PAY TV subscribers will have access to 12 new channel brands, including movie, sport and lifestyle offerings, and a new free downloading service.
Foxtel and regional provider Austar today revealed plans for new channels to launch on November 15, including 12 new channel brands with fresh content, and 15 channels extended to high definition.
The 12 new channel brands will be Lifestyle You, with talent such as MasterChef's Sarah Wilson, racing royalty Kate Waterhouse, and TV presenter Antonia Kidman, a murder mystery channel 13th Street, an ad-free station called Kids Co, The Style Network, Discovery Turbo Max, Nat Geo Wild and new sports channel, Eurosport.
New movie channels will include Showtime Drama, Showtime Comedy, Showtime Action, Family Movie Channel (FMC), and Starpics, aimed at showing blocks of movies from one actor.
All three Fox Sports channels, and six movie channels, will be among 15 channels available in high definition.
There will also be eight new time shift channels, allowing viewers to watch content a couple of hours later.
Dubbed Foxtel's Next Generation, Hollywood starlet, the 21-year-old daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, Rumer Willis, was on hand to help launch the new service, alongside a raft of pay TV talent, at Sydney's Fox Studios.
No expense was spared as organisers used Co2-powered rockets to launch the service.
Foxtel chief executive Kim Williams said it was the biggest announcement for Foxtel since the launch of digital in 2004.
It is reported to have cost the provider $50 million.
Earlier, Austar revealed its plans for regional subscribers, who would now have access to HD television for an incremental $5 a month.
The offering includes 15 new standard definition channels and 13 new high definition channels.
Further channels and a catch-up service will be announced in early 2010.
Austar said it was still targeting 750,000 subscribers by the end of calendar 2009, up from 728,719 subscribers at the end of its first half on June 30.
"We're planning to have a significantly better second half than the first half,'' Austar chief executive John Porter said at the company's Next Generation TV product launch in Sydney.
However, Mr Porter said market conditions remained challenging.
"It's not getting any easier to market into a market where I guess there are still concerns about the overall economy.''
Mr Porter said Austar's new range of channels would help to attract new customers.
He said the investment required to deliver the new SD and HD services would be about $22 million a year.
He also said Austar had signed a deal with Fox Sports, which will allow Austar customers to watch three Fox Sports channels in high definition.
Fox Sports chief executive David Malone said at the launch that the company was "delighted'' to be delivering all three of its Fox Sports channels in high definition to Austar customers.
"Fox Sports has been at the forefront of delivering the most comprehensive sports coverage in the country for some time and from November 15 our new channel offering will set the benchmark for HD sports broadcasting in Australia,'' he said.
There has been speculation that Austar and Foxtel may merge if Telstra is forced to divest its 50 per cent stake in Foxtel under the government's move to split the telco giant.
Analysts have said the possible sale of Telstra's stake could allow for pay-TV consolidation with the potential for Austar to combine with Foxtel.
News Corp (publisher of The Weekly Times) and Consolidated Media Holdings Ltd each own 25 per cent each of Foxtel.
