Foxtel’s plan to win over more customers and reduce illegal downloads started on Monday with the pay-TV giant slashing the price of subscriptions.

Connecting to Foxtel now starts at $25 per month, which includes more than 40 channels. There is an additional cost to gain access to sports, dramas and movies.

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If there is one show Australians want to watch on Foxtel, it would be Game of Thrones.

But Foxtel failed to include the television blockbuster in the reduced $25 subscription offer out on Monday.

AAP

Five months ago Foxtel spokesperson Bruce Meagher promised that accessing Game of Thrones (GoT) legally would be cheaper. And it is. But is it enough?

Foxtel’s new $25 Entertainment Pack on a 12-month plan features more than 40 channels including FOX8, Lifestyle, ARENA, MTV, National Geographic, Universal, TCM, Discovery Channel, UKTV. But not Showcase – the channel that broadcasts GoT. Or sport, which attracts most male pay TV subscribers.

To watch the latest dramas in Westeros viewer must purchase a $20 drama pack on top of the new $25 entertainment pack.

HBO

At a total of $45 per month, it’s cheaper than the previous price of $74 per month. But will it be enough to encourage fans to sign up, and stem the torrent of downloads from file sharing sites?

For a show everyone was talking about this year, Foxtel’s GoT generally managed to hit the 115,000-175,000 viewers range. That’s technically fewer viewers than for Peppa Pig on Sunday mornings.

Last season, GoT set a world record for file sharing downloads with more than one million Australians accessing the show. According to file sharing monitor TorrentFreak, Australia is the only country in the world to reach double digit downloads of the show with 11.6 per cent of GoT downloads originating here.

For $25 a month Foxtel could have had a chance to rein in the pirates, and introduce them to more great drama on the pay TV network. But at $45? Only time will tell.

Foxtel CEO Richard Freudenstein said there has already been a positive response to their new pay structure.

There will also be more HD channels and the launch of an upgraded IQ box to allow viewers to watch shows that have been screened in the previous 24 hours.