Mark Frain
Adding more depth to audience measurement and the introduction of Amazon into the Video Futures Collective are just two examples of Foxtel’s digital-first vision that were singled out for praise by media agencies from last night’s 2025 Upfront event.
The streaming and cable network, now expected to have more than half its business from digital this year, announced partnerships with CommBank iQ and Adgile to unlock deeper insights for greater audience targeting.
A partnership with global TV advertising platform tvbeat to convert linear TV spots into digitally tracked and reported impressions was also unveiled.
Avenue C’s managing partner of media, Daniel Cutrone, said that Foxtel instilled confidence despite turbulent content deals (Max/HBO), as well as revolutionising its measurement standards in 2025.
“While there was no mention of how the introduction of Max may impact the Foxtel Group in the long-term, both House of Dragon and The Penguin featured within their upcoming programming reels,” he said.
“Instead, the Foxtel Group focussed more on its original content from returning franchises of “Selling Houses Australia”, “The Twelve”, “Colin From Accounts”, as well new properties: “Billion Dollar Playground” and “The Last Anniversary” to name a few. To help curb any future churn, Foxtel also announced that Binge was adding women’s domestic sport as well as news properties Sky News, CNN, CNBC, BBC.
"Foxtel’s strength however is firmly placed within Sport, and this was reinforced with its ongoing broadcast & tech innovations, breadth of commentary team, ad-free during live play, and its exclusive content strategy with the AFL Super Saturday to win over fans for longer.
"Overall, Foxtel has a challenging retention strategy ahead in 2025 - with even more competition than ever! Meanwhile as the business shifts its Linear TV metrics to a new single-source digital currency it may struggle in the short-term, that is until all the pieces are tried and tested to provide true de-duplicated scale and ROI across the entire group."
Involved Media MD Sarah Keith said the new measurement is a huge step forward for clients as they are now able to trade properly with the detailed information that will be available.
“This will undoubtedly be a key driver in continuing to increase Foxtel Media’s share of total video revenue,” she said.
“With the VFC in a supporting role to elevate the measurement standards and the promoting impact of cross-screen Foxtel Media are cementing their position as industry leaders as they continue to lead the way with significant investment in building data capability, quickly. They are in a strong position going into 2025.”
Principle Media Group MD Peter Toone said the streaming market is evolving rapidly, and the increased opportunity for advertisers on these platforms makes the VFC’s announcements particularly interesting.
“Consistency in measurement, variable ad-loads and platform effectiveness are questions faced by agencies and clients alike,” he said.
“Anything that helps to address these challenges will be welcomed by the industry. Amazon joining, with their global scale and local team, only adds further weight to this initiative.”
Wavemaker Melbourne’s investment director, Dale Putt, said Foxtel has long positioned itself as a disruptor in both linear and on-demand, and 2025 looks to be the year it pushes even further to define its own path.
“Among the major announcements at the upfronts, two clear objectives emerged: leveraging data more effectively and continuing to deliver high-quality content for its customers,” he said.
“Foxtel’s decision to part ways with OzTam will certainly pose challenges for media planners, as it creates a blind spot in measuring Foxtel’s incremental reach on FTA campaigns. However, tapping into its database of over 4 million subscribers offers the network an opportunity to provide more accurate audience insights.
“This, combined with partnerships like VFC, CommBank IQ, Adgile and tvbeat, signals Foxtel’s commitment to becoming a fully digital provider and delivering advertising in line with changing audience consumption.
“From a consumer standpoint, there are exciting developments ahead. The transformation of Binge into a central hub for entertainment, sports and news creates a distinct advantage in the SVOD landscape. Coupled with the Netflix and Kayo bundle via Hubbl Hub, Foxtel is offering audiences a compelling range of options.
“Overall, it’s a bold and unique approach. It’ll be fascinating to watch how the linear and digital landscapes evolve from here.”
Initiative’s head of Perth, Paige English, said Foxtel’s 2025 Upfronts practically screamed "We're back, baby, and we're all about that digital life!", even to be so bold to say they are coming after social budgets.
“The "streaming siblings" pitch was clever, proving they've got something for everyone and it kicked off their consistent ‘partnership’ narrative for the evening,” she said.
“The elephant in the room? Measurement. We all knew it was coming, and Foxtel didn't shy away. They tackled it head-on (with a few sly jabs, naturally) and laid out a plan to make sure advertisers know exactly what they're getting from their commitment to Kantar.
“Sure, the Sky News diversity spiel got a few side-eyes, but the bigger picture was clear: Foxtel is all about big partnerships. Seeing them buddy-up with Samsung on stage was akin to witnessing a Snoop and Martha team-up – unexpected, but undeniably intriguing. It proves they are thinking more broadly than themselves but how to drive an industry forward.
“Foxtel’s ambition to confidently collaborate and to put results at the forefront, not on the last slide, sings true to what us agencies and our clients are screaming for. Foxtel are not just playing the game; they're rewriting the rules. And that's a show worth binging.”
Spark Foundry Australia’s national head of investment, Sue-Ellen Osborn, said with big changes coming to Foxtel measurement in 2025, there was a lot of anticipation around their upfront and what next year holds for them.
“It is evident that Foxtel has a clear vision of its future, which is to be a digitally led video streaming company with multiple data and measurement partnerships, but with sport as the backbone of their content offering,” she said.
“One of their closing remarks really resonated with me - “Reach is interesting, but ROI is essential." This reinforces why they have changed to Kantar for measurement from 2025 onwards.
“Foxtel only announced a couple of new programs to their lineup, with the emphasis of the night on their total offering and strength in all sports, as well as their depth in entertainment programming. They will be dialling up Binge's line up by bringing sport and news to the platform with an initial focus on female sport, but also including the Men’s Big Bash League (BBL).
“Foxtel are also looking to capture younger audiences by introducing Kayo Stacks - dynamic, short form vertical content. A smart move, with the goal to capture social advertising spend.”
OMD’s group performance director, Maud Durieu, said Foxtel is advancing its digital measurement capabilities.
“While they are enhancing their measurement from video to site traffic and sales through their partnership with Adgile, they are also working on providing deduplicated reach and average frequency across platforms, as well as increasing visibility of audience attention through their collaboration with OMG,” she said.
“The most significant development is their recent partnership with Kantar, which will enable advertisers to measure Foxtel's viewership and demographics more accurately, allowing advertisers to access comprehensive audience insights data, all accessible through Tech Edgel in 2025.
“While Foxtel reported a year-to-date increase of 61% in media inventory, they continue to position themselves as Australia’s premier sports destination while reinforcing their commitment to a digital-first strategy.
“In addition to growing audiences for NRL and cricket, Foxtel announced a landmark seven-year exclusive partnership with the AFL, which will grant live exclusivity for eight matches nationally and 15 matches in Victoria starting in 2025.
“Foxtel is also set to launch an Australian-first Hubbl bundle combining Netflix and Kayo Sports, and they are planning to integrate sport content into the Binge platform.
“Foxtel offers a more transparent and connected digital ecosystem and continues being a key growing player for Australian sport viewership.”
PHD's head of investment for Melbourne, Ryan Ambrose, said Foxtel Media were unapologetic of their “divorce” from their current measurement provider and their positioning as a digital-first streaming provider.
"The focus is still very much on scaling audiences and evolving their content proposition," he said.
"A bolstered data strategy via a new partnership with CommBank IQ, is unlocking the ability to leverage +100 new attributes for audience segmentation and enhancing addressable audiences was an announcement of note. If done right, this would expand opportunities for sophisticated outcome-based decisions, moving the dial beyond transacting demographic-based campaigns.
"The announcement of ‘TV Beat’ unlocks the ability to convert broadcast television activity into a unified impression audience, stitching together all pillars within the Foxtel ecosystem (Foxtel and Foxtel Go, Kayo, Binge). This will enable media buyers the ability to buy against a singular audience.
"Whilst this replicates the ‘Total TV’ proposition of free-to-air broadcasters, the scale across Foxtel’s total ecosystem versus Seven/Nine/Paramount/SBS will be closely questioned, scrutinised & pressure tested. Their message was clear – move media investment from free-to-air broadcasters to Foxtel.
"Foxtel spent considerable time returning to the theme of measurement. It’s clear Foxtel’s shift to Kantar has not been without deep consideration and this competitive tension can drive forward technological advancement. There remains a need for unification across the whole industry and the Video Futures Collective is a step in the right direction to drive the industry forward, not divide it – this will be a key to future success."
The Media Store CEO Stephen Leeds said Foxtel Media’s Upfronts were more about an evolution than any major announcements or exclusives - evolution of their measurement, evolution of their streaming, and evolution of their collaborations.
"But for me, the main message of the night was about quality measurement and performance," he said.
"(Mark) Frain did a good job of getting the 'elephant in the room' addressed upfront, that is, their divorce from OzTAM. Their partnership with Kantar is already delivering results for them, with an example shown for an AFL sponsor receiving up to 50% improvement in ad impacts across one week.
"The ability to combine data across Foxtel's total media (set top boxes plus streaming) across platform and across devices should get buyers interested.
"Their commitment to effectiveness was evident - partnerships with Agile, CommBank and TVbeat were reinforced through a commitment to ROI over reach. They’re calling on buyers to reevaluate how they plan and measure to consider qualitative aspects not just the quantitative."
UM Australia's senior creative connections director, Amy Cummings, said Patrick Delanany started strong, outlining Foxtel's vision and positioning of being a digital first sports & entertainment company.
"Bold statements of disrupting the media industry and driving a future facing agenda with a focus on measurable business outcomes, enhanced user experience, industry leadership collaboration to solve the challenge of a consolidated, deduplicated view across content viewing platforms," she said.
"The event was well paced with a punchy 90-minute presentation that was clearly curated to demonstrate the ‘cooperation of streaming siblings’, toggling between showcases of expert led sporting commentary and high-definition coverage across popular sporting codes NRL, AFL & Cricket along with demonstrating their credentials and commitment to producing premium Binge Original & locally produced content of ‘How to Make Gravy’ and ‘The Last Anniversary.
"Foxtel Group also demonstrated their commitment to attracting younger subscribers with social and reality-based content with Kayo Stax snackable and stackable content designed for the social generation, with Mark Frain playfully warning social platforms that “they are coming for social dollars!” and production of dramality program Billionaires Playground."
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