Spark's Lightbox, Coliseum in JV to gain foothold in crowded market

Thursday 18th December 2014

Lightbox, Spark New Zealand's online content business, will broadcast premium sports via a joint venture with Coliseum Sports Media New Zealand as it looks to gain a foothold in the "crowded online TV marketplace".

Lightbox Sport will include all of Coliseum's New Zealand content, including golf, English Premier League football, French TOP 14 rugby and any future local based projects, the online content providers said in a joint statement. Spark had already entered into a distribution deal with Coliseum when the online sports broadcaster launched last year.

“This partnership looks to simplify the crowded online TV marketplace," said Kym Niblock, Lightbox chief executive. "By joining forces we will be giving customers a greater breadth and depth of choice and a more compelling viewing experience."

The online video demand space is growing increasingly competitive, with dominant pay television provider Sky Network Television launching Neon this month, ahead of US based service Netflix arriving in New Zealand and Australia next year.

Lightbox is part of Spark's transition, which changed its name from Telecom Corp in August, as it looks to chase earnings growth in data, content, mobility and cloud services. Spark cancelled its decade long resale contract with Sky TV in February.

Earlier this year, Sky TV lost its broadcast rights to US PGA Golf, European PGA Golf and the PGA Asian Tour Golf, while hanging onto exclusive rights to the US Masters, British Open and Australian Open golf tournaments for 2015. In October the pay TV provider signed a conditional contract to renew its five year deal with the New Zealand Rugby Union and the SANZAR unions for an undisclosed amount.

Shares of Spark rose 0.8 percent to $3.14, and have gained 35 percent since the start of the year. Shares of Sky TV fell 0.2 percent to $5.79 and have declined 0.7 percent over the year.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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