Spark's Lightbox boss Kym Niblock to step down

Tuesday 6th September 2016

The head of Spark New Zealand's Lightbox streaming video business, Kym Niblock, is to leave at the end of the year.

Her departure comes as Spark's strategy towards Lightbox seemingly shifts. Originally conceived as a stand-alone service, in April this year it was bundled into broadband packages offered by Spark. Earlier this week, Spark announced that it would become free for customers who have a pay-monthly mobile plan.

The service was launched in August 2014 with a price of $15 per 30 days, following an initial free trial 30 days. It preceded the arrival of its American rival, Netflix, which launched in March 2015, and led to Lightbox lowering its price to $12.99 to match its new rival.

In an emailed statement, Niblock said she had decided to leave to focus on other challenges because "I feel I will have essentially accomplished what I set out to do."

"In 2014, we set out to change the way Kiwi's watched TV forever and in this last two years, with your support, content, and coverage, we've done exactly that," she added.

Her email states that Lightbox became part of Spark's Home, Mobile & Broadband consumer-facing unit in July this year, "and has used the backing and marketing muscle of HMB to accelerate its growth since then."

Spark's ventures unit, which had previously housed Lightbox, is starting a new round of investments focusing on big data and machine-to-machine connectivity known as the Internet of Things.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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