Australia’s Foxtel scraps 3D

Following in the footsteps of ESPN and the BBC, Australian pay-TV provider Foxtel is to axe its 3DTV service from the end of August.

In a statement, Foxtel said that due to “a worldwide lack of 3D content production, it is no longer viable to maintain a dedicated 3D channel”.

The first blow to 3DTV came in March 2013 when Bob Zitter, executive vice president and CTO at HBO, proclaimed that 3D was dead in the water, Rapid TV News reports. “We never thought that 3D with glasses was ever going to get off the ground,” Zitter told attendees at the TV Connect show. “Consumers have shown they do not want to wear glasses in the home. 3D with glasses is dead.”

Weeks later ESPN announced that was discontinuing its offering due to limited viewer adoption. “ESPN 3D was great at home but due to low adoption of 3D to home, we are discontinuing to focus on other products for fans and affiliates,” said ESPN spokeswoman Katina Arnold. Days later the BBC announced it was putting its 3D development on hold.

Foxtel says it will continue to show 3D movies on its On Demand service.