Yup..and Telecom / Spark is renowned for its spectacularly successful investment decisions.....
How is that CDMA network going....?
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I think SKY TV & its Shareholders sobered up some time ago. This is not new news - Chris Keall (a hardened Sky hater) has published a number of articles in the past which have discussed Spark's strong desire and ongoing commitment to gaining key sporting codes.
Spark Sport will only be viable if they can get some of the big tournaments. And, given the significant resource they have put into Spark Sport, of course they are going to bid very strongly when Rugby, Cricket, NRL rights etc are up for grabs.
Spark shareholders will only be happy with lower profits from the significant $$$ being spent if they can see it leading to higher profits long-term (either through making a profit from the sporting content in its own right, or by using it as a loss leader to gain additional broadband connections).
Sky TV, on the other hand, only exists to distribute content. They literally do not have a business if they do not hold on to key entertainment and sporting rights, whereas this is a nice 'value add' to Spark if they can pull it off, but is not a threat to their fundamental business if it fails.
As Sky have so much more to lose than Spark, I would expect them to fight extremely aggressively. And, as Mr Latch points out, I don't think it will just come down to price for everything (though the $$$ will clearly go up for the main codes).
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/ind...ecomes-clearer
Here is a more balanced article imo on Spark's future plans (compared to Chris' article that merely states the obvious - that Spark will bid hard for upcoming rights - and has an underlying sentiment that Sky must therefore be locked in a state of terror due to new competition).
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/...ectid=12248612
Well done Black Caps and SKY TV....
Go the Blackcaps and get the coveted trophy home!
Terrible result for NETFLIX. Wonder if this will increase people’s concerns with respect to SKY ?
Or whether the Live Sports will continue to be a sufficient life-buoy ?
https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/NFLX....tsrc=fin-srch
Netflix used to be the only streaming game in town. Now people are finding they need to sign up to several services to get all the shows they want. Who wants to run 5 accounts with different services? Not to mention the cost of doing so.
IMO that's where there is opportunity for SKY to swing it back their way, momentum to the aggregators (ie their old model, but streamed) but of course they are highly unlikely to get the rights to everything that would be required for this to happen.
Netflix was supposed to be the new aggregator but now the content creators themselves are learning they can stream also and taking it back (eg losing The Office and Friends). More fragmentation. Netflix is making its own content to fight this and has seen it coming for a long time.
You know the one place/service where I can still get everything I want in the above scenario? Piracy/torrents
Here is a link to Sky's new marketing guru plugging his book on National Radio;
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/progr...a-better-brand
I thought his plan for marketing Sky was vague. Given his track record of success in previous roles including Cullen Airlines it would be a good idea to watch what he does.
Boop boop de do
Marilyn
Sky still has a way to go to win me over.
Netflix probably suffering from its foray into politics.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/...ectid=12250916
Good news, though I imagine Sky needed to pony up a bit more than usual to keep it out of Spark/TVNZ's hands.
"Is torrenting legal or illegal? Torrenting itself isn’t illegal, but downloading unsanctioned copyrighted material is. It’s not always immediately apparent which content is legal to torrent and which isn’t. Some fall in a gray area, so you may find yourself unwittingly on the wrong side of the law."
Is torrenting safe? Is it illegal? Are you likely to be caught? - Comparitechhttps://www.comparitech.com › Blog › VPN & Privacy
Had to Google what you meant by "Piracy/Torrents" .Now i know
Top 10 Most Popular Torrent Sites of 2019 - TorrentFreakhttps://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2019/
Yup, that is the issue. I'll spend a couple hours studying Sky TV as a possible investment, totally seeing a lot of value *in theory*, then I'll unwind by watching anything I want, from anywhere I want, for free.
It is really hard to see any long term competitive advantage that a company like Sky now has in the delivery of either movies or pre-recorded television programs.
About all that is keeping the lights on is live programs, especially sport. But as a result, TV channels globally are bidding insane amounts of money for anything of this nature, even in an environment of ever declining ratings. Witness the deals done by World Wrestling Entertainment last year to provide a product that is getting worse and less popular by the month, as reflected in the rapidly falling ratings. So why did Fox and USA pay so much? Live content.
It's easy to see a scenario where the TV and movies that Sky provides are available more cheaply or free elsewhere, while the live stuff, especially sport, becomes so expensive they're delivering it for almost no profit.
SKT stands out as dirt cheap in a world of expensive shares, but I still think it is more likely a value trap than a bargain.
While you are correct, it is easy to underestimate (imo) the lack of technical capability of the general populous that could take advantage of these 'work arounds'. Sky survives presently on customer apathy, it is likely that their customer base have few ideas about, or ability to watch whatever they want on the internet by consuming illegal content through invisible streams.
I tend to agree that a large portion of the populous would struggle to figure out how to pirate content and get it up on their big screen.
Piracy is definitely Sky TV's largest competitor though. Personally, I think people are damned silly to do it. Quite apart from the clear moral hazard in doing so, they expose themselves to all sorts of viruses with this activity. And one should support the industries they want to see more of by paying for the service.
I appreciate that many people who do think they have a right to steal content would greet the above comments with a blank stare though.
Ultimately, Sky need to keep improving their streaming platforms to combat this. If people can access a reliable and user friendly service that has a range of great content they will pay for it. Paying 67 cents a day for NEON (40c a day if you just take SOHO) is chump change for the VAST majority of Kiwis. Sky just need to fix the usability quirks, enhance the content options available and I don't think they will have too much trouble increasing subscriptions. Same goes for FANPASS.
If they can convince the large segment of the population who want content, but are not interested in an every-channel expensive satellite subscription, to look at NEON and FANPASS you could get $59 per user right there (ARPU would actually be $29.50 because they would be viewed as two separate subscribers. However it is the same person coughing up $59/month). No stuffing around with set top boxes, and technicians doing site visits to get the customer up and running. Just money in the bank.
Oh, and can they hurry up get NEON on AppleTV already?! They have been promising this since 2016...
Interesting.
https://www.nzx.com/announcements/338292
Sky Sport NOW just landed.
Upgraded my iPhone app and have had a bit of a play. I have to say...wow. The content and functionality available is so far ahead of FANPASS it's not funny.
Looking forward to having a go on my AppleTV app later tonight and see how it works on the big screen.
Thumbs up from me.