Spark sold Lightbox to SKY

Forums › Sky, Neon, Lightbox › Spark sold Lightbox to SKY

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#2378332 19-Dec-2019 10:58

BlakJak:

The release literally says nothing about it. So why even ask? The facts are what has been released.

I think it's an interesting related question? The market has changed and one could reasonably expect more changes to come.
Yes it is just speculation but maybe someone knows something :)

I personally am not sure why Spark has gone down the sports streaming route, but assume it was for similar reasons to the VOD streaming.
Yet they are willing to sell their TV streaming, but did not sell Spark Sports. Seems strange.
Maybe Sky feels that its asking price was overvalued and since they have spent a lot of money on rugby rights they can'y afford both Sports and TV streaming.

I suspect Spark would like to exit the sports as well, but the sunk capital and prestige loss involved wont't let them sell at a price Sky was willing to pay.

afe66

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#2378336 19-Dec-2019 11:03

Well I had both spark sport and Netflix but I found I watched Netflix more than LB and a surprising amount of spark sport so cancelled LB.

I hope spark sport stays separate as I thought it was the only 4k possibility..

amanzi

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#2378408 19-Dec-2019 12:01

Just got the email from Spark about the news. As soon as I saw the subject "Exciting changes coming to Lightbox", I knew that there was bad news coming...

MikeB4

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#2378414 19-Dec-2019 12:04

amanzi:

Just got the email from Spark about the news. As soon as I saw the subject "Exciting changes coming to Lightbox", I knew that there was bad news coming...

Did you get the email twice? I did about 30 minutes apart.

BlakJak

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#2378415 19-Dec-2019 12:05

KrazyKid:

BlakJak:

The release literally says nothing about it. So why even ask? The facts are what has been released.

I think it's an interesting related question? The market has changed and one could reasonably expect more changes to come.
Yes it is just speculation but maybe someone knows something :)

I personally am not sure why Spark has gone down the sports streaming route, but assume it was for similar reasons to the VOD streaming.
Yet they are willing to sell their TV streaming, but did not sell Spark Sports. Seems strange.
Maybe Sky feels that its asking price was overvalued and since they have spent a lot of money on rugby rights they can'y afford both Sports and TV streaming.

I suspect Spark would like to exit the sports as well, but the sunk capital and prestige loss involved wont't let them sell at a price Sky was willing to pay.

I think you're right about the reasons not to exit Spark Sports but i'm not sure if they want to. As a major network operator, having the means to then broadcast across that network seems like a useful capability and to be honest, live events broadcast is a whole other category and a way to get 'real time eyes' that SVOD services wont provide. There's real advertising revenue potential in live events that doesn't go down anywhere near as well in the SVOD world.

I can't say that the Lightbox sale surprises me at all (there were rumblings along this line months ago, and it's not like they've been heavily advertising it lately) and though we have Lightbox connected to my wife's Spark mobile account (and Spotify) the reality is that Spotify is used all the time, and Lightbox rarely (one or two TV shows of note on it for my family).

But as others have said, their mobile pricing alone isn't always competitive and the reason we've retained a Spark contract is for the Spotify + Lightbox service, so we'll have much less compulsion to remain on Spark at next renewal if the combination of Mobile + Lightbox + Spotify doesn't remain competitive. Right now we're only paying the premium because of the bundle.

No signature to see here, move along...

networkn

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#2378419 19-Dec-2019 12:10

Well, Lightbox lasted longer than I predicted, but the sale was predictable.

My gut says Spark Sport will follow (if not sold to Sky, then to someone else or just closed down), I guess it depends on the investor's appetite for spending to get a long term viable platform. In my view, Lightbox had more content than Spark Sport has, and with Sky having sown up Rugby in the Southern Hemisphere for the foreseeable future, it will be interesting to see if they continue to acquire content. Spark Sport has a massive hill to climb in my opinion, to be viable. They couldn't deliver commercially for the RWC, and to be able to do this on a decent scale, is a big investment. Without the content..... I am guessing they are reviewing feedback from customers. The other issue is the price point. I doubt they could continue at $20 longer term, which means that's another hump to get over.

For the RWC the in-studio analysis wasn't terrible, but it wasn't exactly compelling. They added some value with the 1014 guys. To be able to do this for many sports would be expensive...

MikeB4

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#2378420 19-Dec-2019 12:16

BlakJak:

I think you're right about the reasons not to exit Spark Sports but i'm not sure if they want to. As a major network operator, having the means to then broadcast across that network seems like a useful capability and to be honest, live events broadcast is a whole other category and a way to get 'real time eyes' that SVOD services wont provide. There's real advertising revenue potential in live events that doesn't go down anywhere near as well in the SVOD world.

I can't say that the Lightbox sale surprises me at all (there were rumblings along this line months ago, and it's not like they've been heavily advertising it lately) and though we have Lightbox connected to my wife's Spark mobile account (and Spotify) the reality is that Spotify is used all the time, and Lightbox rarely (one or two TV shows of note on it for my family).

But as others have said, their mobile pricing alone isn't always competitive and the reason we've retained a Spark contract is for the Spotify + Lightbox service, so we'll have much less compulsion to remain on Spark at next renewal if the combination of Mobile + Lightbox + Spotify doesn't remain competitive. Right now we're only paying the premium because of the bundle.

My wife is always telling me I should move to Vocus, it's getting harder to resist.

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Hammerer

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#2378498 19-Dec-2019 12:59

Some of us have already made the usual gloomy predictions based on a cynical analysis. But this really looks like a win for Lightbox users who pay for the service. It also looks like a win for SkyTV particularly if they paid little because that is what it looks like Lightbox would be worth with a high proportion of free customers and increasing competition and fragmentation in the streaming market. It probably resolves a problem for Spark which was how to sell LightBox when there is really only one probable buyer in the market for it.

sen8or

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#2378517 19-Dec-2019 13:23

Sky won't care a hoot about the programming, they have plenty anyway, what they are buying is the customer database to market Sky, Sky Sport Now and Neon too.

I have Lightbox from a mobile connection, but watch it rarely, I am finding more and more on TVNZ and or Three Now to keep my "TV" viewing happy. I have HBO Now which I'd quite happily drop for neon if they ever get round to having 5.1 sound and an apple TV app. 4k would be nice (but thats not on HBO either).

mattwnz

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#2378525 19-Dec-2019 13:32

trig42:

Consolidation is probably good.

Depends on how much Sky are going to want us to pay for the service, and how many people will abandon it when it no longer comes as part of their Spark broadband plan.

If they start to want, say $20 for the new 'Neonbox', I will probably quit it, and probably quit Spark at the same time, as I will be able to get my internet cheaper elsewhere (I switched to Spark Unplan Entertainment to get Lightbox and Netflix as part of the plan, if they aren't there, I will probably migrate away again).

IMO I don't think consolidation of a market is often that good for consumers. I feel the same about the bundled deals. If they weren't there I would look at alternative ISPs. ISPs need to realise that people are looking for more than just an ISP, but also a the value added services. I wonder what this now means for spark sports future, if spark are moving away from the who streaming content thing.

mattwnz

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#2378526 19-Dec-2019 13:33

sen8or:

Sky won't care a hoot about the programming, they have plenty anyway, what they are buying is the customer database to market Sky, Sky Sport Now and Neon too.

I have Lightbox from a mobile connection, but watch it rarely, I am finding more and more on TVNZ and or Three Now to keep my "TV" viewing happy. I have HBO Now which I'd quite happily drop for neon if they ever get round to having 5.1 sound and an apple TV app. 4k would be nice (but thats not on HBO either).

A lot of the customers will be getting lightbox bundled at no additional cost. So not sure how much non paying customers are worth.

Dingbatt

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#2378533 19-Dec-2019 13:42

So as a Spark Unplan ‘Entertainment’ customer which charges me $10 extra a month for Lightbox and Netflix (so not free, but subsidised) and also a SkyTV customer where does this leave me?

Am i now paying Spark and Sky to get Lightbox content?

In my case it is beginning to look like ‘Entertainment package’ add on to Unplan has just got less entertaining. Here’s an idea for you Spark, include a Spotify Family (or some other streaming service like Hulu, Prime Video, etc) subsidy in your Unplan Entertainment package to restore its value to me. From my perspective the more streaming services I can roll into one bill the better and more likely to make me stay as a customer due to the hassle changing subscriptions.

The irony that my email app had put the Spark email announcing this ‘improvement’ in the “Junk” folder is not lost on me.

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

tdgeek

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#2378535 19-Dec-2019 13:46

IMO it makes the Neon product better as it will have a lot more content. As they will partner with Spark, that will allow, with a suitable discount, for Sky to sell more Neon. I assume Neon is small, it may end up being much more used as it might still be cheapish, but a much larger content base, so not bad value

MikeB4

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#2378537 19-Dec-2019 13:50

tdgeek:

IMO it makes the Neon product better as it will have a lot more content. As they will partner with Spark, that will allow, with a suitable discount, for Sky to sell more Neon. I assume Neon is small, it may end up being much more used as it might still be cheapish, but a much larger content base, so not bad value

Lightbox was never big on content. I think Sky is more looking at the vehicle as opposed to what is in the trunk.

mattwnz

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#2378540 19-Dec-2019 13:55

KrazyKid:

BlakJak:

The release literally says nothing about it. So why even ask? The facts are what has been released.

I think it's an interesting related question? The market has changed and one could reasonably expect more changes to come.
Yes it is just speculation but maybe someone knows something :)

I personally am not sure why Spark has gone down the sports streaming route, but assume it was for similar reasons to the VOD streaming.
Yet they are willing to sell their TV streaming, but did not sell Spark Sports. Seems strange.
Maybe Sky feels that its asking price was overvalued and since they have spent a lot of money on rugby rights they can'y afford both Sports and TV streaming.

I suspect Spark would like to exit the sports as well, but the sunk capital and prestige loss involved wont't let them sell at a price Sky was willing to pay.

IMO It would have made sense for them to combine the platforms so it all worked off a single interface. I really don't understand why they went down the spark sports route so late on. To be just a sport provider without any other content IMO will be difficult, especially when there isn't much sport on it anyway.

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