UMA & Foxtel end long-standing stoush

Following TMN’sexclusive announcementlast November that a dispute between Foxtel and Universal Music was affecting programming, the two companies have reached an agreement.

Foxtel made the announcement this morning, noting Universal Music Group acts will return to the media company on August 1.

“Universal Music Group artists will be showcased on all four of Foxtel’s contemporary music channels – [V] HITS, MAX, Foxtel Smooth and CMC – featuring both video clips and additional content,” read the statement.

The stoush between Foxtel and the world’s leading record label meant no Universal artists were being played on the media company’s five music channels: the now defunct Channel [V], [V] Hits, CMC, Max and Smooth. Videos and content from some of the world’s biggest acts including Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, 5 Seconds of Summer and The Weeknd had not appeared on all five of Foxtel’s owned and operated music channels for eight months.

Brian Walsh, Foxtel Executive Director of Television, said: “We are very pleased to achieve this landmark deal with Universal Music and my thanks to George Ash and his team for working to a satisfactory resolution. The finalisation of this deal sets us up to revitalise our full suite of music channels moving forward.”

When contacted by TMN,Foxtel declined to elaborate on why the term ’landmark deal’ was used.

The pause on Universal Music’s content from November 2015 threw its chart programs in disarray and affected TMN’s Hot 100 and country charts. Universal and EMI Music artists account for 42.32% of this week’s TMN Top 40 Airplay chart, taking the #2 (Drake), #7 (Shawn Mendes) and #9 (Imany) spots respectively.

George Ash,President of Universal Music Asia Pacific, said in a statement: “We are thrilled to continue our great partnership with Foxtel, and we’re looking forward to working with Brian Walsh and his fantastic team to bring exceptional new music to all Foxtel subscribers.”

Foxtel’s music presence suffered a blow in February when it closed its 21-year-old flagship music platform Channel [V]. The media company’s Executive Director of Television, Brian Walsh and Head of Channels & Operations for the Foxtel Networks,Stephen Baldwincited the “competitive landscape” as a reason behind the closure, and the ubiquity of “services like YouTube”, which continue to apply pressure to the traditional music television model.

Channel [V] suffered its worst year in ratings in 2015. Its total audience figures were down 28% between May and November last year, compared to the same period last year (Source: OzTAM).

The brand was changed to V Hits and V Hits +2 on March 25 following a number of staff cuts.

“The recent re-fresh of [V] Hits is delivering very strong ratings and customer engagement with the younger demographic, who love the non-stop music format,” said Walsh in today’s announcement. “MAX, Foxtel Smooth and CMC will continue to broadcast the best choice of contemporary, classic and country music for lovers of the genre.”