Presto offers free trial in Oz

Australian subscription VoD (SVoD) service Presto Movies and sibling Presto TV today announced a 30-day free trial, aiming to combat rivals Stan and the soon-to-be-launched Netflix.

In another counter-move, Presto TV unveiled a range of March premieres under its exclusive HBO deal including Rome, Hung and Big Love, plus the films Grey Gardens, Hemingway & Gellhorn, Temple Grandin, You Don’t Know Jack and Game Change.

Concurrently, the regulatory Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said it would not oppose the proposed Presto TV joint venture between pay TV platform Foxtel and Seven West Media (SWM).

The ACCC found that there was a wide range of content available to SVoD providers and said the joint venture was “unlikely to have a significant competitive advantage in obtaining access to compelling content.”

Presto TV, which launched on January 18, has been managed by Foxtel and has already licensed content from SWM. The management team for Presto TV will be announced shortly.

The decision to make Presto Movies and Presto TV free for 30 days – after which customers will pay A$14.99 (US$11.65) for both or A$9.99 for one – follows similar promotions by Stan and Netflix.

Co-owned by Nine Entertainment and Fairfax Media, Stan kicked off on January 26 with a 30-day free trial, while C21 understands that Netflix, which is due to start on March 28, will be free for six months on at least one telco, probably Optus, and one TV set manufacturer.

Last week Presto said both its services would be available on smartphones as well as other selected Android devices.

Shaun James, director of Presto and on-demand, said: “Since launching in January we’ve been fine-tuning the service with the constant addition of great new content and new devices, and now is the ideal time to show it off for free for 30 days to subscribers eager for a chance to give it a test drive.”