{"id":83450,"date":"2025-07-22T14:58:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-22T14:58:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/83450\/"},"modified":"2025-07-22T14:58:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-22T14:58:10","slug":"sky-new-zealand-buys-warner-bros-discovery-channels-for-60-cents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/83450\/","title":{"rendered":"Sky New Zealand Buys Warner Bros Discovery Channels For 60 Cents"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tSky New Zealand<\/a> has acquired Warner Bros Discovery<\/a>\u2018s local channels business for a token sum of NZ$1 (60\u00a2).<\/p>\n

\n\tThe surprise deal will see Sky becoming New Zealand\u2019s dominant TV media player by acquiring 100% of the shares in Discovery NZ from Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific, a subsidiary of WBD, on a cash-free, debt-free basis. It will have around 35% of the linear TV ad market revenue share and 24% of the digital TV equivalent.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe deal includes free-to-air channel Three and its streaming platform, ThreeNow, along with a range of other linear and free ad-supported streaming television channels such as HGTV in New Zealand. A multi-year content supply arrangement for WBD content to its former channels has also been agreed.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe HBO Max and Warner Bros International Television Production businesses are not included in the agreement and will remain with WBD, which is focused on rolling out its international streaming service around the world and, like rivals, wrestling with the economics of traditional TV. <\/p>\n

\n\tSky and Discovery NZ are working together to structure a transition plan that will see the latter\u2019s team join the former in coming months. Integrations costs are projected at NZ$6.5M. Juliet Peterson, Vice President, Head of Networks at Discovery NZ, will continue to lead the business, reporting to Sky CEO Sophie Moloney.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn a presentation to shareholders, the NZX-listed Sky said the deal would provide an immediate revenue uptick of NZ$95M and positioned the company to become \u201cAotearoa NZ\u2019s most engaging and essential media company.\u201d Discovery NZ is expected to deliver EBITDA of \u201cat least\u201d NZ$10M from full-year 2028, with underlying free cashflow achieved by the end of next year. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe deal is expected to close on August 1. The New Zealand Commerce Commission was given confidential notice of the deal and has advised both sides it does not intend to stand in the way.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThis is a compelling opportunity for Sky that directly supports our ambition to be Aotearoa New Zealand\u2019s most engaging and essential media company,\u201d said Moloney. \u201cIt positions us to scale faster, accelerates our growth, and further diversifies our revenue streams, particularly in advertising and digital. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe are acquiring a business with complementary operations that is a strong strategic fit for Sky, in an accretive way for our shareholders. In particular, acquiring the established and fast-growing ThreeNow BVOD platform adds an important missing component to Sky\u2019s portfolio, without incurring the significant brand and<\/p>\n

\n\tWBD\u2019s linear and pay-TV channels have struggling for some time, posting big losses in the face of falling TV advertising spend. Upon announcing that up to 350 jobs would go in restructuring last year, WBD APAC President James Gibbons said that, \u201cApart from 2009, the year following the global financial crisis, this was the single largest year-on-year drop in 30 years \u2013 a 14.3% drop.\u201d He claimed NZ$74M of TV ad money had disappeared in 2023.<\/p>\n

\n\tWBD closed news service Newshub last year, as New Zealand\u2019s traditional media businesses struggle to compete with streaming rivals and the shift to digital-first operations. Michael Brooks, Managing Director Australia and New Zealand for WBD, said today\u2019s announcement was \u201cThis is a fantastic outcome for both WBD and Sky.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHe added: \u201cThe continued challenges faced by the New Zealand media industry are well documented, and over the past 12 months, the Discovery NZ team has worked to deliver a new, more sustainable business model following a significant restructure in 2024. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhile this business is not commercially viable as a standalone asset in WBD\u2019s New Zealand portfolio, we see the value Three and ThreeNow can bring to Sky\u2019s existing offering of complementary assets. The transaction includes a significant and ongoing content supply agreement for WBD\u2019s premium content, for the mutual benefit of both parties.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMoloney said that, \u201cNotwithstanding the ongoing challenges faced by the Discovery NZ business, Sky is uniquely placed to give effect to this opportunity to accelerate our growth strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSky NZ was founded back in 1987 and became a pay-TV player three years later. Rupert Murdoch\u2019s News Corp owned a significant amount of the shares for many years before selling in 2013.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sky New Zealand has acquired Warner Bros Discovery\u2018s local channels business for a token sum of NZ$1 (60\u00a2).…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":83451,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[171,8396,56725,173,67,132,68,27281],"class_list":{"0":"post-83450","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-mergers-and-acquisitions","10":"tag-sky-new-zealand","11":"tag-tv","12":"tag-united-states","13":"tag-unitedstates","14":"tag-us","15":"tag-warner-bros-discovery"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114897479547067227","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83450"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83450\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}