 | |
| Country | Australia |
|---|---|
| Programming | |
| Language | English |
| Picture format | 576i (SDTV) 1080i (HDTV) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Main Event Television |
| Sister channels | Foxtel Networks channels |
| History | |
| Launched | September 1997 |
| Former names | Event TV (Foxtel) Main Attraction (Austar andOptus Vision) |
| Links | |
| Website | mainevent.com.au |
Main Event (previously known as Event TV or Main Attraction) isAustralia's only sportspay-per-view channel.[1] It transmits throughFoxtel andKayo. It broadcasts major sporting and entertainment events such asboxing,professional wrestling,mixed martial arts andconcerts.[1]
The channel has broadcast theAnthony "The Man" Mundine vs.Danny Green boxing fight and has broadcast nearly everyWorld Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view since 2000 (There was a contract negotiation period that prevented the WWE from showing WWE pay-per-views between January 2003 and August 2003). Since May 2006 it has also been broadcastingTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling pay-per-views, and since 2007, theUltimate Fighting Championship started screening their PPV's. It also broadcastWWE's weekly programming (for free) over a 2-week period during 2006 whileFox8 was screening a marathon of The Simpsons. The channel would similarly do the same in early 2015 whenFox8 broadcast every episode ofThe Simpsons.
In previous years, Main Event has also broadcast large concerts for artists such asChristina Aguilera andBeyoncé Knowles. In November 2008, the channel broadcast a live concert atEtihad Stadium in Melbourne from Dutch violinist, conductor and composer,André Rieu.
During theAustralian Football League's 2007–2011 broadcast rights period,Friday Night Football matches as well as selected games played on Saturday afternoon, Saturday night and Sunday afternoon were shown on Main Event toFox Sports (Australia) subscribers inNew South Wales,Queensland and theAustralian Capital Territory.[2] Viewers in Victoria, in contrast, did not receive anyNational Rugby League matches live on this channel, even if their local team. theMelbourne Storm, was playing.
The AFL arrangement ceased as of season 2012, as free-to-air rights holder theSeven Network were permitted to screen these games to northern states on its digital terrestrial multichannel,7mate.[3]
On 3 September 2013, Main Event launched a HD simulcast. This came following the closure ofFoxtel 3D due to an insufficient amount of 3D content being produced, while the majority of premiumpay-per-view content shown on Main Event is produced and acquired in HD.[4][5]
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