SKT Sky Network Television Limited.

[Not The Chosen One]

What's worse - kids being pressured with tv's in their faces or their own parents putting pressure on them to succeed and don't want to be seen as a failure?

[Ogg]

And this is the part that will make them nervous about the comcom. My view is that IFT would have to guarantee that they would continue to offer other telcos and utilities wholesale pricing to get it over the line.

How do you explain Spark offering a $5 discount for Spark Sport, for customers who are also on a mobile plan with Spark?

Add Spark Sport to an eligible Pay Monthly mobile or broadband plan for $19.99/month until 3 September. From 4 September you’ll pay $24.99/month and get a $5 monthly credit automatically applied to your Spark bill. https://www.spark.co.nz/getmore/spark-sport/

If you wanted to watch the black caps (NZ cricket), and get the $5 discount, your forced to sign up with Spark Mobile.

There will be situations where people are currently on a Vodafone Mobile plan, who will now be canceling that service and signing up with Spark Mobile, so they can get the discount.

Is the ComCom OK with this?.. They must be, as nobody has said anything.

[Zaphod]

There will be situations where people are currently on a Vodafone Mobile plan, who will now be canceling that service and signing up with Spark Mobile, so they can get the discount.

Is the ComCom OK with this?.. They must be, as nobody has said anything.

The CC haven't taken any action over deals such as these, however what they have raised concern about is zero rating traffic for on-net services (e.g. if LightBox traffic was zero rated, which they've viewed as anti-competitive. This is however a moot point these days as more consumers opt for 'unlimited' plans.

[Ogg]

The CC haven't taken any action over deals such as these, however what they have raised concern about is zero rating traffic for on-net services (e.g. if LightBox traffic was zero rated, which they've viewed as anti-competitive. This is however a moot point these days as more consumers opt for 'unlimited' plans.

If you read this submission from InternetNZ the issue was really about "must have" content.

https://comcom.govt.nz/__data/assets...tober-2016.pdf

In other words, zero rating traffic is fine, but when it comes to zero rating "must have" content then there's an issue.

The question really is, is NZ Cricket classified as "must have" content?

Another question, is NZ Rugby classified as "must have" content?

If everybody has "must have" content, then by definition isn't this a "perfect market", which is what the ComCom is designed to insure?

[mistaTea]

How do you explain Spark offering a $5 discount for Spark Sport, for customers who are also on a mobile plan with Spark?



If you wanted to watch the black caps (NZ cricket), and get the $5 discount, your forced to sign up with Spark Mobile.

There will be situations where people are currently on a Vodafone Mobile plan, who will now be canceling that service and signing up with Spark Mobile, so they can get the discount.

Is the ComCom OK with this?.. They must be, as nobody has said anything.

Maybe one of Spark’s competitors should complain to the Comcom. See how they get on.

All Spark’s recent moves mean is that Spark are unlikely to lead the charge on a future sky merger like they did in 2016.

That doesn’t mean sky and Vodafone will get approval second time round. I think they probably would get approval given it was a 50/50 call last time - and things have changed.

But it is a long and difficult process - and there are no guarantees.

[Ogg]

Maybe one of Spark’s competitors should complain to the Comcom. See how they get on.

All Spark’s recent moves mean is that Spark are unlikely to lead the charge on a future sky merger like they did in 2016.

That doesn’t mean sky and Vodafone will get approval second time round. I think they probably would get approval given it was a 50/50 call last time - and things have changed.

But it is a long and difficult process - and there are no guarantees.

Guaranteed green light in my opinion.

The issue would center around Trustpower. Would Infratil be willing to divest their 51% holding in a block trade, at say $6, then use that capital to double down in their data business? That's where the growth is, that's how Morrison and Co can get their management fees and bonus.

Re-floating Vodafone and Sky on the NZX is likely to generate more profits than holding Trustpower.

[Ogg]

Here's one for you Mista...

https://news.sky.com/story/bt-group-...aches-12054366

BT on "takeover alert".

They've hired Goldman Sachs to defend a potential bid of up to a 50% premium.

Should we give them a call also

[mistaTea]

Here's one for you Mista...

https://news.sky.com/story/bt-group-...aches-12054366

BT on "takeover alert".

They've hired Goldman Sachs to defend a potential bid of up to a 50% premium.

Should we give them a call also

LOL.

Fortunately for us - the one thing we DON’T have to worry about is a takeover it seems!

On another note...

Some posters have talked about a share buyback instead of a dividend (a move I would absolutely support)...

Though that might not necessarily result in anticipated ‘price action’ of the quoted value.

I’m reading Barbarians at the gate (how the F have I not read this before now?! It’s sooooo good). Ross Johnson tried that to lift the SP of RJR Nabisco. Bought back like $1.2B worth of stock and if did jack sh1t to the SP... why? Because Mr Market still just viewed it as a ‘tobacco stock’ with a grim future.

The same thing could easily happen to a company like Sky with the sentiment to traditional content aggregators being what it is at the moment.

I would still be happy with a buyback - lets me own a larger slice of the business and there is no pesky dividend tax...but the SP may not move much at all.

[tqtq]

LOL.

Fortunately for us - the one thing we DON’T have to worry about is a takeover it seems!

On another note...

Some posters have talked about a share buyback instead of a dividend (a move I would absolutely support)...

Though that might not necessarily result in anticipated ‘price action’ of the quoted value.

I’m reading Barbarians at the gate (how the F have I not read this before now?! It’s sooooo good). Ross Johnson tried that to lift the SP of RJR Nabisco. Bought back like $1.2B worth of stock and if did jack sh1t to the SP... why? Because Mr Market still just viewed it as a ‘tobacco stock’ with a grim future.

The same thing could easily happen to a company like Sky with the sentiment to traditional content aggregators being what it is at the moment.

I would still be happy with a buyback - let’s me own a larger slice of the business and there is no pesky dividend tax...but the SP may not move much at all.

Barbarians at the gate. Sounds like a good book. I like the title.

I'm just about to start on Bob Iger's book "The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company".

I'm going to read it looking for his insight / take on Sky Europe given they were almost successful in buying it.

Comcast put in a better offer for it but consensus is now they overpaid as ego got in the way.

I'll post anything interesting from the book on sharetrader.

[tqtq]

So what were Vodafone doing in 2016 then, when they decided to merge with Sky?... "un-platforming".

AI and 5G is all good but you need to actually deliver an end product in some form. Unless they are just going to build the infrastructure only and become more like Chorus.

Take a look a the home page of both Spark and Vodafone right now. They're both offering the Galaxy Note 20. The home pages look like clones of each other. My point is, they're either following Spark or not. Both companies always have been heading into the same direction. If Spark are going to use margin products like NZ Cricket, Netflix, PPV, Spotify etc, then if follows that Vodafone should do the same. Vodafone does have Vodafone TV, if they bought Sky, they could then have exclusive content on that platform, rather than just be another Android TV device.

It comes down to two things:
A) Will the ComCom allow it
B) What's the price.

If they answer is Yes, and $500m. Surely Infratil and Brooksfield will pull the trigger.

I think Sky would be a nice fit for IFT given that IFT seems like a holding conglomerate that allows business to run independently with their own management and culture. Also, makes sense for a telco to want content. They also have a large common holder in Brookfields and Vanguard was it? So I'm not discounting the merit of your theory.

Although, even at Sky's current SP (and I don't see IFT overpaying), and assuming everyone thought it was a good move and good use of their cash, where would they get the cash from to execute? They don't have enough cash laying around from their CR to do it. They'd be pretty brave to go into debt during a pandemic. There's no indication of a share swap. How else could they do this? I'm genuinely asking.