"Whatever it costs?" So, if SPK bid $900M...Sky should bid $1 billion?
Sky need to dig deep to try hold onto rugby absolutely, I agree 100%. But I do not agree that they should win it at any cost.
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I respectfully disagree, (actually couldn't disagree more), and think this is the sort of, "we must win this regardless of cost" mindset that will wreck the company and its resources and as its the mindset that's currently prevailing within managements current strategy and as such I think the company is presently uninvestable.
No one has mentioned piracy either - that hasn't gone anywhere.
In fact I just looked and a popular SOHO series is showing episode 6 in the US today. That same episode won't play on SKY until next week. They are playing episode 5 this week instead.
Haven't SKY just bought a Rugby streaming platform....?
Is it too simplistic to believe that with that newfound expertise they could create and reliably provide a "volleyball" or "antiques revisited" streaming platform...?
They would lose hundreds of thousands of subscribers if they lost local rugby and All Blacks matches. You can't be the 'home of sports' without the All Blacks and the Black Caps can you?
With nearly 800k subscribers could they handle losing such subscriber numbers with the high fix costs they incur?
It would be a significant blow, nobody is saying it wouldn’t.
We are just highlighting that sky cannot pay ‘any price’ for the content.
It is entirely possible that Spark could outbid them. If they are willing to pay double what Sky is, then that’s that.
But if they do, who will it ultimately hurt more? Spark or Sky?
Well, when did I say it would? I am 100% on board with the notion that online streaming is the future.
Sky would immediately shave about $50M off the OPEX if they could shut down the satellite tomorrow.
Streaming is here in the present and will continue to grow into the future. Sky have streaming options for both entertainment and Sport. I have been using Sky Sport NOW and it works well, no buffering so far. They are investing mostly into Sky Sport NOW and NEON, which is great as that is how more and more people will want to consume their content.
But I still see the satellite as an advantage in the short-medium term. It still means that Sky can reach the greatest audience by far, and reduces the risk of failures when large audiences tune in at once for a live match.
It only means they can reach their current subscribers, who are leaving in droves. What about all the internationals that follow NZ sport that have no satellite option? They have to simulcast on internet with an inferior product. If they’re doing that then there’s no need for satellite is there?
You do know that Sparks broadcast platform can cater for millions of viewers? They don’t do this by themselves.
Sky do seem to realise that internet streaming is the future but now they’re on the back foot And for that reason they have already fallen from prominent broadcaster to catching up. This market is moving very quickly now, more quickly than sky seem to be able to keep up with.
85% down Since their acquisition of INL and listing. Not a good look or track record.
Very good points. But I don’t believe their satellite base is dwindling because the average kiwi cares whether their program is broadcast via streaming or satellite.
Numbers are dwindling because Sky have not priced their satellite offering competitively. Relative to Netflix, for example, paying $70 a month to get movies + SOHO (and needing to take starter and pay a MySky fee too) seems ridiculous. Especially when you can get most of the movies and SOHO content on Sky’s NEON platform for $13.95 a month.
I truly believe there is a place for both satellite and streaming packages in the medium term - but they have to rework their traditional packages and price it much more competitively.
ARPU will drop, but they have the potential to lift both satellite and streaming subscription numbers over time.
And I am aware that Spark has a very good platform and NZ has sufficient bandwidth to stream live events to large audiences. Even so, the internet is still the wild Wild West to some extent and there will be more problems for Spark.
Sky would also have problems with the internet if they waived the magic wand and streamed 100% of their content from tomorrow.
Exactly! Fleecing their captured subscribers is the reason I cancelled my subscription after the RWC2011 here. Watching just rugby for the monthly price of it is too much then when you can get an internet streaming for most of sports for free.
Not a holder but money is still there to be made on existing subscribers now that the sp has gone down and its decline is inevitable.
Most on here seemed more clued up about the modern world and the future than that SKY Director guru DH