Presto (streaming company)
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Media streaming |
| Founded | March 13, 2014 |
| Defunct | January 31, 2017 |
| Fate | Discontinued services; subscribers transferred to Foxtel Now |
| Headquarters | Sydney , Australia |
Area served | Australia |
| Products | Subscription video on demand (movies and television series) |
| Owner | Foxtel (originally fully owned; later joint venture with Seven West Media) |
Presto was an Australian-based media streaming service providing subscription plans for unlimited access to selected movies and, starting in 2015, television series. Originally fully owned by Foxtel, it debuted on 13 March 2014 with a focus exclusively on films.
Subscribers could choose from three packages: Presto Movies, Presto TV, or the combined Presto Entertainment bundle. Its main competitors in the Australian market included Quickflix, the US-originated Netflix, and Stan, a joint venture between Fairfax Media and Nine Entertainment Co..
In October 2016, it was revealed that Presto would discontinue its services effective 31 January 2017.
Presto Movies
Presto Movies launched without requiring contracts on 13 March 2014 at a price of AU$19.99, which was later lowered to AU$9.99 in August of the same year. The film library primarily consisted of recent titles sourced from Foxtel’s collection of Foxtel Movies channels, supported by agreements with studios including MGM, NBCUniversal, Paramount Pictures, Roadshow Films, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox, The Walt Disney Company, Warner Bros., Entertainment One Films, Icon Productions, Studiocanal, and Transmission Films.
Presto TV and Presto Entertainment
On 8 December 2014, Foxtel partnered with Seven West Media to announce a new offshoot of Presto Movies, set to launch before March 2015 as Presto Entertainment. This service featured television content from both Foxtel channels and the Seven Network. The original Presto Movies platform continued independently, with separate subscriptions required for each. The TV offering launched on 15 January 2015 under the name Presto TV, while the bundled package combining movies and television was marketed as Presto Entertainment at $14.99 monthly.
Australian productions available through Foxtel included titles such as Wentworth, Satisfaction, Love My Way, Spirited, and Tangle. Programs from Seven Network featured series like Packed to the Rafters, All Saints, City Homicide, Home and Away, Winners & Losers, and Always Greener. International shows included Mr Selfridge, Lewis, A Touch of Frost, and Rosemary and Thyme. The series Aquarius was added following its premiere on Seven Network.
Presto held exclusive rights to HBO content such as Entourage, The Sopranos, and Boardwalk Empire, though this did not extend to Game of Thrones. Additionally, it had a non-exclusive agreement with Showtime, offering shows like Ray Donovan, Dexter, and Californication—all also accessible via competitor Stan.
The platform also produced original short-form Australian content, including Let's Talk About', created, directed, and acted by Matilda Brown and Richard Davies.
Starting May 2015, Presto premiered Australian debuts of shows such as Mr. Robot, Bitten, The Firm, Matador, and Rogue.
Closure
In October 2016, Foxtel announced its intention to acquire Seven West Media’s 50% share in Presto, with the streaming service scheduled to shut down on 31 January 2017. Subscribers at that time were given automatic access to Foxtel’s streaming platform, Foxtel Now.
Marketing and subscription numbers
Presto Entertainment was priced at $14.99 per month, which was higher than competitors such as Netflix and Stan, both of which offered combined movie and television content without dividing packages.
Around five months post-launch, Presto Movies reportedly attracted only a few thousand subscribers. By May 2015, Roy Morgan Research indicated Netflix had approximately 1.039 million Australian users compared to Presto’s 97,000 and Stan’s 91,000 subscribers. In October 2015, Nine Entertainment reported Stan’s paying subscriber base ranged between 150,000–200,000, exceeding Presto’s estimated count of about 100,000. As of September 2016, just before announcing its closure, Presto had around 130,000 paying customers.
In May 2016, a public marketing initiative in Melbourne featured a graffiti artist to promote the addition of the show Empire to Presto’s catalog.
See also
External links
- Articles with short description
- Obsolete video on demand platforms
- Subscription video on demand platforms
- Discontinued subscription services
- Australian streaming providers
- Companies headquartered in Sydney
- Web properties launched in 2014
- Media companies founded in 2014
- Web properties closed in 2017
- Media companies dissolved in 2017
- Australian enterprises founded in 2014
- Australian enterprises closed in 2017
- Foxtel group
- Android applications
- IOS applications
- PlayStation 3 applications
- PlayStation 4 applications
- Australian companies disestablished in 2017