After enjoying huge success with its Kayo Sports streaming service, Foxtel is another big hit in the Australian video streaming market with Binge, a new platform that will offer a huge library of shows and movies. Saying Worthy Planned to offer Australians over 10,000 hours of "unfilmable" on-demand content, Binge will offer a huge catalog of ad-free TV shows and movies from WarnerMedia (including HBO and its upcoming HBO Max Originals), NBC Universal, FX, BBC and Sony.
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In a recent presentation to the Australian media, Foxtel representatives went out of their way to point out the overwhelming number of quality shows that Binge will bring to its subscribers, including cult series like Game of Thrones, Chernobyl, The Sopranos, The Walking Dead. , Seinfeld, Modern Family, and The Wire, through to more recent shows like Succession, Westworld, Big Little Lies, The Plot Against America, The Outsider, Breeders, and Mrs. America. In addition to scripted shows and movies, Binge will also offer a wide selection of documentaries and reality-based content, from David Attenborough's Frozen Planet to Keeping Up with the Kardashians. Although several shows currently airing for the platform have been confirmed, Binge representatives have not been able to confirm if new episodes will arrive on the service as they air weekly (as they do on Foxtel Now), or if subscribers will need to wait until the end of seasons In addition, Binge will offer more than 800 movies at launch, incorporating a number of binge-capable movie collections, including the Fast & Furious, Jurassic Park, Mission Impossible and DC Universe movie sagas in its entirety. In addition to the big franchises, the new Foxtel service will also offer filmmaker-specific collections from a number of famous directors including Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg and Christopher Nolan. When Binge was announced, it was also revealed that users will have access to some live Foxtel channels within the service; however, the service will focus on box-style overwatching.
Streaming quality, price, and device compatibility
After an initial 14-day free trial, Binge users will be able to sign up for one of three tiers. Binge's entry-level plan offers a single SD feed for AU$10 per month. This is followed by a second plan that provides two simultaneous HD streams at AU$14, and a third and final tier that allows users to stream on four devices simultaneously in HD. Unfortunately, a representative from Binge confirmed that there was no plan for a 4K broadcast level at this time. According to a Binge spokesperson, the platform's video compression will enable HD streams at a reasonable cheap rate of 3-4 Mbps. In terms of supported devices, users will be able to stream via an official Binge app for TVs, laptops , iOS and Android devices, as well as the ability to watch via a web browser, Chromecast and Telstra TV. At launch, there will not be a Binge app ready for gaming consoles, however a Binge spokesperson has confirmed the possibility of a PlayStation 4 app in the future. Users will be able to subscribe to the new streaming service Binge starting Monday, May 25.