ITWire

The world’s only self-proclaimed “fair and balanced” news service, Fox News, has been digitally erased from Telstra’s Mobile Foxtel service.

If you enjoyed watching Bill O’Reilly, or Fox and Friends, or Special Report, or any of Fox News’ shows on Mobile Foxtel – it’s now gone.

This will no doubt send Fox News haters into paroxysms of joy, but the fact that Telstra saw fit to “announce” via its Mobile Foxtel pages that channels such as Fashion TV were soon going, or that WWE is gone but is “coming back”, yet can dismiss one of the world’s most controversial and stunningly top-rating news services without a digital bleep has temporarily sent me into a fury of disappointment.

At least Telstra has, after MANY YEARS of my agitation for the company to get with the program and start streaming its TV channels without chopping off the edges has finally borne fruit – you can now watch Sky News and some of the other channels I’ve checked properly – no more trying to figure out what on-screen text is saying because part of it is removed.

But on what is nearly the eve of the world’s most important elections – the US Presidential Elections, which might see President Obama (and soon, Obama fangirl Prime Minister Julia Gillard) being savagely turfed out of office in what are expected to be ginormously massive landslides against them, Telstra has scrubbed Fox News from the program.

It’s doubly shocking when you consider the FOX in FOXTEL means a part ownership by News Corporation, the company behind Fox News.

Look, I don’t care whether YOU hate Fox News, or you love it, I just care that a channel I enjoyed watching over Mobile Foxtel is gone – with nary a peep, with channels like Fashion TV and WWE getting major notifications and Fox News digitally stabbed into the back by the people who make programming decisions for Mobile Foxtel.

Can you tell I’m ever so slightly annoyed?

Telstra has also gone to the trouble of having TWO notifications about “Mobile Foxtel is Getting Better” and “New Shows are Coming to Mobile Foxtel” – but with both those stupid notifications saying EXACTLY the same thing.

Couldn’t there have been one to announce that Fox News was being de-Telstra-ified? Telstra, did you really think no-one would notice?!

Look, Sky News is good, and I’m delighted Telstra has gotten with the 21st century streaming program and figured out how to stream channels in widescreen rather than chopping things off, but it’s not Fox News.

Thanks Telstra. You’re to be praised for no longer allowing ABC TV to shame your streaming service by having offered widescreen from day one, but thanks for making it easy for me, at least, to be annoyed at you while you give WWE, of all insanities, a public notice.

Very disappointed. That is all.