BoxSets is an Australian

pay 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 ...

channel, screening boxsets of hit

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

and

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

programming. The channel launched on

Foxtel NXE Australia Pty Ltd, trading as the Foxtel Group, is an Australian pay television company that operates cable television, direct-broadcast satellite, direct broadcast satellite television, and IPTV streaming services. It was formed in April ...

on 3 November 2014.

History

On 4 September 2014, Foxtel announced that on 3 November 2014 they would launch a new channel entitled BoxSets which would feature

box set A boxed set or (its US name) box set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box, hence 'boxed', and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists ...

s of successful and popular TV series. The channel would be available as both a linear channel and a video on demand service (available through internet-connected Foxtel set top boxes and through Foxtel's streaming app Foxtel Go). The news came as Foxtel faced increased competition from

IPTV Internet Protocol television (IPTV), also called TV over broadband, is the service delivery of television over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. Usually sold and run by a Telephone company, telecom provider, it consists of broadcast live telev ...

services (namely

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

) and the increasing prevalence of

binge-watching Binge-watching (also called binge-viewing) is the practice of watching entertainment or informational content for a prolonged time span, usually a single television show. Statistics Binge-watching overlaps with marathon (media), marathon viewin ...

among viewers. Later that month, it was announced that

Joanna Lumley Dame Joanna Lamond Lumley (born 1 May 1946) is an Indian-born British actress, presenter, author, television producer, activist and former model. She has won two BAFTA TV Awards for her role as Patsy Stone in the BBC sitcom ''Absolutely Fabulo ...

had been signed to produce advertisements for BoxSets. The ad design was identical to that used by sister company

Sky UK Sky UK Limited (formerly British Sky Broadcasting Limited (BSkyB)), Trade name, trading as Sky, is a British broadcasting, broadcaster and telecommunications company that provides television, broadband internet, fixed line and mobile telephone ...

for their On Demand service, which has a similar premise to BoxSets. Following the success of BoxSets, Foxtel launched a second whole seasons channel, Binge, in October 2016. BoxSets was then moved to channel 115, while Binge launched on channel 116.

Programming

Note: Programming availability may vary between the linear channel and video on demand service. *''

Absolutely Fabulous ''Absolutely Fabulous'' (often shortened to ''Ab Fab'') is a British television sitcom created and written by Jennifer Saunders, which premiered in 1992. It is based on the 1990 '' French and Saunders'' sketch " Modern Mother and Daughter", cr ...

'' (seasons 1–5) *''

Angels in America ''Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes'' is a 1991 American two-part Play (theatre), play by American playwright Tony Kushner. The two parts of the play, ''Millennium Approaches'' and ''Perestroika'', may be presented separate ...

'' *'' Band of Brothers'' *''

Big Love ''Big Love'' is an American drama (film and television), drama television series created by Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer that aired on HBO from 2006 to 2011. It stars Bill Paxton as the patriarch of a Mormon fundamentalism, fundamentalist Mor ...

'' (seasons 1–5) *''

Boardwalk Empire ''Boardwalk Empire'' is an American period crime drama television series created by Terence Winter for the premium cable channel HBO. The series is set chiefly in Atlantic City, New Jersey, during the Prohibition era of the 1920s. The series sta ...

'' (seasons 1–5) *'' Devil's Playground'' *'' Entourage'' (seasons 1–5) *''

Game of Thrones ''Game of Thrones'' is an American Fantasy television, fantasy Drama (film and television), drama television series created by David Benioff and for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of high fantasy novels by ...

'' (seasons 1–4) *'' Getting On'' *'' Girls'' (season 1–3) *''

Looking Looking is the act of intentionally focusing visual perception on someone or something, for the purpose of obtaining information, and possibly to convey Interest (emotion), interest or another sentiment. A large number of Troponymy, troponyms ex ...

'' (season 1) *''

Luck Luck is the phenomenon and belief that defines the experience of improbable events, especially improbably positive or negative ones. The Naturalism (philosophy), naturalistic interpretation is that positive and negative events may happen at a ...

'' (season 1) *''Morden'' (season 1) *'' The Newsroom'' (seasons 1–2) *'' The Pacific'' *''

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

'' (seasons 1–2) *''

The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The series follows Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey American Mafia, Mafia boss who suffers from panic attacks. He reluct ...

'' (seasons 1–6) *''

True Blood ''True Blood'' is an American fantasy Horror fiction, horror Drama (film and television), drama television series produced and created by Alan Ball (screenwriter), Alan Ball. It is based on ''The Southern Vampire Mysteries'', a series of novels ...

'' (seasons 1–7) *'' Wentworth'' (seasons 1–2)

References

{{Subscription television channels in Australia Television networks in Australia English-language television stations in Australia Television channels and stations established in 2014 2014 establishments in Australia Foxtel Commercial-free television networks in Australia