Editorial: Greater choice good for all

There are many more choices for TV now.

Despite spending more than $100 a month on SKY, I rarely get to watch television these days. The children command the zapper and fill the planner with pre-recorded programmes.

It is a plight in other homes. In the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend, Welcome Bay mum Yvette Duval said despite spending $109 per month on Sky with a personal video recorder, her kids fill it up so she doesn't get a look-in.

Whereas Sky has dominated the pay television market in New Zealand for many years, now there is more choice than ever with an influx of new streaming video sites, including the launch last week of Netflix.

It is hard to compare the cost of such services, since data use is not included in monthly packages offered by video streaming sites such as Netflix, Lightbox, Neon and Quickflix.

In the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend, reporter Dawn Picken did the legwork for us, comparing offers and costs.

The good news is that with Kiwis demanding more choice in television programmes, they will also shop around for the best broadband deals.

Last week Vodafone announced its customers could get Netflix free for six months when they signed up for 24 months to one of its "Red+" mobile plans, starting at $99 per month.

And Spark has rolled out free Lightbox video streaming for 12 months for all Spark Broadband plans, starting at $79 per month.

Sky might not be worried yet - it entertains nearly half of Kiwi households, with just over 850,000 subscribers.

Plus there are doubts from consumers in our report that New Zealand will have the internet capacity to handle increased traffic if many switch to streaming services.

It may seem like we have a lot of choice now in home entertainment but New Zealand is - as one consumer says - still behind the rest of the world.

Still, we can be grateful that the increased choice in television and movie services makes the pay television market, which has been monopolised by one player for so long, more competitive. This in turn should result in better quality, more choice and better prices.

Some parents may even get to watch some programmes too.