SKT Sky Network Television Limited.

[winner69]

Sky should press NZ Rugby to bring forward the Mitre 10 cup.They don't get huge crowds so the loss of gate reciept's would not be huge.Sky could keep their large outside broadcast team gainfully employed,and hey you never know,but with the lack of sport around they could even sell some overseas rights!

…..even that must be in danger of not going ahead

TV said last night that club rugby (except nippers grade) been cancelled until late April

[Sideshow Bob]

I'm in that boat too. But if I give up sport I would cancel my whole sub and that is at $98 per month. SKY need to come to the party fast to subscribers before it is too late. I am giving them another week. If I don't get movies or such like for free its bye bye to your $98 per month from me. No use putting on a whole host of past sporting events. That kinda **** does not flow with me.

They aren't doing anything on sport in terms of specials etc. I called them.

They said there was still live NRL and netball.

FFS

[RTM]

The majority of their subscribers currently subscribe to Sky for their entertainment offerings.

Sport is a significant minority of their subs, and without sport there would be a big hole in their offering for sure - but I also think we need to keep some perspective here too.

Why do you think that Sky Sport will be permanently damaged by current events? We don't know how severe the impact will be - and I am pretty sure life will go on and professional sport will continue once this blows over.

Unless coronavirus causes Sky to go bankrupt (not likely), then I don't see how current events affect the Business Case long term.

"The majority of their subscribers currently subscribe to Sky for their entertainment offerings."

I am imagining you mean entertainment excluding sport with this statement.
Really ? Even with the plethora of other options at much cheaper rates ? Sky is about the last thing I consider for entertainment. Without Sport....I would not even consider SKY.

I added the Sailing link as an example of how an individual sport can control their own destiny. This may become the future for sport. Or some variation of.

During this dearth of Live Sport on our TV's, people will find other options to amuse them. For some, the changes found might well be permanent.

Of course I am just one punter.

[mistaTea]

"The majority of their subscribers currently subscribe to Sky for their entertainment offerings."

I am imagining you mean entertainment excluding sport with this statement.
Really ? Even with the plethora of other options at much cheaper rates ? Sky is about the last thing I consider for entertainment. Without Sport....I would not even consider SKY.

Yes the vast majority have Sky for solely entertainment (no sport) or Entertainment + Sport. I remember John Fellet pointed this out 2 or 3 years back, and it is reflected in the satellite ARPU being $83/month. Someone just taking Starter + Sport pays about $56/month. If they take MySky then it is about $70.

If the majority of subs just signed up for Sport... with a minority who just signed up for Starter + Entertainment + Movies (SOHO is generally tacked on for free) that would be approx $70/month with a basic decoder and $85 with MySky.

Drop the Entertainment component and it becomes $45/month basic decoder and $60/month MySky.

So one would expect ARPU to be much lower if your suspicion was correct that the vast majority of people sign up to Sky to only get the sports channels...

What is very clear to me is that this business is all about relationships. No broadcaster has the same level of great relationships that Sky currently has with its partners - both sport and general entertainment.

Sky have a massive opportunity to prove their worth to the Sporting codes while they are really hurting - to show them that they have a symbiotic relationship. Sky does not do well when they hurt - and they do not do as well when Sky hurts.

For what it's worth, my prediction is that once we get out the other side of this difficult time, these relationships will be even stronger than ever.

[macduffy]

For what it's worth, my prediction is that once we get out the other side of this difficult time, these relationships will be even stronger than ever.

Perhaps, but meanwhile, how many of those subscribing for sports will be happy paying for repeats and, possibly, games played in empty stadiums?
Personally, I subscribe for live sports and the BBC World news. Without the former I'll be saving my money, at least until things get back to resembling something like "normal".

[mistaTea]

Perhaps, but meanwhile, how many of those subscribing for sports will be happy paying for repeats and, possibly, games played in empty stadiums?
Personally, I subscribe for live sports and the BBC World news. Without the former I'll be saving my money, at least until things get back to resembling something like "normal".

Yeah fair point. For me, I would rather watch the local derbie matches in empty stadiums as opposed to having no rugby at all. It is far from ideal - but this situation we are in is not ideal.

Depending on how many sports are cancelled, and how long Sky has a reduced offering - I imagine there will be a reasonably number of subs who want to either cancel altogether or put the sport component of their package on hold.

Sky may need to look at what sweeteners they can offer to keep their sports fans relatively happy.

I certainly don't have all the answers - and the Sky team are much smarter than I am. All I do know is that, from what I can see, a number of people are jumping to worst-case scenarios.

In my experience, that is pretty typical when it comes to Sky though! Ha!

[mistaTea]

Personally, I subscribe for live sports and the BBC World news...

Just picking up on a particular part of your comment...

Just to be clear - when a broadcaster refers to their ​live sports offering...it has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not there are any spectators in the stands. Live sport just means that the match is being played in real time.

Appreciate the viewing experience is not as good for the fan at home when the stands are empty...but spectator attendance is a separate issue.

At this moment in time, Sky are set to still have a number of live sports on offer. The punters will have to decide whether it is enough to keep them engaged.

Of course, if a large number of people do decide to pull the plug on the sport offering...the downstream affect is that they will be directly taking money away from the very sports they, presumably, want to support and see more of in the long-term. This probably wouldn't even occur to the average man on the street - but if Sky are forced to start exercising their contractual rights in terms of rebates etc...it will be devastating for NZ sport.

So if you are a sports fan - I would be hoping that it all works out well for all parties, and that Sky does not see a big drop in subs because of coronavirus. Rooting for this to be the final nail in the coffin would achieve somewhat of a pyrrhic victory for the Sky haters in my view.

[blackcap]

For me currently I have a $98 a month sub. But I really only have SKY for sport. I cannot be bothered getting rid of the other stuff, and sometimes i do watch CNBC, the Mrs likes the MYSky ability to record channel 1, 3 etc and I do also like Fox and CNN. So I reluctantly pay the $25 extra. But if there is no live sport that I want to watch on the offering, I am going to cancel the whole lot. SKY better come up with a sweetner, and all Movie channels would be a bare minimum or else its bye bye sub. You have 1 week SKY. This email I got about having past sporting events that I could watch and a lot of archive footage blah blah blah and its a difficult time at present... IS just not good enough.

[mistaTea]

For me currently I have a $98 a month sub. But I really only have SKY for sport...

To be fair mate, and with nothing but kindness in my heart...it is ridiculous (in my very humble opinion!) that you are paying damn near a hundy a month when the only content you really care for is Sport. Your other half doesn't need MySky for TV1 and 3 as there are apps for both where you can watch On Demand.

From a pure profit maximisation perspective I thank you for kicking so much money in the tin each month. But dude, you could get a NEON/Sky Sport combo for $53.94 per month (damn near half what you are paying). You get a great Sport streaming app with the sport you like (outside of coronavirus times) as well as access to HBO, Showtime, FX, Rialto which I am sure your lady would enjoy.

I can't see why you haven't just done that anyway if you truly value the rest of the content you only occasionally watch (CNBC etc) so little.

I have the old FANPASS pricing for my Sky Sport NOW sub ($38.95 per month). No doubt that helps me be a bit more philosophical than you about Sky's partners being forced to reduce their offerings in the short-medium term!

[ratkin]

Sky need to follow spark and make sport free for a while.
If they do not people are going to cancel, and will probably not come back.