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Foxtel

NXE Australia Pty Limited, trading as the Foxtel Group, 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 established as a 50/50 joint venture between News Corporation (now the present day News Corp; through News Limited, now News Corp Australia) and Telstra, with News Corp and Telstra holding 65% and 35% ownership shares respectively.

It shares many features with the Sky service in the UK and Ireland — including the iQ box, the electronic programme guide, a similar remote control, and Red Button Active.

History
In 1995, a venture between News Corporation (in particular 20th Century Fox Media) and Telstra took place whereby Telstra would transmit a TV signal through its coaxial network and News Corporation would be the basis for offering channel negotiations and connections. Foxtel was formed ("Fox" representing News Corporation's Fox and "Tel" representing Telstra). On 23 October 1995, Foxtel commenced a 20 channel service, delivered over the Telstra Hybrid Fibre Coaxial network.

In May 1998, Australis Media, the owner of a satellite television service known as Galaxy, was declared insolvent. In June 1998, Foxtel was able to significantly boost its customer base by acquiring Galaxy subscribers from the liquidator of Australis Media and immediately commenced supplying programming to Galaxy's subscribers on an interim basis. In February 1999, Foxtel began offering its own satellite service to new customers.

Publishing and Broadcasting Limited bought half of News Corporation's shares in October 1998, giving each quarter ownership.

In 2002, a Content Sharing Agreement between Foxtel and Optus Television was approved by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC).

On 11 July 2011, Austar announced that "it had entered into definitive transaction agreements with Liberty Global, Inc. (LGI) and Foxtel Management Pty Limited (Foxtel) under which Foxtel would acquire Austar by a series of transactions including a scheme of arrangement (Scheme)." This takeover involved a minority shareholder approval on 30 March 2012, the approval of the ACCC on 10 April 2012, and has had approval from a Second Court Hearing. Austar shares were suspended from the ASX on 16 April 2012 and delisted on 27 April 2012. The takeover was completed on 24 May 2012.

News Corporation acquired Consolidated Media Holdings in November 2012, bringing its stake in Foxtel to 50%, up from 25%. On 15 June 2015, Foxtel officially agreed to buyout 15% shares in Ten Network Holdings, subject to approval from the ACCC. Prior to the acquisition, Discovery backed out from bidding partnership with Foxtel. Ten was later fully acquired by American media group CBS Corporation (now Paramount) in 2017.

In June 2017, Foxtel announced that it would be undergoing a major rebrand – the first in its 22-year history – as part of a move to convey an image that "Foxtel is for everyone". The former logo (inspired from the American Fox network's 1996–present logo), described by the company as "quite aggressive, quite arrogant, quite elitist", would be replaced with an all lowercase logo, and its Foxtel Play service would rebranded to Foxtel Now.

On 6 March 2018, News Corp Australia announced a merger of Fox Sports (Australia) with Foxtel (co-owned by News Corp Australia and Telstra). News Corp owns a 65 percent stake in the combined entity, with Telstra owning 35 percent. The combining of the two businesses places emphasis on live-streaming sports and entertainment.

On 4 May 2020, it was announced that Foxtel would be closing down its owned & operated music video networks and replacing them with a new suite of MTV, Nick and CMT-branded channels, as part of a wider deal with Paramount.

On 26 February 2022, Foxtel suspended broadcast distribution of the Russian television network RT in Australia.

In late September 2022, Foxtel extended their partnership with WWE to become Australia's exclusive home of WWE. Foxtel is to relocate WWE Network into Foxtel's Binge streaming service in January 2023, following the launch of its dedicated linear TV channel in December 2022.

Ratings
Foxtel grew rapidly in 2007, with most of Foxtel's highest-ever rating events being broadcast that year, including the 2007 AFC Asian Cup quarter-final between Australia and Japan, which drew an average of 419,000 viewers, an Australian pay television record at that time. This ratings record has since been eclipsed by the 2011 Rugby World Cup on Fox Sports 1 averaging around 500,000 viewers, which was smashed by the 2012 London Olympics Coverage, broadcast on 8 dedicated channels in both HD and SD formats, which saw an average of 946,432 viewers tuning in on the opening weekend, with around 600,000 to 700,000 viewers nightly thereafter.

As of 2012, Fox Sports channels, particularly Fox Footy, average between 90,000 and 300,000 + viewers for NRL/AFL matches throughout the week. The highest-rated light entertainment shows are The Simpsons most weeknights on FOX8 with around 110,000 viewers, as well as Family Guy with around 70,000 viewers. A&E has also recorded healthy audience numbers for its TruTV & A&E US syndicated shows from the US – Pawn Stars (85,000), Hardcore Pawn (85,000), and Storage Wars (90,000). BBC UKTV also consistently rates well with British soaps EastEnders (80,000) and Coronation Street (65,000). The LifeStyle channel has experienced audiences in excess of 100,000 people for its Premiere shows Location Location Location Australia, Grand Designs Australia, Selling Houses Australia, Disney Channel (Australia) and The Real Housewives of Melbourne brings strong ratings.

Availability
Foxtel transmitted its cable service via Telstra hybrid fibre-coaxial (HFC) cable into the Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth metropolitan areas, along with the Gold Coast. Foxtel now also transmits its satellite service into these cities as well as all over Australia, including regional areas since the takeover of Austar. Previous Austar customers are now 100% Foxtel customers with the conversion from Austar to Foxtel in regional Australia now complete. Foxtel on Mobile launched on Telstra's Next G Network in late 2006 and is now available within Telstra Next G (HSDPA/850 MHz) coverage areas, which covers 99% of the population.

With the transfer in ownership of Telstra's HFC network to NBNCo for the provision of broadband services, Foxtel announced in 2022 that it would be abandoning HFC in favour of satellite and IPTV services. The transition was completed in 2023, after which no Foxtel services have been provided via HFC.

Telstra's network and Foxtel were created to combat the threat posed to Telstra's local call business by the combination of Optus Television content bundling with Optus' local telephony services; Foxtel was the content arm of Telstra's defence strategy, while Telstra's multimedia broadband network was originally the sole delivery system.

In 2002, Foxtel and Optus Television agreed to a content-sharing arrangement. Programming competition between the two companies has now dissipated. Prior to its acquisition by Foxtel in 2011, Austar, a regional pay television operator, also carried most Foxtel programming.

, Foxtel is Australia's largest pay television operator, with programming available to over 70% of Australian homes, and delivered to over 1.65 million, either directly or by Foxtel's wholesale customers. In April 2008, Foxtel's penetration into Australian homes passed 30%. This penetration rate is significantly lower compared with market penetration rates in the US (over 85%) and in Western Europe (over 55%). This is due to the fact that Australian pay-TV fees are significantly more expensive and pay-TV began delivering its service much later in Australia than in the US.

Foxtel announced its maiden annual profit in 2006, more than 10 years after it commenced services. The installation and maintenance of Foxtel services is Telstra's responsibility. In many markets Telstra has outsourced installation and maintenance to large communications contractors, including ABB Communications and Siemens-Thiess Communications joint venture.

In 2007, Network 10 formed an agreement with Foxtel to allow them to carry a digital version of Ten's programming. Included in the deal is electronic program guide data, which allows Foxtel iQ users to schedule recordings on Ten. Before the agreement, Ten was carried in an analogue format on cable only. In 2008, Seven Network entered an agreement to allow Foxtel to carry its SD signal. In 2008, the first Pay TV package comparison site YouCompare was launched to allow Foxtel packages and pricing to be compared to SelecTV, however this service was ceased along with the ceasing of SelecTV's service in late 2010.

On 24 November 2009, Foxtel added 7two to the East Coast (satellite) and 7two and GO! to cable subscribers. ABC3 was recently introduced on 4 December 2009 to all Foxtel and Austar subscribers.

On 20 May 2010, Foxtel and Microsoft announced a new way of receiving Foxtel through Xbox 360's online service Xbox LIVE. The service launched November 2010 with 30+ channels and an additional 12 Video-on-demand channels. It also provided Foxtel's movie service, known as Foxtel On Demand, to non-subscribers for the first time on a pay-per-view basis. Further linear channels were added in April 2011 with the addition of 7 Telstra BigPond channels.

In June 2011, Foxtel launched an over-the-top service on Telstra's IPTV set top box called Foxtel on T-Box carrying the same services as the Foxtel on Xbox service. Also as of June 2011, Foxtel's subscribers numbered just over 1.65 million.

In November 2014, Foxtel added 2 new SD channels, 9 new HD channels and rebranded 2 sports channels to satellite and cable subscribers.

Channels
Foxtel defines a virtual channel order that groups channels by their content.

General entertainment channels are from 100 to 150 which includes metropolitan/state-based localised advertising primary channels the Nine Network, ABC TV, SBS TV, the Seven Network and Network 10, with general entertainment and informational channels Crime, Arena, LifeStyle, Fox8, Showcase, Foxtel One, WWE, Comedy, Sleuth, Comcast's Universal TV, Real Life, BBC First, LifeStyle Food, LifeStyle Home, Docos, Discovery, History, A&E, CI, Warner Bros. Discovery's Animal Planet, Discovery Turbo, Investigation Discovery, TLC and BBC Earth.

Metropolitan/state-based localised advertising multichannels are from 152 to 172 for ABC Kids/ABC Family, ABC Entertains, 7two, 7mate, 7flix, 7Bravo, 9Go!, 9Life, 9Gem, 10 Bold Drama, 10 Peach Comedy, Nickelodeon, SBS Viceland, SBS Food and NITV.

Special interest channels are from 173 to 179 which includes Aurora, TVSN and Expo.

Religious channels are from 180 to 189 which includes Australian Christian Channel, Daystar and SBN.

High definition and Ultra High definition channels are from 200 to 299 which includes metropolitan/state-based localised advertising versions of the ABC HD, 7HD, 7mateHD, 9HD, 9Gem HD, 10 HD, SBS HD, SBS Viceland HD and NITV HD, as well as timeshifted versions of general entertainment and informational channels for a two-hour delay of Fox8, Crime, Foxtel One, Comedy, Arena, LifeStyle, LifeStyle Food, BBC UKTV, Showcase, Sleuth, Real Life, Discovery and Discovery Turbo. As well as national channels A&E, Fox8 (native & SD upscaled), BBC First, Discovery and BBC Earth.

Movie packaged channels are from 400 to 499 which includes Foxtel Movies Hits (themed movies and pop-up events), Ultra HD, Premiere, Action, Comedy, Romance, Family, Drama, Greats, LMN and SBS World Movies.

Metropolitan/state-based localised advertising Sports Channels packaged channels are from 500 to 599 which includes Fox Sports News 500, Fox Cricket 501, Fox League 502, Fox Sports 503, Fox Footy 504, Fox Sports 505, Fox Sports 506, Fox Sports Ultra HD 508, Disney's ESPN and ESPN 2, Main Event (pay-per-view), Sky Racing 1, Sky Racing 2, Sky Thoroughbred Central, Racing.com, Fox Sports News, Fox Cricket, Fox League, Fox Sports, Fox Footy, Fox Sports More, ESPN and ESPN2.

Metropolitan/state-based localised advertising News and Coverage channels are from 600 to 699 which includes Sky News Australia, Sky News Weather Channel, Sky News Extra, Sky News UK, Fox News (U.S sister channel of Sky News Australia), Warner Bros. Discovery's CNN International,  NBCUniversal's MSNBC and CNBC, ABC News, SBS WorldWatch, BBC News, Bloomberg Television, Al Jazeera English, CGTN, CGTN Documentary and NHK World-Japan.

Pre-Teenage entertainment channels are from 700 to 799 which includes CBeebies, Warner Bros. Discovery's Cartoon Network and Boomerang and DreamWorks Channel.

Music video channels (operated by Paramount) are from 800 to 829 which includes MTV Hits, NickMusic, Club MTV, MTV 80s and CMT.

Audio only channels are from 830 to 899 which includes Foxtel Music (formerly known as Air Active), SBS AM, SBS FM and SBS Chill.

Foreign language channels are from 900 to 989 which includes Greek radio Ant1 Radio and Antenna, Italian radio Rai Radio 1 and Rai Italia.

Interactive services available are Foxtel Music and Modem Connection Test. Also available on iQ3, iQ4 and iQ5 set top boxes are ABC iView, ABC Kids, SBS On Demand, 7plus, 9Now, 10 play, Netflix, Disney+, Paramount+, F1 TV, Optus Sport, YouTube, YouTube Kids, Vevo, Amazon Prime Video and Stan apps.

Defunct channels
Channels that were re-branded include: 13th Street (rebranded as Fox Sleuth), Syfy (rebranded as Fox Sci-Fi), 111 Funny (split and rebranded into Fox Hits and Fox Funny), W (renamed SoHo), Fashion TV (replaced by FX/Fashion TV moved to Fetch TV), BBC HD (replaced by BBC UKTV HD), Fox Kids Australia (shared with Fox Classics), Weather 21 (replaced by The Weather Channel), The Weather Channel (replaced by Sky News Weather), Encore (renamed to Showtime Greats) (replaced by Showtime Action, Showtime Comedy and Showtime Drama, both swallowed with Foxtel Movies), VH1 Australia (Replaced by MTV Classic), MTV Live HD, Air Active (which was replaced by Foxtel Music), KidsCo (Replaced by Discovery Kids), Fuel TV, Speed (both replaced by Fox Sports 505 & 506 respectively), SoHo (Replaced by Binge), Channel [V] (Replaced by [V] Hits, later renamed [V]), MTV Music and MTV Dance (relaunched as MTV Hits and Club MTV respectively) and MTV Classic (replaced by MTV 80s).

HD multichannels that were replaced by other HD channels include 10 Bold (replaced by 10 HD, 10 Bold was reduced to SD) and 9Gem (replaced by 9HD, rebranded today as 9Gem and was reduced to SD). 9Gem later relaunched an HD simulcast.

Channels completely discontinued include the beIN Sports channels, MTV, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., PBS Kids, Disney XD, Disney Channel, Disney Junior Binge, Discovery Science, Discovery Kids, Foxtel Movies Disney, Eurosport, Your Money, The Soundtrack Channel, Movie Network (replaced by Foxtel Movies), Showtime Network (replaced by Foxtel Movies), TechTV, Fashion TV (replaced by FX/Fashion moved to Fetch TV), Ovation, KidsCo, History+2, Starpics (replaced by Foxtel Movies), Gamesworld Interactive Games and the Interactive Sports Selector. Also discontinued in July 2020 were music channels [V], Max, Country Music Channel and Foxtel Smooth (replaced by NickMusic, MTV Classic and CMT respectively, with Foxtel Smooth closed down).

TV1 and SF ceased transmission at 11:59pm, on 31 December 2013 after Foxtel chose not to renew their contracts as they wanted to bring as many channels in house as they did with their movie offerings.

STUDIO ceased transmission at 11:59pm, on 27 March 2015 after choosing not to renew the contract with SBS Television. This was replaced by Foxtel Arts in both SD & HD on Channel 132.

Turner Classic Movies (TCM) was discontinued on 13 December 2016.

Disney XD ceased transmission on 6 January 2019.

The Comedy Channel ceased transmission on 1 September 2020.

Disney Channel and Disney Junior ceased transmission on 13 February 2020.

beIN Sports and PBS Kids ceased transmission on 1 July 2023.

Paramount channels MTV, Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. ceased transmission on 1 August 2023. The channels continue to operate on other providers in Australia and New Zealand, and Foxtel continues to carry Paramount's music video networks. By September 2023, all MTV music channels (except CMT) were switched from localised feeds to the global feed.

Audio only channels includes ABC NewsRadio, ABC Radio National, ABC Local Radio stations, ABC Classic FM, Triple J, Double J and ABC Jazz.

Current services
Although originally launching in 1995 with just a cable service, Foxtel has branched out into many new services since its inception including broadband and phone services in 2014.

Foxtel Go
Foxtel subscribers are able to access live and on-demand content within packages they are subscribed to through the internet via Foxtel Go.

Foxtel launched the Foxtel Go service on 7 November 2012. Originally, it was only available on iPad, but from 20 February 2013 it was also available on iPhone, and later on Mac, Windows PC and selected Android devices. Foxtel Go was launched after the success of its London 2012 app, which simulcast 8 live high definition channels that were also offered on the standard Foxtel service.

Access to the Foxtel Go app is free for residential customers with a set-top box and a Foxtel or Foxtel Now subscription, allowing access to any channel that they are subscribed to. Only five devices can be linked to an account during any given month with only two being able to view content at the same time.

Unlike Mobile Foxtel (provided by Telstra) – which only provides a loop of selected shows – Foxtel Go offers a live simulcast of a subset of channels available through the traditional cable and satellite services. The service also has no time limits; Mobile Foxtel offers only 15 minutes of programming per session, or a maximum 200 minutes per month.

The channels currently available to subscribers are:

Essentials – Showcase; Comedy; Fox8; BoxSets; Arena; Lifestyle; Real Life; Club MTV; NickMusic; MTV 80s; Sky News; Sky News Weather; Sky News Extra; Sky News UK; Fox Sports News; CNN; Fox News; BBC News; CNBC; Bloomberg; NHK World-Japan; Fox Comedy; TLC; E!; Lifestyle Food; Lifestyle Home; Foxtel Arts.

Drama Plus – UKTV; Fox Crime; BBC First; Universal TV; Fox One; Fox Sci-Fi; Fox Sleuth.

Kids – Cartoon Network; CBeebies; Boomerang; School Holidays Pop-Up Channel

Sport – Fox Sports, Fox Cricket; Fox League; Fox Footy; ESPN; ESPN 2

Movies – Premiere; Kids; Action; Comedy; Romance; Family; Drama; Hits; Thriller; Greats; LMN; SBS World Movies.

Docos – A&E; History; Discovery Channel; Discovery Turbo; Animal Planet; Investigation Discovery; Crime + Investigation; BBC Earth.

The Foxtel Go also offers an on demand service for most channels listed above including sports channels.

Foxtel Now
Foxtel Now (formerly Foxtel Play) is an internet television alternative to the traditional Foxtel subscription, offering customers a no lock in contract subscription starting at $10. The service offers over 50 live channels and hundreds of hours of video on-demand content across 6 subscription packages.

The service is available across a range of devices such as computers, TVs and video game consoles. In addition, subscribers have access to Foxtel's Foxtel Go app expanding access to smartphones and tablets.

On 4 October 2016, Foxtel announced that a new look Foxtel Play streaming service will roll out from December 2016 and that Foxtel Play will be a simpler, cheaper and more flexible IP-delivered product.

As part of a company wide rebrand in June 2017, Foxtel announced that from 7 June, Foxtel Play would be renamed Foxtel Now and would gain HD streaming and Chromecast support with a lower starting price of $10 per month (later increased to $25 per month).

Foxtel magazine
Foxtel's magazine is Australia's most-read paid-for monthly magazine, with a monthly reach of about 700,000. It is published for Foxtel by Medium Rare Content Agency, and distributed to Foxtel subscribers (who choose to pay for this service) by via post.

Hubbl
Hubbl, formerly Streamotion Pty Ltd, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Foxtel that develops and operates over-the-top subscription streaming services. Currently, the group operates Kayo, Binge and Flash, as well as WatchNRL and WatchAFL internationally.

Past services

 * Foxtel Digital
 * Foxtel On-Demand

Foxtel HD
Foxtel announced their high definition service, originally called Foxtel HD+, on 30 January 2008. It became officially available on 19 May 2008 at a nominal price of $10 AUD despite similar "HD" resolution broadcast channels already available on free-to-air television. HD+ launched with four channels; BBC HD, ESPN HD, Fox Sports HD and a timeshared documentary channel for Discovery HD World and National Geographic HD programming. Foxtel Box Office also began simulcasting in high definition.

On 15 November 2009, another ten high definition channels were launched; Fox Sports 2 HD, Fox Sports 3 HD, Fox8 HD, Movie One HD, Showcase HD, Showtime Action HD, Showtime Premiere HD, Starpics 1 HD, Starpics 2 HD and W HD. BBC HD was relaunched as UKTV HD and the timeshared documentary channel was split into full-time versions of Discovery HD World and National Geographic HD. The pricing and packaging of the HD+ channels was also revised.

BBC Knowledge HD, MTVN Live HD, Nat Geo Wild HD and Speed HD launched almost a year later on 1 November 2010. ESPN 2 HD and Lifestyle HD launched on 1 March 2011. A&E HD, Fox Footy HD and FX HD launched in late February 2012. Eight new high definition channels for the London Olympics began broadcasting on 25 July 2012. Foxtel launched eight new high definition movie channels on 1 January 2013, replacing the five existing high definition movie channels from Showtime and The Movie Network. The new channels included Action/Adventure HD, Comedy HD, Drama/Romance HD, Family HD, Masterpiece HD, Premiere HD and Thriller/Crime HD. Main Event HD began broadcasting on 3 September 2013.

Syfy HD launched on 1 January 2014. Foxtel added Disney Movies HD on 10 April 2014. UKTV HD was replaced with BBC First HD on 3 August 2014. On 3 November 2014, nine new high definition channels were launched; 13th Street HD, Arena HD, BoxSets HD, Eurosport HD, Fox Sports 4 HD, Fox Sports News HD, History HD, Universal HD and World Movies HD. Speed HD was also relaunched as Fox Sports 5 HD at the same time. Binge HD launched on 5 October 2015. Sky News National HD began broadcasting on 1 December 2015, with Sky News Business HD beginning on 19 January 2016. Foxtel Arts HD began broadcasting in March 2016. On 1 April 2016, Sky Thoroughbred Central HD launched. Sky News Election Channel HD launched on 1 May 2016. Foxtel added another high definition movie channel with More Movies HD launching on 1 July 2016.

In response to Optus Sports winning the rights to the English Premier League, Foxtel launched six new high definition sports channels on 15 May 2016. These included beIN Sports 1 HD, beIN Sports 2 HD, beIN Sports 3 HD, Chelsea TV HD, LFCTV HD and MUTV HD. Sky News Election Channel HD was replaced with A-PAC HD in January 2017. Movie Greats HD was added on 23 March 2018. Sky News UK HD launched as a standalone channel on 27 May 2018 with A-PAC HD also rebranding to Sky News Extra HD. Fox News Channel HD launched in November 2018.

A retransmission of the free-to-air networks' high definition channels is also available to high definition cable subscribers and satellite subscribers with an iQ3 set-top box or later. These channels include ABC HD, SBS HD, SBS Viceland HD, SBS World Movies HD, 7HD, 7mateHD, 9HD, 9Gem HD and 10 HD.

Foxtel's high definition channels are broadcast in H.264 in both 720p and 1080i resolutions. As of 2011, almost a third of Foxtel's customers were receiving the HD service.

Foxtel Download
On 1 October 2009, Foxtel launched an online download service which allows all cable and satellite customers to access Foxtel content via their computer. The service were free for customers, who can download programmes from channels within their subscription package. There were one live streaming channel, ESPN3, while the remainder of the service provides episodes of programs from 38 channels. Then CEO, Kim Williams, highlighted that Foxtel planned to expand its live streaming channel range later in the year to coincide with the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics and the launch of thirty new channels for Foxtel Digital and HD. This service has been the source of great controversy as there was no support for Linux, Mac or any 64 bit Windows Operating Systems, leaving many users unable to install the client. Foxtel Download was discontinued in September 2012, with the service no longer being available to subscribers.

Mobile Foxtel
Launched in late 2006 to coincide with Telstra's NextG 3G Mobile phone network, Mobile Foxtel (previously Foxtel By Mobile) offers 33 standard channels of programming for a small subscription fee, optimised for mobile devices. the channels on the service were: Sky News National, Your Money, CNN, Fox Sports News, Fox8, The Comedy Channel, MTV, E! Entertainment, Fashion TV, Discovery Mobile, Disney Channel, Eurosport, Union Extreme Sports, Cartoon Network, TV1, National Geographic, ABC, SBS One and Eurosportnews.

With the exception of CNN, Fashion TV, Eurosportsnews, Eurosport, Fox News, BBC World News and Fox Sports News, which were direct simulcasts of the actual channel and Sky News channels which are taken from the Sky News Active service, all channels are pre-produced loops that do not directly correlate to the full scale satellite/cable channel. There were a limit of 200 minutes per month, with 15 minutes per session, may apply to the service, although this has not been strictly enforced.

The service was discontinued on 27 July 2016.

Foxtel on Xbox 360 and Internet TV
Foxtel launched in November 2010 for the Xbox 360 games console, offering 38 channels, catch-up television and on-demand movie streaming. It requires both an Xbox Live Gold subscription and a Foxtel subscription. Samsung Smart TVs received the same service at no additional cost in July 2012. This has been replaced with Foxtel Now.

Presto
In 2014, Foxtel launched a movie streaming operation Presto, which was initially priced at $19.99, but was halved a few months later. Presto was spin-off a television streaming service with Seven West Media in early 2015.

Foxtel announced the Presto service will be closed in January 2017, and customers moved to a Foxtel Now service.

Fox Movies
In August 2018, Foxtel launched a streaming VOD (video on demand) movie service called FoxFlicks. This service is available to subscribers who have either the movie pack or platinum pack with the new iQ4 set-top-box. It has since been rebranded as Foxtel Movies.

Live2Air
In December 2006, airline Virgin Australia (then known as Virgin Blue) announced a partnership with Foxtel and Austar to introduce a "Live2Air" service on most flights by mid-2007, providing live satellite TV to passengers via the in-flight entertainment system. The Live2Air system offered 24 Foxtel channels and was only available on selected Boeing 737 aircraft, and was phased out beginning in 2012.

Devices
Foxtel devices are manufactured by Pace plc on behalf of Foxtel - they have manufactured a variety of devices including:

Foxtel Standard
There is a variety of Foxtel standard units. These lack the recording features of the iQ models, but can be connected to a VCR or DVR. Foxtel has phased out the standard boxes for all new installations and provides the iQ3, iQ4 or iQ5 instead. The additional features of the iQ models (such as recording) can be deactivated if the customer does not wish to pay for them, in effect making them operate as if they were a legacy model.

Foxtel iQ
Foxtel launched Foxtel iQ in early 2005. It is a timeshifting personal digital recorder in which subscribers are able to record programmes onto a 160 GB hard drive inside the set-top unit for later viewing. Foxtel iQ includes a feature called Series Link, which lets the viewer choose to record all future episodes in a given television series (availability is limited to certain programmes). Foxtel iQ also allows viewers to use live rewind and pause features during television programmes. Two new services, On Demand and Remote Record, launched in 2007. Remote Record was launched on 1 January 2007 and allows users to log into the interactive TV guide on the Foxtel website and then command their iQ at home to record shows, while On-Demand was launched on 8 February 2007. This service is based on Sky+, which was launched on News Corporation's UK television platform Sky in 2001. There are currently two models of Foxtel iQ, with identical functionality to the user but different audio-visual output abilities. Both models have two tuners, allowing users to record two programmes (or record one and watch one) simultaneously. Pace plc are the set top box provider for iQ, of which they claim that the cable version of iQ is the first DVB-based cable digital video recorder.

The updated version of the original iQ unit is physically smaller, however allows for better quality recordings and HDMI up-scaling as well as an Ethernet Port to allow Box Office downloads. It can also order On-Demand titles without the need of the phone line connected to the model. These boxes are referred to as the iQ1.5, to differentiate them from the original iQ boxes. As of 1 March 2017, these boxes are no longer available to new customers.

Foxtel iQ2
The second-generation iQ2 box was launched alongside the Foxtel HD+ service in mid-2008. Equipped with a 320GB HDD, iQ2 is capable of recording 30 hours of HD and 90 hours of SD content and offers, double that of the original iQ. The unit also offers HDMI connectivity.

The iQ2 is equipped with four tuners, of which one is reserved for on demand content. This allows users to record two programs at once while watching a third live.

As of 2011, 75 per cent of Foxtel subscribers are using an iQ series unit, 40 per cent are using Multi-Room, and 40 per cent are using iQ2 (and therefore, HD).

On 2 November 2011, Foxtel started notifying subscribers of the option to upgrade (at an additional one-off $200 upgrade fee) to a 1TB model with 4 times the recording capacity. As of 17 August 2020, these boxes are no longer available to new customers.

Foxtel iQ3
Foxtel's third-generation model, iQ3, was first referenced by CEO Richard Freudenstein in March 2012, and was released to customers on 23 March 2015. The iQ3 contains increased internet connectivity with the inclusion of Wi-Fi and the ability to re-watch certain broadcast programmes to the start using on-demand technology. The iQ3 includes a 1TB HDD (3x the capacity of the previous iQHD) and a bluetooth remote. After the release, many customers had complaints due to the unstable nature of the iQ3 graphical user interface and additionally accused Foxtel of releasing an 'unfinished product'. Foxtel denied such claims along with rumours that up to 2,000 iQ3 boxes were quickly launched in response to market rival Netflix launching in Australia in April 2015. As of November 2015, instability issues are yet to be resolved. However, an iQ3 software update in late 2019 allows integration with Netflix titles when connected to a television unit with an application for the service.

Foxtel iQ4
Foxtel's fourth-generation model, iQ4 was launched in August 2018 and is 4K compatible. Foxtel launched Foxtel 4K—a dedicated 4K channel on 7 October 2018, with the broadcast of the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.

Foxtel iQ5
The iQ5 is Foxtel's latest set top box which came out in September 2021 and can operate in two different modes depending on what service is available at customer's premises. It can be connected to an existing Satellite service, where a dish is already installed and working, or connected to the internet to stream Foxtel content in internet-only mode.

Advertising on Foxtel
When Foxtel was launched in 1995, advertising during programmes was banned under Australian Government legislation for the first two years. Foxtel has since significantly increased advertising across its platform, although still today legislation prevents Foxtel and other pay TV businesses from earning more than 50 per cent of their revenue from advertising. Sometimes, viewers are exposed to up to 5 minutes worth of adverts for every 8 minutes of programming. Certain programming on select channels are ad-free such as films or live games on Fox Sports, as well as select premium networks such as Fox Showcase.

Anti-siphoning
The Australian anti-siphoning laws also prevent Foxtel and other pay TV suppliers from acquiring exclusive rights to specific sporting events such as cricket, golf, tennis and the football codes. Under the legislation pay TV licensees are prevented from bidding for major sporting events until a right is acquired by the ABC, SBS, Seven, Nine and Ten networks. In 2009, the Minister for Communications announced a review of the legislation. In an Olympics year, the Australian anti-siphoning list runs to over 1300 events and is one of the longest in the world.

Third party access
Foxtel prevents users from using their subscription card in a third-party decoder, and requires all users to watch the service on a supplied set-top box, included with the subscription, however some users have reported being able to watch certain channels on a computer with a DVB-C card and using sasc-ng to decrypt the video content using card readers to read the decoding keys stored on the card used in Foxtel's iQ.

Foxtel Networks
On 24 May 2012, Foxtel merged with Austar, resulting in Foxtel gaining Austar's shares in XYZnetworks (which Foxtel closed and created Foxtel Networks), as well as their shares in Main Event. The channels owned by Foxtel include: • Fox Sports Pty Ltd

• * Fox Sports

• * Fox Sports News

• * Fox Cricket

• * Fox League

• * Fox Footy

• Lifestyle

• * Lifestyle Food

• * Lifestyle Home

• Arena

• Real Life

• Fox8

• Classics

• Crime

• Foxtel One

• Showcase

• Comedy

• Sleuth

• Docos

• BoxSets

• Foxtel Movies

• * UltraHD

• * Premiere

• * Family

• * Action

• * Comedy

• * Romance

• * Drama

• * Hits

• * Greats

• History

• Crime + Investigation

• Main Event (66.6%; joint venture with Optus Television)

Former channels
• A&E (closed on 31 July 2024)

• TVHits (replaced by Fox Crime)

• Binge (replaced by Fox One)

• 111 (replaced by Fox Funny)

• The Comedy Channel (merged with Fox Comedy)

• Bio (closed on 1 November 2015)

• Fox Kids (closed in 2004)

• Foxtel 3D (closed 27 August 2013)

• SoHo (replaced by Binge)

• SciFi (closed on 29 February 2024)

• Lifestyle You (closed on 11 October 2017)

• Channel V Australia (replaced by V Hits + 2)

• [V] (formerly V Hits)

• Max (replaced by MTV Classic)

• Country Music Channel (replaced by CMT Australia)

• Foxtel Arts (replaced by Fox Docos)

• Foxtel Movies

• * Foxtel Movies Kids (closed in 2023)

• * Foxtel Movies Thriller (closed on 29 February 2024)

• Foxtel Smooth (replaced by Foxtel Arts)

• Fox Funny (closed on 1 March 2023)

title: Foxtel


text:
User talk:Darien~enwiki

You know, Darien, making pages about PD and falsifying your background on Wikipedia won't stop the FBI from coming after you. --Johnleemk 08:38, 29 Feb 2004 (UTC)

Your account will be renamed
Hello,

The developer team at Wikimedia is making some changes to how accounts work, as part of our on-going efforts to provide new and better tools for our users like cross-wiki notifications. These changes will mean you have the same account name everywhere. This will let us give you new features that will help you edit and discuss better, and allow more flexible user permissions for tools. One of the side-effects of this is that user accounts will now have to be unique across all 900 Wikimedia wikis. See the announcement for more information.

Unfortunately, your account clashes with another account also called Darien. To make sure that both of you can use all Wikimedia projects in future, we have reserved the name Darien~enwiki that only you will have. If you like it, you don't have to do anything. If you do not like it, you can pick out a different name. If you think you might own all of the accounts with this name and this message is in error, please visit Special:MergeAccount to check and attach all of your accounts to prevent them from being renamed.

Your account will still work as before, and you will be credited for all your edits made so far, but you will have to use the new account name when you log in.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Yours, Keegan Peterzell Community Liaison, Wikimedia Foundation 23:20, 19 March 2015 (UTC)

Renamed
 This account has been renamed as part of single-user login finalisation. If you own this account you can |log in using your previous username and password for more information. If you do not like this account's new name, you can choose your own using this form after logging in: . -- Keegan (WMF) (talk) 11:57, 22 April 2015 (UTC)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: User talk:Darien~enwiki


text:
Free algebra

In mathematics, especially in the area of abstract algebra known as ring theory, a free algebra is the noncommutative analogue of a polynomial ring since its elements may be described as "polynomials" with non-commuting variables. Likewise, the polynomial ring may be regarded as a free commutative algebra.

Definition
For R a commutative ring, the free (associative, unital) algebra on n indeterminates {X1,...,Xn} is the free R-module with a basis consisting of all words over the alphabet {X1,...,Xn} (including the empty word, which is the unit of the free algebra). This R-module becomes an R-algebra by defining a multiplication as follows: the product of two basis elements is the concatenation of the corresponding words:

 * $$\left(X_{i_1}X_{i_2} \cdots X_{i_l}\right) \cdot \left(X_{j_1}X_{j_2} \cdots X_{j_m}\right) = X_{i_1}X_{i_2} \cdots X_{i_l}X_{j_1}X_{j_2} \cdots X_{j_m},$$

and the product of two arbitrary R-module elements is thus uniquely determined (because the multiplication in an R-algebra must be R-bilinear). This R-algebra is denoted R⟨X1,...,Xn⟩. This construction can easily be generalized to an arbitrary set X of indeterminates.

In short, for an arbitrary set $$X=\{X_i\,;\; i\in I\}$$, the free (associative, unital) R-algebra on X is
 * $$R\langle X\rangle:=\bigoplus_{w\in X^\ast}R w$$

with the R-bilinear multiplication that is concatenation on words, where X* denotes the free monoid on X (i.e. words on the letters Xi), $$\oplus$$ denotes the external direct sum, and Rw denotes the free R-module on 1 element, the word w.

For example, in R⟨X1,X2,X3,X4⟩, for scalars α, β, γ, δ ∈ R, a concrete example of a product of two elements is

$$(\alpha X_1X_2^2 + \beta X_2X_3)\cdot(\gamma X_2X_1 + \delta X_1^4X_4) = \alpha\gamma X_1X_2^3X_1 + \alpha\delta X_1X_2^2X_1^4X_4 + \beta\gamma X_2X_3X_2X_1 + \beta\delta X_2X_3X_1^4X_4$$.

The non-commutative polynomial ring may be identified with the monoid ring over R of the free monoid of all finite words in the Xi.

Contrast with polynomials
Since the words over the alphabet {X1, ...,Xn} form a basis of R⟨X1,...,Xn⟩, it is clear that any element of R⟨X1, ...,Xn⟩ can be written uniquely in the form:

 * $$\sum\limits_{k = 0}^\infty \, \, \, \sum\limits_{i_1,i_2, \cdots ,i_k\in\left\lbrace 1,2, \cdots ,n\right\rbrace} a_{i_1,i_2, \cdots ,i_k} X_{i_1} X_{i_2} \cdots X_{i_k},$$

where $$a_{i_1,i_2,...,i_k}$$ are elements of R and all but finitely many of these elements are zero. This explains why the elements of R⟨X1,...,Xn⟩ are often denoted as "non-commutative polynomials" in the "variables" (or "indeterminates") X1,...,Xn; the elements $$ a_{i_1,i_2,...,i_k}$$ are said to be "coefficients" of these polynomials, and the R-algebra R⟨X1,...,Xn⟩ is called the "non-commutative polynomial algebra over R in n indeterminates". Note that unlike in an actual polynomial ring, the variables do not commute. For example, X1X2 does not equal X2X1.

More generally, one can construct the free algebra R⟨E⟩ on any set E of generators. Since rings may be regarded as Z-algebras, a free ring on E can be defined as the free algebra Z⟨E⟩.

Over a field, the free algebra on n indeterminates can be constructed as the tensor algebra on an n-dimensional vector space. For a more general coefficient ring, the same construction works if we take the free module on n generators.

The construction of the free algebra on E is functorial in nature and satisfies an appropriate universal property. The free algebra functor is left adjoint to the forgetful functor from the category of R-algebras to the category of sets.

Free algebras over division rings are free ideal rings.

title: Free algebra


text:
George Town, Cayman Islands

George Town is the capital and largest city in the Cayman Islands, located on Grand Cayman. , the city had a population of 40,957, making it the largest city (by population) of all the British Overseas Territories.

George Town is the heart of the Cayman Islands financial services industry (there are close to 600 Bank and Trust companies in the Cayman Islands). The Caymanian government offices are located in the city. According to the Globalization and World Cities Research Network in 2016, George Town is classed as a Beta city.

Government

The Caymanian government offices are located in George Town. These offices include the Parliament of the Cayman Islands, the Court Houses and the Government Administration Building. The Government Administration Building houses the offices of the Premier and other members of Cabinet, the Deputy Governor and his staff as well as other elected officials and civil servants. The former Old Courts Building located at the corner of Shedden Road and Harbour Drive is now the National Museum of Grand Cayman. The building was built more than 150 years ago and has served the Caymanian government not only as a court building but as a jail and the island's first official Post Office.

The Cayman Islands are a British Overseas Territory, however, they are given special autonomy when dealing with domestic affairs. Foreign affairs are the responsibility of the British appointed Governor and the British Government. The British Army will also be called to defend or assist the islands in the event of a natural disaster or military conflict. It is also trusted that the United States would assist the islands in time of need if the UK requests, seeing that the US is closer in proximity to the islands than the UK.

Politics
The politics of George Town is dominated by the People's Progressive Movement, who won 5 out of the 7 electoral districts in the city during the 2021 general election. They believe in introducing a nationwide welfare program, an increased financial presence in the UK, EU and US, reduced interference by the UK in domestic affairs and funding sustainable development projects across the islands.

Demographics

49.6% of the Cayman Islands population live in George Town. It has recorded residents from more than one hundred countries. 37.9% of George Town's residents are Caymanian, and 63.8% are immigrants and permanent residents. The vast majority of the city's population are immigrants, mostly hailing from Jamaica, the Philippines, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Honduras and India. There is also a growing South African population.

Christianity is the most followed religion in the city, with most being Protestant with a sizable Catholic population. There is also a Jewish center and Islamic Society in the city.

Geography
George Town's city limits extend from the east at the edge of the South Shore District, north just beyond Owen Roberts International Airport, south to Hog Sty Bay and west to Seven Mile Beach and the West Bay District. George Town's famous Seven Mile Beach is a long crescent of coral-sand beach extending up to the West Bay region of Grand Cayman and is the most popular and populated area for tourists on the island.

Climate
George Town has a tropical savanna climate (Köppen Aw), with a hot and wet season from May through November, and a very warm and dry season from December through April. As with most tropical climates, there is only a slight variation in monthly mean temperatures during the course of the year.

Finance
The financial services generated CI$1.2 billion of GDP in 2007 (55% of the total economy), 36% of all employment and 40% of all government revenue. The Cayman Islands ranks fifth internationally in terms of value of liabilities booked and sixth in terms of assets booked. It has branches of 40 of the world's 50 largest banks. The Cayman Islands are the second largest captive domicile in the world with more than 700 captives, writing more than US$7.7 billion of premiums and with US$36.8 billion of assets under management. There are more than 9,500 funds under licence with globally recognised legal, audit/accounting and fund administration services (incl. the Big Four auditors). Major law firms such as Maples and Calder and Ogier (law firm) have established themselves in the Cayman Islands. Similarly, large accounting firms such as KPMG, PwC, Ernst & Young and Deloitte are also present. As a result, the Cayman Islands are a leader in captive domiciles, hedge fund registrations and is considered a major international banking centre.

Tourism
George Town is a popular port of call for the Caribbean with cruise ships anchoring in George Town Harbour Tuesday through Friday. Cruise ships calling at George Town anchor offshore and ferry their passengers ashore by tenders, also known as shuttle boats. Passengers disembark in George Town, in the centre of the Grand Cayman shopping district and usually remain anchored from early morning until mid-afternoon.

Activities available to tourists in George Town include submarine tours of George Town Harbour, glass-bottom boat tours, snorkelling, scuba-diving, parasailing, charter boat tours, rum distillery tours, art galleries, a historical museum, and of course, shopping and eating. For nightlife, Seven Mile Beach is host to numerous nightclubs and bars. George Town's waterfront is also home to a Harley-Davidson shop, a Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville franchise, and a Guy Harvey art studio and restaurant. The Kimpton Seafire Resort and Spa and The Ritz-Carlton Grand Cayman are the most expensive hotels on the island.

Neighborhoods
Spotts is a residential area south-east of George Town. It is famous for its Spotts Beach.

Red Bay is a residential area in east George Town. It has one primary school, Red Bay Primary School. George Town’s main highway from the east is located here.

Prospect is located to the east of George Town, as the city limits end. It is a residential area with one primary school, and a few convenience stores.

South Sound is a suburb to the south of the city and boasts some of the most expensive homes in the Cayman Islands. There are a few private schools, including St. Ignatius Catholic School, Cayman Prep High School, and Montessori, as well as a Government school, John Gray High School, and the University College of the Cayman Islands.

Downtown George Town is the center of the city's financial industry, and also houses the Parliament of the Cayman Islands and the main courthouse. With a surplus of banks and law firms, downtown is the center of the territory's business sector. George Town Primary School is also located here.

Whitehall Estates is a residential area north of Downtown George Town, near Seven Mile Beach.

Dog City is a residential area nearest to Downtown George Town and has a few shops and amenities.

Central George Town is the busiest area of the city, where most commuters will go through to get to other areas of the city. It is lined with shopping centers and the Cayman Islands Container Yard, which is operated by the Port Authority.

Windsor Park is a residential area in Central George Town with a few parks. Triple C School is located near this area.

Meegan Galeano Estates is a residential area near West Bay Road and is adjacent to  Eastern Avenue

Industrial Park is to the north-east of George Town, where most of the island's factories and Government Ministries are located. Owen Roberts International Airport is operated here.

Tropical Gardens is a residential area south of Owen Roberts International Airport just off of Crewe Road.

Half Way Pond is a residential area near South Sound and has one school for both primary and middle school students, First Baptist Christian School.

Grand Harbour is just off of the main highway entering George Town from the east. It has a shopping center of the same name and an affluent residential area to the north.

Camana Bay acts as its own town north of George Town, but would still be included as a neighborhood of the city. It is a pedestrianized area with many shops and cafes, including a cinema, as well as apartment and office blocks. It has one private school, Cayman International School.

Seven Mile Beach is the center of the Cayman Islands tourism industry, and is lined with luxury hotels, condos, bars, clubs, shopping centers and boutiques. It has an overhead pedestrian path to Camana Bay.

Air
George Town, as well as the rest of Grand Cayman, is served by nearby Owen Roberts International Airport. It is one of the only two entrance points to the Cayman Islands by air, the other being Charles Kirkconnell Airport on Cayman Brac.

There are over 55 weekly flights into the Cayman Islands. Cayman Airways is the National Flag Carrier of the Cayman Islands and features 3 Boeing 737 MAX 8 jets, 2 Saab B+ and two Twin Otters. Non-stop service to Grand Cayman are available from Atlanta, Chicago, Tampa, Newark, London, Toronto, New York, Montego Bay, Washington D.C., Havana, Miami, Panama City, La Ceiba and more.

Road

The following highways serve the city:
 * East/West Arterial
 * Linford Pierson Highway
 * Esterly Tibbetts Highway
 * Maxine Eldermire Way

Buses
A fleet of Share taxi minibuses serve the city.

Education
The Cayman Islands Education Department operates George Town Primary School, Red Bay Primary School, Prospect Primary School, John Gray High School and the University College of the Cayman Islands.

John Gray High is in the former George Hicks High School building since 2012.

Caymanian children are entitled to free primary and secondary education. Various churches and private foundations operate several private schools that offer American and British based studies starting from nursery up to A Levels and College.

Private schools include:
 * Cayman International School
 * Cayman Prep & High School
 * St. Ignatius Catholic School

The Montessori School also operates three schools in George Town. The schools are located on South Church Street, Hind's Way (off Walkers Road) and Prospect Point Road in Red Bay.

St. Matthew's University, a Medical and Veterinary school is located on the outskirts of George Town.

title: George Town, Cayman Islands


text:
Optus Television

Optus Television is the cable television division of Australian telecommunications company Optus.

History
Its immediate predecessor was Optus Vision, a joint venture between Optus and Continental Cablevision, with small shareholdings by media companies Publishing & Broadcasting Limited and Seven Network. It was founded to handle residential cable television and local telephony, while its parent concentrated on corporate, long-distance, satellite and interstate communications. It used a hybrid fibre coaxial cable network to connect homes to its network, and subsequently added broadband cable internet access.

Optus Vision used the Optus telecommunications licence as its authority to build a cable network, which it deployed in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

Optus's main competition, especially in the metropolitan areas, was Foxtel, a joint venture between Telstra and News Corporation.

Optus negotiated exclusive access to AFL, rugby league, and other sports, and had exclusive access to Disney Channel, ESPN and MTV Australia, but lacked the general entertainment channels Foxtel had. It commenced its cable TV service in September 1995, one month before Foxtel, delivering a limited number of channels to a small number of subscribers, all of whom were connected via its Blacktown Exchange.

From 1995 to 1997, the Super League war waged between the two consortia over lucrative rugby league rights. In March 1997, Optus bought out the other shareholders in exchange for equity in itself, to float.

In 2002, it let go of some of its exclusive content contracts, replacing them with non-exclusive ones. MTV Australia, Disney Channel, ESPN and the premium Movie Network channels all became available on Foxtel.

In 2009, Optus Television stopped offering service to new subscribers, but maintained it for existing subscribers.

From February 2011, Optus again offered Optus TV featuring Foxtel including IQ2 services.

On 14 February 2016, Singtel-Optus renewed their contract with Astro-Fetch TV in preparation for the 2016/17 EPL season.

Satellite broadcasting
Optus, along with Austar had a joint venture in the use of Satellite broadcasting for the delivery of Subscription Television. Originally, Foxtel had not previously offered a Satellite service, until purchasing the satellite subscribers from Australis Media within their service area. Until 2004, Foxtel was a customer of the Austar/Optus joint venture.

Optus utilised this joint venture to initially trial and subsequently offer a basic satellite service, named VIP. The service was very select with not many being able to access the service. It was also offered to Norfolk Island and some smart cards were enabled for some residents (who had the required satellite receiving equipment) to take part in a trial of the service. The ability to offer the service came about due to Optus offering a large number of channels to East Coast Television (now a part of Austar). After Optus axed the "VIP" Service, it also sold its share in the joint venture to Austar.

In 2004, the roles reversed and Austar became the customer to Foxtel for satellite delivery.

Sports programming
Until 2002, Optus did not offer the Fox Sports sporting channels on their service as Foxtel and Austar did, instead offering channels from Sportsvision, (later C7 Sport) and ESPN.

During the Super League/ARL war, the Optus sports channels had the rights to the ARL competition and the Super League rights were held by Fox Sports.

Seven bought Sportsvision, which became Optus and Austar exclusive C7 Sport and progressively lost sporting rights to Fox Sports. During that time Foxtel granted Optus an NRL Channel, screening all of the NRL matches that had previously been shown exclusively on the Foxtel platform.

C7 Sport for some time had attempted to access the Foxtel platform for their service – however Foxtel were hesitant to accede to the request, with one exception being the 2000 Sydney Olympics, where C7 offered two extra channels dedicated to Olympics coverage.

In 2000, Seven and C7 Sport lost the AFL rights to a Nine/Ten and Foxtel-based consortium leaving C7 with only the Olympic Games and Six Nations Championship rugby union rights of major substance.

In March 2002, the commencement of the new AFL broadcasting deal with Foxtel led Optus and Austar to drop C7 Sport from their services, leading to the demise of the channel. Optus replaced the C7 channels with an Optus rebadged version of Fox Sports. Optus dropped the "Optus Sports" name in October 2002.

The dropping of the C7 service led to Optus being a party in the unsuccessful legal action taken by the Seven Network over the demise of the C7 Sport service.

On 13 July 2016, Optus launched Optus Sport, a group of sports channels that were established to televise the Premier League.

Subscriber numbers
For some time, Optus has not explicitly released subscriber numbers for their Optus Television service, however combining them with other services offered under the division of which Optus Television is a part.

Since December 2002, subscriber numbers have dropped considerably to almost half of the 241,000 reported. Since that time, Optus has repositioned its television service to being a major component of bundled services, rather than a service by itself. By August 2010 only 96,000 subscribers remained.

Optus iTV trials
During 2002–2003, Optus trialled interactive digital television over part of its Sydney network. The service was being built from 2000. This service was known as Optus iTV. The service was unique to Optus and had a good deal of positive consumer feedback. The iTV service utilised the Liberate platform instead of OpenTV, as used by Foxtel Digital. The trials were cancelled by Optus after the Content Supply Agreement with Foxtel was reached. One byproduct of the new agreement was the re-engineering of the Optus iTV broadcast centre in Macquarie Park to become the new broadcast centre for Foxtel.

A notable difference between Optus iTV and Foxtel Digital was that the Optus system used the same HFC cable network both for delivery and for the return path, meaning no additional hardware or service was required for this return path. By contrast, the Foxtel Digital system at the time relied on a telephone connection for the return path. The advantage of this system is that it is platform neutral, meaning that the same telephone-based return path can be used for both cable and satellite installations.

The Optus iTV system also allowed near video on demand (nvod) not true video on demand. Foxtel Digital now provides Near Video on Demand as well. Featured content broadcast on multiple channels with staggered start times available at frequent intervals. Some new Foxtel Services offer a "Video on Demand" ability for limited product, various transmission paths offer a broader VOD version.

Other potential features of Optus iTV included e-mail and walled garden Internet access.

Optus TV featuring Foxtel
After signing up to the Content Supply Agreement with Foxtel, Optus Television changed their channel line up to reflect the offerings from Foxtel. Optus were able to have a number of differences between their offering and the Foxtel offering, so that Optus could meet some contractual obligations they had, as well as satisfying a number of requirements placed on the organisation by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission.

A number of channels that had previously been unique to Optus (in comparison with Foxtel) such as the Odyssey Channel were removed from the Optus line-up, as they competed with channels that Foxtel offered. Other channels crossed from Optus to the Foxtel line-up such as the Ovation Channel. Optus was required to have a number of channels that were unique to their service, though the flagged channels are now available on both platforms without any change in regulation nor penalty.

Optus TV featuring Foxtel Digital
In April 2005, Foxtel granted Optus the right to carry the "Foxtel Digital" platform (one year after being available to Foxtel subscribers) The service would be resold by Optus, utilising the same equipment as Foxtel (such as the Foxtel set top box, remote, NDS technologies for encryption and OpenTV for interactivity delivery).

This agreement also allows for non-exclusive resale rights to the Foxtel Digital service using Satellite Delivery within Foxtel's service area.

Commencing trials in November 2005, the service became fully operational in December of the same year.

Optus is believed to be permitting wholesale access to the network so third party broadcasters can sell subscription services over Optus cable.

title: Optus Television


text:
Intimidation

Intimidation is a behaviour and legal wrong which usually involves deterring or coercing an individual by threat of violence. It is in various jurisdictions a crime and a civil wrong (tort). Intimidation is similar to menacing, coercion, terrorizing and assault in the traditional sense.

This includes intentional behaviors of forcing another person to experience general discomfort such as humiliation, embarrassment, inferiority, limited freedom, etc and the victim might be targeted based on multiple factors like gender, race, class, skin color, competency, knowledge, wealth, temperament, etc. Intimidation is done for making the other person submissive (also known as cowing), to destabilize/undermine the other, to force compliance, to hide one's insecurities, to socially valorize oneself, etc. There are active and passive coping mechanisms against intimidation that include, but are not limited to, not letting the intimidator invade your personal dignity and space, addressing their behavior directly, understanding those behaviors as methods to bypass ethical norms and exploit fear as a means of securing compliance or dominance, or sometimes as final straws the person has to achieve their antisocial goals, avoiding the person, being cautious around them, honing breakaway skills, documenting, etc. Victims of intimidation would reasonably develop apprehension, experience fear of injury or harm, etc from the unwanted behaviors or tools of intimidation that include, and not limited to, condescending, rudeness, sarcasm, disrespecting, patronizing, degrading, disparaging, etc. However, it is not legally necessary to prove that the behavior caused the victim to experience terror or panic.

Intimidation as a political process is done through national level threats to compel or deter another country to operate in ways the intimidating country wants it to be, an example of political intimidation is putting an embargo on items that the target country depends through import for forcing their compliance. Certain second and third world countries use terrorism as an intimidation tactic. "A terroristic threat is a crime generally involving a threat to commit violence communicated with the intent to terrorize other." Personal intimidation is considered to be a management strategy to signal/inform potential rivals that they may face significant consequences if they act against the person in charge/management or to get workers in line. Certain forms of intimidation like sexual and racial ones are considered as criminal offense in several civilized countries.

Description
Intimidation is derived from the verb intimidate, and it comes from the Latin word intimidat, it means to "make timid." Intimidation is defined as an interaction style that emphasizes on "bullying, exploiting, or manipulating others, solely for one's own advantage." Intimidation may be employed consciously or unconsciously, and a percentage of people who employ it consciously may do so as the result of selfishly rationalized notions of its appropriation, utility or self-empowerment. Intimidation related to prejudice and discrimination may include conduct "which annoys, threatens, intimidates, alarms, or puts a person in fear of their safety...because of a belief or perception regarding such person's race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, religion, religious practice, age, disability or sexual orientation, regardless of whether the belief or perception is correct."

Intimidation may manifest into coercion or threat with physical contacts, glowering countenance or in its own manner as emotional manipulation, verbal abuse, making someone feel lower than you, purposeful embarrassment and/or actual physical assault. "Behavior may become harassment in forms of epithets, derogatory comments or slurs and lewd propositions, assault, impeding or blocking movement, offensive touching or any physical interference with normal work or movement, and visual insults, such as derogatory posters or cartoons."

Threatening behaviors may be conceptualized as a maladaptive outgrowth of normal competitive urge for interrelational dominance generally seen in animals. Alternatively, intimidation may result from the type of society in which individuals are socialized, as human beings are generally reluctant to engage in confrontation or threaten violence.

Like all behavioral traits, it exists in greater or lesser manifestation in each individual person over time, but may be a more significant "compensatory behavior" for some as opposed to others. Behavioral theorists often see threatening behaviours as a consequence of being threatened by others, including parents, authority figures, playmates and siblings. For self-defense, use of force is justified when a person reasonably believes that it the force is necessary to defend themself or another against the immediate use of unlawful force.

India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Malaysia & Singapore
Indian Penal Code (IPC), and penal codes of other nations based on IPC such as Singapore Penal Code, Malaysian Penal Code, Pakistan Penal Code, Bangladesh Penal Code, etc make the "criminal intimidation" a punishable offense under the section 503 to 506.

United States
"Intimidation" is the name of a criminal offence in several U.S. states. The definitions of the crime of Intimidation differ by state.

In Montana, Intimidation is defined as follows:

"45-5-203. Intimidation.
 * (1) A person commits the offence of intimidation when, with the purpose to cause another to perform or to omit the performance of any act, the person communicates to another, under circumstances that reasonably tend to produce a fear that it will be carried out, a threat to perform without lawful authority any of the following acts:
 * (a) inflict physical harm on the person threatened or any other person;
 * (b) subject any person to physical confinement or restraint; or
 * (c) commit any felony.
 * (2) A person commits the offence of intimidation if the person knowingly communicates a threat or false report of a pending fire, explosion, or disaster that would endanger life or property.
 * (3) A person convicted of the offence of intimidation shall be imprisoned in the state prison for any term not to exceed 10 years or be fined an amount not to exceed $50,000, or both."

Several states have a crime called "ethnic intimidation". For instance, the law of the state of Michigan reads:

"750.147b Ethnic intimidation.

Sec. 147b.
 * (1) A person is guilty of ethnic intimidation if that person maliciously, and with the specific intent to intimidate or harass another person because of that person's race, colour, religion, gender, or national origin, does any of the following:
 * (a) Causes physical contact with another person.
 * (b) Damages, destroys or defaces any real or personal property of another person.
 * (c) Threatens, by word or act, to do any act described in subdivision (a) or (b), if there is reasonable cause to believe that an act described in subdivision (a) or (b) will occur.
 * (2) Ethnic intimidation is a felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than 2 years, or by a fine of not more than $5,000.00, or both.
 * (3) Regardless of the existence or outcome of any criminal prosecution, a person who suffers an injury to his or her person or damage to his or her property as a result of ethnic intimidation may bring a civil cause of action against the person who commits the offence to secure an injunction, actual damages, including damages for emotional distress, or other appropriate relief. A plaintiff who prevails in a civil action brought according to this section may recover both of the following:
 * (a) Damages in the amount of 3 times the actual damages described in this subsection or $2,000.00, whichever is greater.
 * (b) Reasonable attorney fees and costs."

Crimes closely related to intimidation are menacing, coercion, terrorizing, and assault.

In California, making criminal threats is a wobbler and may be charged as either a misdemeanor or a felony under California Penal Code 422. A felony criminal threat is a strike under California's three strikes law.

United States
Intimidation can also be a civil offense, in addition to a criminal offense, in some U.S. states. For example, in Oregon a violation of the state criminal statute for intimidation results in a civil violation. The plaintiff in the civil suit for intimidation may then secure remedies including an injunction or special and general damages.

title: Intimidation


text:
Communes of the Réunion department

The following is a list of the 24 communes of the Réunion (an overseas department of France), along with the arrondissement (district) in which they are located, and the intercommunality of which they are a member.

Intercommunalities:
 * CASUD: Communauté d'agglomération du Sud, created in 2010.
 * CINOR: Communauté intercommunale du Nord de La Réunion, created in 2001.
 * CIREST: Communauté intercommunale Réunion Est, created in 2002.
 * CIVIS: Communauté intercommunale des Villes solidaires, created in 2003.
 * TCO: Territoire de la Côte Ouest, created in 2002.

title: Communes of the Réunion department


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That's So Raven

That's So Raven is an American television teen sitcom that was created by Michael Poryes and Susan Sherman, and aired on Disney Channel for four seasons between January 2003 and November 2007. The series centers on Raven Baxter (Raven-Symoné), a teenager with hidden psychic abilities. Episodes show Raven experiencing visions of future events; she must also deal with the social and personal issues of her youth. Raven often misinterprets the events she foresees, and intervenes to prevent a vision from coming true or to protect her friends and families. She uses her skills in fashion design to create elaborate disguises she wears during these schemes. Raven's secret is shared with her best friends Eddie Thomas (Orlando Brown) and Chelsea Daniels (Anneliese van der Pol), along with her brother Cory (Kyle Massey) and parents Tanya (T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh) and Victor (Rondell Sheridan). The series explores supernatural elements, family, friendship, and adolescence.

The Walt Disney Company created the series as its television network's first multi-camera sitcom after the success of its earlier single-camera comedy series such as Even Stevens and Lizzie McGuire, the former of which executive producers David Brookwell and Sean McNamara concurrently worked on. Their joint company Brookwell McNamara Entertainment produced That's So Raven, which premiered on January 17, 2003. The series concluded on November 10, 2007, after becoming the first program on the network to reach 100 episodes, and ended because the actors were aging beyond the show's target teenage demographic. All four seasons of the show have been distributed through digital download and on the streaming service Disney+.

That's So Raven enjoyed high viewership on broadcast television in the United States, and gave rise to the development of merchandise, soundtrack albums, and video game adaptations. Television critics praised Raven-Symoné for her physical comedy in what is considered her breakthrough role. The series received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Children's Program in 2005 and 2007. A spin-off entitled Cory in the House, which stars Massey and Sheridan, aired on Disney Channel for two seasons from 2007 to 2008. Raven-Symoné, van der Pol, Sheridan and Keymáh reprised their roles for the spin-off Raven's Home, which premiered in 2017.

Premise

Raven Baxter is a high-school student who has a secret psychic ability that allows her to experience short visions of future events. Often, she finds herself misinterpreting the events she sees, resulting in trouble for herself, her friends and family. Raven keeps her supernatural ability a secret; only her close friends and family are aware of it. Raven attends school alongside her best friends Chelsea, who is described as "ditzy", and is an environmentalist and an artist; and Eddie, who is an aspiring rapper, is athletic and plays on the school basketball team. Raven lives with her younger brother Cory, an aspiring businessperson, and her parents Victor and Tanya. Victor initially works in a restaurant as a chef, and in the second season he opens his own restaurant called "The Chill Grill". Tanya halted her studies to raise her family but decided to continue studying law once her children were older; after the third season, she leaves the family to study in England. Raven is an aspiring fashion designer who frequently creates costumes to disguise her identity; she often implements schemes to rectify a situation or her own mistakes. In the fourth season, the show's format is slightly revised; Raven works as an intern for the famous fashion designer Donna Cabonna.

The series explores the fantasy of wanting a supernatural power children may experience. It shares similarities with series such as Sabrina the Teenage Witch and other fantasy television programs in which adolescents experience and learn to deal with miraculous abilities. Disney Channel president Rich Ross stated Raven's powers are not "dark" but rather a metaphorical representation of the unpredictability of future events. The series does not explore the origin or discovery of Raven's powers; however, her grandmother Vivian also has psychic powers. Raven often intervenes in situations to prevent a vision from coming true but she does not regularly try to control her ability or take advantage of it. Her visions often represent a self-fulfilling prophecy. Many of the program's stories take place in the high-school setting.

Development
In the early 2000s, The Walt Disney Company's pay television network Disney Channel experienced success with single-camera comedy series Even Stevens and Lizzie McGuire, and others that were also aimed at a pre-adolescent audience. That's So Raven was intended to appeal to a family audience while having a female character in the comedy lead role. Michael Poryes and Susan Sherman created the series. Sherman first conceived the idea of a buddy comedy for a pre-adolescent audience, and she and Poryes decided to base it around the idea of being able to see the future, which they thought would interest young viewers. The creators pitched the concept to network executives under the working title The Future is On Me and later as Absolutely Psychic. Poryes said at her audition, Raven-Symoné read for the role of the lead character and for the comedic best-friend character Chelsea, and that she wanted to play Chelsea. Subsequently, a pilot episode in which she starred as the best friend rather than in the central role was filmed but after the test audience responded well to her and producers were impressed, the program was re-written with Raven-Symoné in the main role. Test audiences also responded favorably to the show's supernatural premise and its comedy. The series was also retitled That's So Raven. Poryes also served as an executive producer alongside David Brookwell and Sean McNamara, who concurrently produced Even Stevens for Disney Channel. Their joint company, Brookwell McNamara Entertainment produced the program in association with the network. That's So Raven became Disney Channel's first multi-camera sitcom. The series is centered on an African American family in a deliberate attempt to represent the diversity of the network's audience.

That's So Raven and Raven-Symoné's involvement as the titular character Raven were announced in a press release in November 2001. Twenty-one episodes were ordered for the first season, which began filming in Los Angeles, California, in the same month. The series was initially expected to premiere in early 2002 but the whole first season was filmed before it aired on television. The premiere broadcast of That's So Raven, which included the first four episodes of the series, occurred on Friday, January 17, 2003.

Casting

The program and its primary cast were announced in November 2001; Raven-Symoné was revealed to be portraying the titular character Raven; she had previously worked as a child actor on the NBC sitcom The Cosby Show. Raven-Symoné was reported to be Disney's first African American female star, and the first African American woman to have her name in the title of a comedy series at the network. Joshua Alston of The A.V. Club called Raven-Symoné's role on the show her "most successful phase" and praised her physical comedy. Marsh cited her humor and commitment to comedy as a reason for her success. She is credited as "Raven" throughout the series.

The supporting cast was also first announced in November 2001. Orlando Brown portrays Raven's close friend Eddie and Anneliese van der Pol plays Chelsea, another of Raven's friends. Tricia Dixon was originally listed in the casting announcement before van der Pol joined the cast. Kyle Massey portrays Raven's younger brother, Cory. Rondell Sheridan portrays Raven's father, Victor.

T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh plays Raven's mother Tanya for the first three seasons; she left the show because she had initially expected to only work on three seasons and because she was required to provide full-time care for her ailing grandmother. Within the show's storyline, it is explained Tanya has traveled to England to pursue higher education.

Guest stars in the series include Jenifer Lewis as Raven's grandmother Vivian and Anne-Marie Johnson as famous fashion designer Donna Cabonna in the show's fourth season.

Writing
Poryes believed it was important to write the scripts with honesty rather than talking down to the young audience. The writers endeavored to present meaningful stories to children, including lessons about friendship, but tried not to make the messages too "preachy". The series was written to reflect life as a typical teenager while also incorporating comedy, particularly through its central focus on physical humor. Van der Pol said the actors typically were not permitted to deviate from their scripted lines; however, Ross stated Raven-Symoné would improvise "comic bits". Alston described the show's nature as "goofy" with a "kid-friendly" comedy style, but also noted its complex stories revolving around "ethical challenges". The episodes did not typically air in the order of their production due to the lack of serialization in their stories.

Filming and conclusion
That's So Raven was recorded in front of a live studio audience in a set on a sound stage in Los Angeles. Filming of the first season began in November 2001. The series was filmed on two days each week and the child actors attended school on set. Prior to filming, the weekly schedule would also consist of script read-throughs, rewrites and rehearsals. A stunt coordinator was present for Raven-Symoné's slapstick and physical stunts.

The series was renewed for a second season in April 2003. Prior to the renewal, a musical episode of Even Stevens was aired in 2002; its success among the show's audience led network executives to ask Brookwell and McNamara to also produce a musical episode of That's So Raven. The musical episode of That's So Raven, entitled "The Road to Audition", was aired as part of the second season in July 2004. The success of the musical format on both Even Stevens and That's So Raven gave executives confidence in the appeal and interest of the musical genre, and inspired the development of the television film High School Musical.

While it was originally planned for a maximum of three seasons, in June 2005, That's So Raven was renewed for a fourth season, which would consist of 22 episodes and bring the program's total number of episodes to 100. The announcement marked the first time an original Disney Channel series would exceed three seasons and the first to reach 100 episodes for syndication. A film adaptation was also ordered to debut in 2007. Ross called That's So Raven the network's "most successful series". Production on the season was expected to begin in July and the episodes would be aired over the following two years. Raven-Symoné became a producer on the show's fourth season at the age of 19; her roles included having input toward casting, scripts and special effects; however, she rejected the offer to direct an episode. Brookwell and McNamara departed the series at the end of the third season when their company was replaced with Warren & Rinsler Productions. An episode of the series was aired as part of the network crossover special That's So Suite Life of Hannah Montana, which was aired in July 2006 as a crossover of The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and Hannah Montana.

Production of the series finished in January 2006, and by August, president of Disney Channels Worldwide Gary Marsh stated it was unlikely any further episodes would be produced. Due to the heavy focus on high-school stories in the series, the network decided to end the show once the characters were beginning to age beyond their teenage years.

Reception
That's So Raven was reported to be the highest-rating original program in Disney Channel's history, a record previously held by Lizzie McGuire. The program's success led to two Primetime Emmy Awards nominations for Outstanding Children's Program, in 2005 and 2007. Alston said the success of That's So Raven led to Disney Channel changing its approach to original programming. He praised the chemistry between Raven-Symoné, Brown and van der Pol, which he attributed to their real-life friendships. Alston cited the episodes "A Goat's Tale" and "Out of Control" as the ones that best represent this dynamic. Raven-Symoné was widely recognized for her charisma and physical comedy in the series; Massey's "knack" for physical comedy was also praised.

Merchandising
That's So Raven became a successful merchandising franchise during its run; the show's merchandise includes a series of novels, dolls, board games, lunch boxes, jewelry, a fragrance and a clothing range. A line of video games was also developed; two games were released on the Game Boy Advance and That's So Raven: Psychic on the Scene was released on the Nintendo DS on November 2, 2006. Soundtrack albums That's So Raven (2004) and That's So Raven Too! (2006) feature recordings by some of the cast and guest performers. By 2006, merchandise based on the series had grossed over $400 million.

Spin-offs and adaptations
In 2005, Disney ordered a film adaptation of That's So Raven alongside the program's fourth-season renewal, which was planned for a 2007 release. Van der Pol said in 2010 a script for the film had been written but that Raven-Symoné was too busy to be involved at the time of development. The plot would have depicted Raven starting a fashion line with Eddie and Chelsea in France. The film did not enter production.

The network ordered a spin-off series entitled Cory in the House starring Massey and Sheridan in May 2006; this was the first time Disney Channel had developed a spin-off of an original series. The series depicts Cory and Victor moving to Washington, D.C., to live in the White House, where Victor begins work as the personal chef of a fictional President of the United States. The series aired for two seasons from 2007 to 2008. Another spin-off, which is entitled Raven's Home, was first reported in October 2016; Raven-Symoné and van der Pol were both revealed to be reprising their roles as Raven and Chelsea, respectively. The series follows Raven as a divorced mother of children Booker, who has inherited Raven's psychic abilities, and Nia. Chelsea, also a divorced mother, moves in with Raven to raise her son Levi. Raven-Symoné is an executive producer on the series, which premiered on July 21, 2017. Sheridan is featured as a guest and returns as a regular character for the program's fifth season; Keymáh also guest-stars in the fifth-season finale. The sixth season premiered in April 2023. An Indian adaptation of the series entitled Palak Pe Jhalak premiered on Disney Channel in India in September 2015, and incorporates Indian culture and languages.

title: That's So Raven