Latest news with #Foxtel
AU Financial Review
a day ago
- Entertainment
- AU Financial Review
BBC-owned Britbox renews big bet on the British niche viewer
The BBC is betting big on people paying more for first-run British content, adding three live channels and new shows in a relaunch of Britbox a year after taking full control of the niche streaming service and months after pulling channels from Foxtel. Britbox is vastly expanding the number of shows it has, adding three new live broadcasts – BBC First, BBC Entertain and BBC Select – and upgrading its user interface in the biggest overhaul since it arrived in Australia in 2020. It is hoping die-hard fans of British shows will pay to watch new seasons first on the platform.
News.com.au
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Comedian Tom Walker joins Great Australian Bake Off as new co-host
A new co-host is set to join Great Australian Bake Off when Season 8 premieres on Foxtel and BINGE later this year. On Monday, the Foxtel Group announced that much-loved comedian Tom Walker will co-host the popular baking show alongside existing host Natalie Tran. Walker steps into the iconic shed for the first time with fan favourite Tran, and together they will be joined by esteemed returning judges, British culinary icon Rachel Khoo and Aussie pastry king Darren Purchese. Walker replaces former co-host, beloved comedian Cal Wilson, who sadly passed away from a sudden illness in 2023. 'I truly loved being a part of The Great Australian Bake Off,' Walker said in a statement. 'The whole crew is so warm, funny, welcoming and kind, and the bakers are so talented it blows my mind.' 'To the little boy who grew up thinking he'd never see a biscuitcity – you were wrong. I'm thrilled to be part of the Bake Off Family.' In a separate statement shared on Instagram, Walker – who rocks an eye-catching cardigan in the first promo pics – gushed: 'They let me keep the cardigans and I am still not sure how to pronounce or spell millefeuille! This was genuinely so much fun I struggle to talk about and not sound completely nuts … I am very, very, very happy.' Walker is no stranger to television, winning over viewers with his infectious charm on shows such as Whose Line Is It Anyway? Australia and Guy Montgomery's Guy Mont-Spelling Bee. The stand-up comic has also won accolades in his industry. In 2016, he won Best Newcomer at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and that same year he nabbed the Director's Choice Award at the Sydney Comedy Festival. The hosting news comes almost two years after the death of Wilson, who hosted the show alongside Tran from 2022. The New Zealand-born comic and TV personality passed away in October 2023 following a short illness. She was 53. At the time of her death, Wilson had already filmed four episodes of Season 7, with Tran taking on hosting duties solo for the remainder of the season following the tragic news. 'Season 7 of The Great Australian Bake Off holds a special place in all our hearts,' Wendy Moore, Director of Foxtel Channels and Content and Lifestyle Group General Manager, said at the time. 'Cal's passing was a devastating shock to the Bake Off family, and she is dearly missed by everyone who knew her. Her deep love for this show and her unique blend of charisma and kindness brightened the shed every day.' Moore said it was with the full support of Wilson's family and 'with Cal in our hearts' that Season 7 was able to premiere 11 months after her death. 'This year, Bake Off holds a special place in our hearts and allows us to truly celebrate Cal,' Tran added ahead of last year's premiere. 'This season is a tribute to her memory, the incredible talent of our bakers, and the genuine camaraderie that makes the show so special.'
AU Financial Review
6 days ago
- Sport
- AU Financial Review
Why the AFL struggles to kick out Richard Goyder
All is not well at AFL headquarters, otherwise known as the AFL Commission. It's time to seriously address who should take responsibility for its problems. According to AFL guru Caroline Wilson, the league is beset by 'crumbling' management and communication problems. These include the chaotic leadership of Andrew Dillon as chief executive, poor Indigenous player and Indigenous executive management, poor attention to player health concerns; inconsistent approaches to player suspensions; and questions over the allocation of exclusive TV rights to Saturday games to Foxtel at the expense of free-to-air Channel Seven.
Sydney Morning Herald
6 days ago
- Sport
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Disrespectful': Footy commentary war between Seven, Foxtel gets personal
Foxtel must have known that screening a cheeky pre-season ad poking fun at Seven's chief AFL caller Brian Taylor was going to come back to bite them. The pay TV outlet's commercial showed a BT lookalike stuck outside a pub, banging on the front door in frustration because he couldn't get inside on a Saturday afternoon to watch the footy on Fox. One Seven insider called it 'disrespectful'. It was an early salvo in footy's escalating broadcast wars – a chest-beating declaration that Foxtel had been granted exclusive rights, under the AFL's new mega TV rights deal, to show all Saturday games in Victoria. Last Sunday, BT pounced on a chance to return fire. Loading He was given the opening by Foxtel management who chose to have its three-man commentary team – Anthony Hudson, Dermott Brereton and Brad Johnson – call the Melbourne-Sydney clash from its South Melbourne studio rather than send them to the MCG. 'It is just interesting in this magnificent arena on a Sunday afternoon, a beautiful day, that you come here, and it's magnificent to be here and look across to the box next door of our opposition, and none of them are here today,' BT said from the MCG during Seven's coverage of the game. 'They haven't come from the two-kilometre trek from South Melbourne.' Seven's sport and marketing team seized on the moment by taking out a full-page ad in Tuesday's Herald Sun, saying 'We Turn Up'.
The Age
6 days ago
- Sport
- The Age
‘Disrespectful': Footy commentary war between Seven, Foxtel gets personal
Foxtel must have known that screening a cheeky pre-season ad poking fun at Seven's chief AFL caller Brian Taylor was going to come back to bite them. The pay TV outlet's commercial showed a BT lookalike stuck outside a pub, banging on the front door in frustration because he couldn't get inside on a Saturday afternoon to watch the footy on Fox. One Seven insider called it 'disrespectful'. It was an early salvo in footy's escalating broadcast wars – a chest-beating declaration that Foxtel had been granted exclusive rights, under the AFL's new mega TV rights deal, to show all Saturday games in Victoria. Last Sunday, BT pounced on a chance to return fire. Loading He was given the opening by Foxtel management who chose to have its three-man commentary team – Anthony Hudson, Dermott Brereton and Brad Johnson – call the Melbourne-Sydney clash from its South Melbourne studio rather than send them to the MCG. 'It is just interesting in this magnificent arena on a Sunday afternoon, a beautiful day, that you come here, and it's magnificent to be here and look across to the box next door of our opposition, and none of them are here today,' BT said from the MCG during Seven's coverage of the game. 'They haven't come from the two-kilometre trek from South Melbourne.' Seven's sport and marketing team seized on the moment by taking out a full-page ad in Tuesday's Herald Sun, saying 'We Turn Up'.
