SKT - Sky Network Television

[Teitei]

-Pooman buys "Lotto Strike" jackpot amount of shares!

-Transaction, merger and acquisition specialist Andrew Hurst back as CFO!

Sp has $3.00 written all over it!

[mistaTea]

I see Justin Marshall didn't make the cut to go over to France for RWC.

No BOOMFA!

[winner (n)]

I see Justin Marshall didn't make the cut to go over to France for RWC.

No BOOMFA!

Kirstie got nod over our Justin ...... Sophie made sure of that

No wonder Justin is reported as not 'taking the decision  well'

[mistaTea]

Kirstie got nod over our Justin ...... Sophie made sure of that

No wonder Justin is reported as not 'taking the decision  well'

Not a great look if they just sent 4 blokes over.

Surprised they picked Mils over Justin.

Then again, you might have to field awkward questions if you just sent 4 Whites.

Diversity across race and gender is the name of the game, so I suspect they could only really have 50% of the team as white males - and Justin didn't make the cut over Jeff and Grant.

As things continue to change, it may well be that one day more room has to be made to ensure a transgender person is included in the team.

That would be quite interesting indeed - in that situation, certainly Jeff or Grant would need to get the chop!

AHHH HUHUHUHUHU!

I know some bigoted people don't like it when I laugh in Te Reo, but to Hell with it. It's an official language for God's sake and I love it.

[Crackity]

Max, the Warner Bros Discovery streaming service that's lost the "HBO" from its title, is coming down under in late 2024. That's according to CEO David Zaslav, who announced global domination plans at an overnight press event. "It's the one to watch," he said, "because we have so many of the world's iconic and globally recognised franchises. It's our superpower."

The Spinoff reported on Max's expansive streaming service plans last August after the merger of Warner Bros and Discovery, predicting the new streaming service was likely to arrive here in 2024. We also pointed out that it's probably causing shockwaves at Sky TV, whose SoHo channel and Neon streaming service rely heavily on importing HBO content like Succession, The Last of Us and Barry. When it loses that content will depend on when its contract with HBO runs out.

Max would combine much of Warner Bros Discovery's content, including HBO, Cartoon Network, Food Network, Warner Bros and its massive slate of movies, as well as news and sport, Zaslav announced. Tiered pricing would range between US$9.99-$19.99. A spokesperson told Newshub: "We plan to roll out Max in key Asia-Pacific territories later in 2024."



Taken from the spin-off website today

[mistaTea]

Max, the Warner Bros Discovery streaming service that's lost the "HBO" from its title, is coming down under in late 2024. That's according to CEO David Zaslav, who announced global domination plans at an overnight press event. "It's the one to watch," he said, "because we have so many of the world's iconic and globally recognised franchises. It's our superpower."

The Spinoff reported on Max's expansive streaming service plans last August after the merger of Warner Bros and Discovery, predicting the new streaming service was likely to arrive here in 2024. We also pointed out that it's probably causing shockwaves at Sky TV, whose SoHo channel and Neon streaming service rely heavily on importing HBO content like Succession, The Last of Us and Barry. When it loses that content will depend on when its contract with HBO runs out.

Max would combine much of Warner Bros Discovery's content, including HBO, Cartoon Network, Food Network, Warner Bros and its massive slate of movies, as well as news and sport, Zaslav announced. Tiered pricing would range between US$9.99-$19.99. A spokesperson told Newshub: "We plan to roll out Max in key Asia-Pacific territories later in 2024."



Taken from the spin-off website today

Not a shock.

As I have mentioned many times before - sky is in a position of no good options from here.

They either pay way over the odds to keep some kind of a deal going with Warner-Discovery (even if on a "co-exclusive" basis) or they lose all access to their content and with that a not insignificant number of subs (big losses to NEON in particular).

Let's see what Sky can do in this space.

I also note that Disney have not rushed back to do a deal with Sky again - the new strategy of DTC and operating on a global scale with no middle man seems to be the way forward.

Rather than going back to the middlemen like sky, instead we are seeing more mergers of these big content companies to reduce the proliferation of streaming services, so that each new merged entity has a heavy hitting service in its own right.

The new Max service will be a must have for many households when it hits NZ.

A number of kiwis already access it with a VPN.

[mistaTea]

Have to wait and see what (if anything) Sky can do with WD moving forward. However...

https://www.cnet.com/google-amp/news/warner-bros-discovery-plans-to-add-live-sports-to-max-streaming-service/

If WD are planning to have a crack at disrupting sport in NZ (by getting the NZR deal, for example) then their Max platform would be a beast.

One app to watch all HBO, Discovery entertainment offerings as well as watch whatever sporting codes they manage to pick up.

One platform, one monthly sub.

It would also give Max a point of difference over Netflix and AP and could potentially become the 'must have month in and month out' subscription for many consumers while they start and stop other subs to binge content.

Very interesting to see how this space keeps on evolving.

I may be proven wrong, but I think sky would be incredibly lucky to even get a "co-exclusive" deal from 2024 on. And even if they do, they will have to pay top dollar to convince WD not to launch their own exclusive offering.

If the price is right I am sure WD would go for another deal. It's just that the 'right price' for WD is most likely to be a pyrrhic victory for Sky.

[Hectorplains]

Sky Box launches today...and it's only eight years late. Apparently long-time subscribers will receive a discount offer too - even up to 100% off.  That makes a change from previous practice of relentless offers to non subscribers and nothing for the faithful. 

[entrep]

Sky Box launches today...and it's only eight years late. Apparently long-time subscribers will receive a discount offer too - even up to 100% off.  That makes a change from previous practice of relentless offers to non subscribers and nothing for the faithful. 

Seems pointless when everyone has a smart TV anyway

[mistaTea]

Seems pointless when everyone has a smart TV anyway
[/quote

Yes for sure. A hard sell to new customers to pay $200 for a box (that sky still own) when smart tvs and other tools like Chromecast, Apple TV etc are in wide use and do the job well.

$200 upfront and you still have to pay $15/month to be able to record. A very tough sell.

Giving the boxes discounted or free to existing long time MySky users is just a cost to sky with minimal benefit. Those customers would have been happy to keep using MySky - very low churn rates for that cohort (as in, their sub only usually gets cancelled by rellies when they cark it).

[LoungeLizard]

Seems pointless when everyone has a smart TV anyway

Not sure about the whole Smart TV thing.
In other countries there is growing anger at tv makers inserting logos and adverts into media content. Smart TV's are likely to become advert infested devices just like every other internet connected device has become.

Adverting will likely become a big future revenue stream for tv makers who can monitor users viewing habits, collate and sell the data to advertisers who can then tailor adverts to the viewer. Sound scary? It's already happening. The only way to not let this happen is to use a subscription based, separate media player - such as a SKYbox.

At least SKY only have those annoying self promoting ads and movies are ad free. For now.

[mistaTea]

Not sure about the whole Smart TV thing.
In other countries there is growing anger at tv makers inserting logos and adverts into media content. Smart TV's are likely to become advert infested devices just like every other internet connected device has become.

Adverting will likely become a big future revenue stream for tv makers who can monitor users viewing habits, collate and sell the data to advertisers who can then tailor adverts to the viewer. Sound scary? It's already happening. The only way to not let this happen is to use a subscription based, separate media player - such as a SKYbox.

At least SKY only have those annoying self promoting ads and movies are ad free. For now.

Well I have a Sony Bravia and it does a wonderful job of aggregating content on the Home Screen from providers like AP, Disney, TVNZ+ and Apple.

No ads on the TV.

I am sure TV makers would love to get some ad revenue but I suspect people would stop buying their product if that was the case.

Not saying they won't try it on - but I suspect they might think twice as it would likely make sales plummet.

The continual erosion of sky STB subs in favour of their streaming services says it all - the vast majority of kiwis just don't see enough value in the traditional bundle.

So expecting new customers to flock to the new box when they have to fork out two hundy for it and then still pay ARPU $81/month for a package where the majority of channels that come with the bundle are unwanted...

Well, yeah I struggle to see it.

I think the new box does look very cool btw. I just think they are so late to the party now that it will be a tough sell.

If I was an existing sub I would stick with MySky. MAYBE if they gave me the new one for free I would take a look...but even then, I can guarantee the new box still has bugs and issues.

MYSKY is tried and true. It ain't pretty (by modern UI standards) but it is very reliable and consumers already use other mechanisms to Stream (mechanisms that they are by and large happy with).

[LoungeLizard]

Well I have a Sony Bravia and it does a wonderful job of aggregating content on the Home Screen from providers like AP, Disney, TVNZ+ and Apple.

No ads on the TV.

I am sure TV makers would love to get some ad revenue but I suspect people would stop buying their product if that was the case.

Not saying they won't try it on - but I suspect they might think twice as it would likely make sales plummet.

The continual erosion of sky STB subs in favour of their streaming services says it all - the vast majority of kiwis just don't see enough value in the traditional bundle.

So expecting new customers to flock to the new box when they have to fork out two hundy for it and then still pay ARPU $81/month for a package where the majority of channels that come with the bundle are unwanted...

Well, yeah I struggle to see it.

I think the new box does look very cool btw. I just think they are so late to the party now that it will be a tough sell.

If I was an existing sub I would stick with MySky. MAYBE if they gave me the new one for free I would take a look...but even then, I can guarantee the new box still has bugs and issues.

MYSKY is tried and true. It ain't pretty (by modern UI standards) but it is very reliable and consumers already use other mechanisms to Stream (mechanisms that they are by and large happy with).

If your Sony tv is connected to the internet directly - ie no subscription box - then it will just be a matter of time before ads start appearing. Google the issue and it is already a problem in places like the US. We won't be any different - commercial imperative will devalue the benefit of new technology. And you won't have any choice - all the major brands will do it because tvs themselves have become so cheap there is very little margin in them now.

[Relaxed]

If your Sony tv is connected to the internet directly - ie no subscription box - then it will just be a matter of time before ads start appearing. Google the issue and it is already a problem in places like the US. We won't be any different - commercial imperative will devalue the benefit of new technology. And you won't have any choice - all the major brands will do it because tvs themselves have become so cheap there is very little margin in them now.

This is true, but we do need to remember that we get to use quite a lot of software for "free" and advertising is the current way that is paid for.
I personally don't like the ads, but I understand why they are necessary. Otherwise I would probably have to pay to use the operating system.

[mistaTea]

https://www.nzx.com/announcements/410178

Normally these C-suite guys have a few months notice baked into their contract.

To have a market announcement out of the blue on 4 April saying Tom is goneskies and then an update today advising Sophie told Tom not to let the door hit him on the ass on the way out...

Makes one wonder what exactly happened here.