Foxtel axes Lifestyle You channel – Merges Foxtel Arts and Smooth

Foxtel has announced changes for its Satellite & Cable customers which will see the Lifestyle You channel disappear, and Foxtel Arts and Foxtel Smooth channels merged into a shared service.

Effective October 11, both Foxtel Arts and Smooth will share the same broadcast signal.

The two channels will be split into 12-hour blocks, with Smooth programming throughout the day and overnight from Midnight to 6.00pm and Foxtel Arts content scheduled from 6.00pm to 12 Midnight, daily.

At the same time, Lifestyle You will cease broadcasting with key programming moving to The Lifestyle Channel, Arena and On Demand.

The changes come after Foxtel recently removed Lifestyle You, Smooth, Foxtel Arts and 16 additional channels from its online product Foxtel Now.

Foxtel is currently under intense pressure to prevent price rises as it seeks to compete against online competitors including Netflix, Stan and Amazon.

Announcing the decision Brian Walsh, Foxtel’s Executive Director of Television said:

“We have taken this decision because it makes a lot of sense both in financial terms and audience optimisation,”

“Foxtel Smooth’s peak audiences are in daytime, whilst for Arts, audiences tune in during the evening, so this is really about combining the best of both worlds for our customers. Yes this is consolidation, however, as our television and video world continues to evolve, it is imperative we review every aspect of the business.

“Foxtel is in the business of curating and acquiring the best content across multi genres and creating strong super channels which serve a wide variety of tastes. The new Smooth / Arts combo and the streamlining of Lifestyle You are examples of that,” 

Foxtel is promising the formats for Smooth/Arts will remain the same.

Foxtel Smooth, which is operated under brand license from Smooth FM, will continue to broadcast a playlist of contemporary music based on the Smooth FM playlist.

Foxtel Arts will continue to showcase performing arts from Australia and around the world.

Foxtel Smooth / Foxtel Arts will continue to be broadcast at two channel locations on the Foxtel platform, at both Channel 133 and Channel 806.

This change also means that, for the first time, Foxtel Arts will be available to all Foxtel Satellite & Cable customers, irrespective of their subscription package.

Arena and The Lifestyle Channel are available as part of the Entertainment pack on channel 105 and 106 as well as on +2 channels on 151 and 152.