SKT - Sky Network Television

[Mysterion]

I'm thinking the puck is yours to keep but the new Sky box has to be returned due to licensing issues??

That's why VTV are getting the puck instead.

[Mysterion]

I'm thinking this has to be the case as content providers would never want a device to be able to record and be sold to the customer direct.

Sky pod is one-off fee but new Sky Box replaces old Sky box and it's service agreement as well

[Mysterion]

This could be the answer.

It might be the case you own the box but not the content.

All the content will disappear when you cancel your sub.

But still unsure if the box is yours or not to keep

[Mysterion]

Warner Bros. Discovery proposes restructure

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/three-owner-warner-bros-discovery-proposes-second-restructure-in-two-years/2FOMOXWBOMKO7DWTKJZPT62X3U/

Sky TV removing free Sky for employees!

Share cancelation!

TAKEOVER HAPPENING??

[Mysterion]

https://www.seek.co.nz/job/58582129?type=standout#sol=895035aec60d2a1d86ce0d13efd3c335a6935c23



Sky employing more Bob's to cut costs

[Mysterion]

https://www.sky.co.nz/vtv-sky-offer-10



I'm confused now.

It says on point 8 they "continue to own the Sky box"

[mistaTea]

So after all the market shenanighans Sky closed 'up' 1 cent (0.5%).

Not exactly a strong vote of confidence from the investment community that the way overdue STB is going to make one jot of difference.

[mistaTea]

https://www.sky.co.nz/vtv-sky-offer-10



I'm confused now.

It says on point 8 they "continue to own the Sky box"

I like how in point 5 they make a point of saying they will let the VTV customer know if there is a delay. Because there almost certainly will be one!

[mistaTea]

Marketing video looks quite slick.

https://newskybox.co.nz/?utm_source=sfmc&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20220922_CEO_Arrow_Announcement&utm_campaign=

Only problem is...I can already do everything they showed me on the video...streaming on my Sony Bravia...

Still not sure why I am handing over $200 AND still paying a monthly rental to do what I can already do...

If there was just a one-off upgrade fee (no more than $99 I would think for existing subs) and then no ongoing rental fee (i.e. you purchased the box) then it could be a more attractive proposition.

But, all of their FCF comes from the bullsh1t MySKY rental fee (and not the actual content bundles) so you can see why they have to keep it.

Meanwhile, it just makes OTT, VPN's and blatant piracy look more attractive to a large segment of the country.

[LoungeLizard]

It's easy to be critical of the new STB / POD but the combination might be the only way that they can transition customers away from having a dish put on their roofs, whilst still protecting a fairly large democratic who don't have high speed broadband, smart tv's or like/understand streaming.
My beef is the pricing. I hope they offer a significant discount to long term subscribers otherwise, as noted, most people will just stick with the current box which works fine.
Maybe SKY Glass might have been a better option after all - a bespoke SKY/smart tv, offered at cost, to lock in subscribers?

[mistaTea]

It's easy to be critical of the new STB / POD but the combination might be the only way that they can transition customers away from having a dish put on their roofs, whilst still protecting a fairly large democratic who don't have high speed broadband, smart tv's or like/understand streaming.
My beef is the pricing. I hope they offer a significant discount to long term subscribers otherwise, as noted, most people will just stick with the current box which works fine.
Maybe SKY Glass might have been a better option after all - a bespoke SKY/smart tv, offered at cost, to lock in subscribers?

New STB will be fine. But most people sorted for streaming now so the segment of 'eager to upgrade' is smaller than it would have been a few years back.

And having a $200 fee to get a box that you then have to rent for $15/month if you want to be able to record is going to significantly retard uptake of what would have been a fairly tough sell to the masses anyway.

It does have some neat features, and clearly they need a new box after all these years of MySky.

But I don't think anybody is seriously expecting this new box to be a big driver of growth. It is going to soak up a lot of cash though, and the ultimate return on this investment is uncertain (assuming it ever delivers a positive ROI at all).

[Mysterion]

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/129958362/new-sky-box-to-cost-200#comments

128 comments. All negative.

[Mysterion]

-Launch long awaited flagship product.
-Receive a torrent of abused from every single one of your customers

[mistaTea]

Customers are right to query why the current rental fee they pay for MySky ($180 - $240 a year) doesn't cover upgrades.

Imagine if you are a customer for 10 years - and you have now paid sky $2K for a MySky box that only cost them maybe $150...

If they upgrade to a net box, why wouldn't you just get it? You've paid $1850 for it...

[mistaTea]

Let's think it through...

• So Sky have ~550K MYSKY subs.
• There are ~100K VTV customers and the vast majority of those just use the box for freeview + apps (no SKY sub)
• If you add up all the other boxes like AppleTV, Smartvu - if you were super generous you might say there is another 100K. I would be surprised if it was even half that, but let's use the big number for now

So you have maybe 750K households that might be interested in a STB. At least 75% of those already have MySKY...and the majority of those have been with Sky for 5+ years (and, one would imagine, reasonably happy with the current STB).

33% of NZ households interested in a STB, and Sky already has most of them...of the others who are using AppleTV to stream content from apps or one of the freeview boxes to do that and watch/record freeview channels...how many of those are going to be tempted to pay Sky $200 for the new box (even if there are some decent features) AND start paying a monthly sub anywhere between $50-$100 per month depending on packages selected? Very few I would say!

Most of the 550K MySKY subs would have kept paying their subs month in and month out anyway. So even if you managed to convert all of them, what have you actually gained? A massive expense with no increase in earnings. Possibly there could be a long term gain if the new box is really awesome and it means more of the 5-years-or-less subs stick around longer. But we are not talking about big numbers here.

Then you have the 67% of households who are comfortably streaming on SmartTV, Chromecast, VPN, Torrenting and/or using PLEX. The PLEX app is really quite advanced now in terms of how it curates OnDemand content. In theory you are only supposed to connect it to a library of content you have legitimately purchased. But most people just connect to a mates server where they have auto downloads of stolen content.

Between those legally streaming and stealing...how many of these 'new customers' are Sky going to attract with the new box? Zilch?

On one hand, I think the new box does have some good features and they should have it as an option for customers. On the other hand, because the box is so damn late now (4 years late if you consider the Infinite Video Platform that was going to be released in 2018) that consumers have quite likely moved on.

But let's say I am wrong about all of that...and the new STB is so good in terms of features and performance that it could become incredibly popular. Not only do exist mySKY subs scramble to get their hands on one, but a decent segment of consumers who have never had a traditional Sky sub in their life could be tempted...

Well, none of that is likely to happen with a $200 fee to borrow the box (not own, borrow) as well as an ongoing rental fee each month.

Cyclical technology upgrades should be factored into their overall pricing. If they want to keep the MySky fee model (a mistake I think) then the launch should be simple:

• You contact existing STB subs and let them know they can keep the old box if they want or swap out for the new one. No extra fee, they just keep paying what they are paying in terms of packages + rental fee but get a new box if they want it
• You offer it to new customers right away, just as you currently offer MySky. You let them know they have the option of the new box, you select their packages and add the rental fee if they want to record and you get them set up exactly how you currently set up MySky customers. The idea being that there is an upfront cost to Sky to set the customer up but if Sky look aftet the customer and provide value they will renew their sub and Sky will recoup the set up costs

What they are trying to do is downright cheeky actually, and because none of these guys really know what they are doing...they increase the odds significantly that this ends up being an expensive exercise for the owners with minimal return.