Foxtel WG

Foxtel WG (Foxtel Węstgeɍmanję) is the only pay television company in West Germania, operated by the Australian-American News Corporation.

History

On 31st July 2007, it was decided by the West Germanic Parliament that every housing block should be fitted with a 150cm satellite dish free of charge. Since at the time, there was no native broadcasting standard, many residents tried to set up their own dishes so that they could receive free-to-air European channels or used dubious methods to receive premium services from European companies such as Sky Digital, Canal, Premiere and Sky Italia. Much of the population, who did not have the know-how or couldn't afford to pay into an over-priced black market, often resorted to downloading illegal torrents. The Nationalist Party argued that the plan would cost a lot of money to implement and that the government should instead offer a service whereby people paid them for satellite installation in order to resolve the black-market situation. Despite the launch of an appeal, it was eventually agreed that West Germanic residents should be entitled to the same as in other countries, which broadcast free in terrestrial: West Germania has never had a terrestrial network.

Foxtel dish outside a housing block

On 28th October 2008, when the appeal came to an end, a compromise between the Nationalist, Liberal and Socialist Parties resulted in the creation of a two-tier television service. Between August 2007 and October 2008, every housing block had been satellite-enabled. The Activation Day (1st November 2008) saw every resident receive free, legal access to 'permitted' analogue, FTA broadcasts from Western and Central Europe in addition to the new national network WUS (Woɍųld ųmbę Us). The digital market was effectively privatised, but the interested party Foxtel was allocated a Compulsory Monopoly by the Communist Party to ensure that it would be the only such service. On 9th November, Foxtel would begin its encrypted transmission of digital, upscaled SD and HD services not only from WUS1, WUS2 and Europe, but also exclusive entertainment, film, sport and factual content plus PVR functionality. A controversy was sparked on this date when the nationalised fibre-optic broadband was capped at 10 Mbps speed and a 10 GB download limit with Foxtel providing a 'new' unlimited ISP to entice customers and increase revenue for the government.

Technical information

To decode the DVB-S/DVB-S2-compliant H.264 digital satellite signal and unlock the unlimited broadband, a monthly subscription is required. The broadcasts on Foxtel HD optionally include a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. VideoGuard encryption is used to prevent illegal use. Foxtel WG, in conjunction with the Communist Party, has a veto over which channels are included on the EPG, but has no control over a channel's content. Picture quality can be, to some extent, controlled due to channels' passage through the WUS Broadcasting Centre before it transmits to West Germanic viewers.

The Foxtel WG receiver is produced by Pace and is based on the TDS850 model (pictured) with triple tuners to record up to three channels at the same time or watch one while recording up to two others, push-VOD support allowing for true on-demand television, a 250GB hard drive for 60-120 hours of stored content, and picture-in-picture and software download capabilities.

There are no SD/HD simulcasts on the Foxtel platform. In contrast to the UK, for example, which has both Channel 4 and Channel 4 HD on its digital satellite platform, Germania has only SD channels on its analogue service and only HD channels (with upscaled SD programming) on its digital service.

Channels

Free

No.	Channel
101	WUS1
102	WUS2
103	123 Sat
104	3A Telesud
105	Art Channel
106	ARTE Deutsch
107	Best of Shopping
108	Beur TV
109	BFM TV
110	Cash TV
111	Dan Tamil Oli
112	Demain
113	Direct 8
114	EuroNews
115	Eurosport Deutschland
116	F Men
117	Fashion TV Europe
118	France 2
119	France 24 Arabe
120	France 24 English
121	France 24 Français
122	France 3 Sat
123	France 5
124	FTV HD
125	Holy God
126	KTO
127	LCP
128	Living God
129	M6 Boutique La Chaîne
130	M6 Suisse
131	Melody Zen
132	Mosaique 1
133	Mosaique 2
134	Mosaique 3
135	Mosaique 4
136	Mosaique 5
137	NLM TV
138	NRJ 12
139	NRJ Hits
140	NRJ Paris
141	NT1
142	Sexy Sat TV 1
143	Sexy Sat TV 2
144	Sexy Sat TV 3
145	Tishk TV
146	TV 5 Monde Europe
147	TV 5 Monde FBS
148	TV 8 Mont Blanc
149	40+ Readers Wives
150	9X UK
151	Al Hiwar TV
152	Al Mustakillah TV
153	ANB
154	ANN
155	ATN Bangla UK
156	Audi channel
157	B4U Music UK
158	Babecast
159	Babestation
160	Babestation 2
161	Babeworld TV
162	Babeworld TV Xxxtra
163	Bang Babes
164	Bangla TV
165	BBC Alba
166	BBC Arabic
167	BBC Four
168	BBC HD
169	BBC News
170	BBC One London
171	BBC Parliament
172	BBC Three
173	BBC Two England
174	BBC World News
175	BEN
178	Best Direct
179	Best Direct plus
180	BET UK
181	Bid TV
182	Bliss
183	Bloomberg TV UK
184	Blue Kiss
185	Body in Balance UK
186	BritAsia TV
187	Bubble Hits Ireland
188	Bubble Hits UK
189	C Music TV
190	CBBC
191	CBeebies UK
192	Celebrity Shop
193	Challenge Jackpot
194	Channel 4 London
195	Channel 4 London +1
196	Channel M
197	Channel S UK
198	Channel U
199	Chart Show TV
200