar have no financial reason to object to you using an official smart card in a 3rd party STB. It's only when you have multiple STB's running off the one local or remote card that they are financially losing out and have good reason to prevent such activity.
DrP Posted April 16, 2007 Posted April 16, 2007 The only countermeasures Austar have applied are to do with card sharing which is illegal anyway. The countermeasure Austar/Foxtel enabled knocked certain STBs, that weren't using licenced Irdeto implementations, off air. It also knocked out some CAMs that were using licenced implementations.
Keepleft Posted April 18, 2007 Posted April 18, 2007 What PVR do you use on Austar? I use a Topfield PVR4000, PVR5000 and Mediastar PVR - all on Austar, each with various CAM types, that some ceased to work with V5 only related to the older CAM firmware. New 'purple' Irdeto CAMS are also fine. http://www.madelectronics.com.au/index.php...;products_id=40 If you want a good terrestrial/satellite PVR in one, the Medisatar is worth it. Certainly great for Select TV, but as I say is fine with Austar too. Mostly, these are and were updateable. Old 2.06B cams can be updated by using new drivers at the SCM website, OR they could be freecamed to continue working with Austar, Selectv, ABS-CBN etc. As it is, I have four boxes in my house $150/month, and will soon leave Austar for SelecTV (I have 2 subs for Select TV). What the provider has been doing is taking appropriate countermeasures against 'card sharing' usinf the V5 card capability to do so, this is where people put a card on the net that other folk dial in to, to put it simply. Mad tech heads say they still manage to do that. Rather unreliable I'd have thought. As it is, Austar's MyStar PVR will one day be available, and it will become attractive price wise in time and by accounts will be terrestrial/satelite digital in capability. Usiong non-provider boxes means that in order to add a new channel, that you need to re-scan the satellite for it, then place the new service in the order desired. A mild hassle.
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