FREE-TO-AIR networks are increasingly modelling themselves on pay television stations, Foxtel chief executive Kim Williams says.
In Adelaide yesterday to launch Sky News's Adelaide bureau, Mr Williams said competition between free-to-air networks and the pay-TV provider had intensified, with nearly eight million Australians now being reached by Foxtel.
"Plagiarism is the most sincere form of flattery," Mr Williams said yesterday.
"If you look at the schedule of GO! (Channel 9's digital channel), it's copying some well-established formats."
Mr Williams also alluded to Channel 10's OneHD as directly modelling itself on Fox Sports' suite of channels.
"It's a very competitive arena. Obviously people only have a certain amount of time and we're competing for their attention," he said.
"Inside that environment we're no longer a second thought or an afterthought."
Responding to recent criticism of Australian parents allowing young children to watch too much television, Mr Williams said the pay-TV provider aimed to empower parents and children.
"Nothing is a substitute for responsible parenting," he said.
"Foxtel has a number of things that empower parents – such as parental controls and a children's remote."
Expanding the debate to all ages, he said Foxtel's intent in announcing more than 20 new channels, and introducing increasingly user-friendly technology, was not to engender a nation of couch potatoes.
"We're not saying we want to ram a bunch of TV down your throats," he said.
"We're very much about empowerment of the viewer. "We encourage people not to take a primitive view of TV."
Kim Williams spoke at the Adelaide launch of Sky News Local. Local channels for Sky News launch next month.
Source: news.com.au
