SelecTV was an Australian

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 ...

based

subscription television Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to Subscription business model, subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichan ...

broadcasting service. As of January 2011, the service is no longer available. Services were carried on the Intelsat 8 satellite.

History

SelecTV was created in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

in October 2003 by Jim Blomfield, a former chief executive officer of

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 ...

, as i-view Broadcasting Pty, Ltd. It underwent multiple name changes, before finally being renamed as SelecTV Broadcasting Limited in October 2005. The companies focus was to provide comparatively low-cost premium content to specialist market segments, including Australians whose first language was other than English and retirees. In August 2006, WIN Corporation purchased 50.1% of the company for $23 million, acquiring overall company control. By April 2006, the company said it had approximately 2,000 subscribers. WIN Corporation saw opportunity in the companies rapid expansion, and direct competition to the Australian

giant

, acquiring the remaining 49.9% from Access Providers in October 2006. The company expanded its programming to over 40 television channels consisting of English-language channels, as well as various programming packages comprising foreign-language and special interest channels in Greek, Spanish, Italian, German, and Vietnamese. By 2009, due to low subscription to their language packages, SelecTV discontinued all German and Vietnamese programming. By June 2010, the company had approximately 45,000 subscribers, well short of its target of 80,000. Despite expanding their English language services, SelecTV failed to meet subscriber targets. In August 2010, it was reported that the company would cease broadcasting English programming by 15 November 2010. On 20 August 2010, SelecTV signed an agreement allowing its 22,000 English subscribers to voluntarily change to

and

Austar Austar was an Australian telecommunications company. Its main business activity was subscription television but it has also been involved with internet access and mobile phones. It was founded in 1995 under the name Community Entertainment Tele ...

's subscription services without additional charges. On 30 August 2010, SelecTV sold their Italian language programming to World Media International and in October their Spanish language programming to

UBI World TV Subscription television in Australia is provided using technologies such as cable television, satellite television and internet television by a number of companies unified in their provision of a subscription television service. Notable actors i ...

. In its final days, SelecTV provided subscription packages for Greek programming. On 4 February 2011 SelecTV went into voluntary administration. On 7 February 2011 a creditors meeting was held where the company revealed that it was in debt of $26 million. The subscription service is no longer available in Australia.

Former channels

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* CNN *

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(DW-TV, German) *

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* Discovery Science *

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* E! *

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(in Italian, German, Spanish and English) *

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Asia Pacific *

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Latele Novela Network Latele Novela Network () is a Spanish-language television network in the United States. It is the first premier national Hispanic television network dedicated entirely to telenovelas in Spanish for the US Hispanic market. The network was launch ...

* Leonardo World * Movie Network Channels (Movie One, Movie Two, Movie Extra, Movie Greats) *

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* MTV Classic *

National Geographic Adventure Nat Geo People was an international pay television channel owned by National Geographic Partners, a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (73%) and the National Geographic Society (27%). Targeted at female audiences, with programming ...

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* OutTV * Ovation Channel *

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* Rai Italia * Real Madrid TV * SBTN (Vietnamese) *

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(TVE) *

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* TV Chile * VTV Uruguay * Weatherzone * Wine TV (in English and German)

References

External links

Official website
(archived site) {{DEFAULTSORT:Selectv (Australian Television) Direct broadcast satellite services Australian subscription television services Defunct broadcasting companies of Australia

History

Former channels

See also

References

External links