Sky TV launching new internet service

Photo / Kenny Rodger

Sky Network Television is developing a new service for the internet it hopes to launch by the end of the year.

The pay television operator reported a 16.9 per cent rise in annual profit on a 7.2 percent rise in revenue and 3 per cent rise in subscriber numbers.

It is now in 47.9 per cent of New Zealand homes.

Sky said a service it launched in 2008 that enabled subscribers to download and stream video content on their personal computers was unsuccessful because of low broadband speeds and data caps on customers.

It is hopeful that government investment in broadband will provide it with another viable method of delivering content to subscribers.

"Sky is developing a new broadband delivered video service that leverages more advanced internet technology, including utilisation of a local content delivery network to improve the efficiency of delivering video to subscribers via the internet within New Zealand," the company said.

"We hope to launch the service by the end of the year."

The company considers itself to have one of the more affordable pay television offerings around.

"We recognise that Sky's full package of pay television services is a lot smaller than that offered in other countries, but believe that Sky needs to continue to offer an affordable service given New Zealand's lower level of disposable income."

The company said 24.4 percent of its residential subscribers are now using its MYSKY HDi decoder, up from 14.2 per cent last year.

Average revenue per subscriber per month increased by 5.6 per cent to $67.61 from $64.00 last year.

The company made a net profit after tax of $103 million in the year to June 30, up 16.9 percent on last year.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation increased by 10.2 percent to $287.5m. Revenue increased by 7.2 percent to $741.8m.

The company is paying a final dividend of 7 cents per share, giving a total dividend for the year of 14c.

SKY's subscriber base grew by 23,495 subscribers over the previous year, to a new high of 802,397.

Annual gross churn has decreased to 13.9 per cent during the 2010 year from 14 per cent last year. MYSKY churn was 10.1 per cent.

The percentage of subscribers to Sky's premium package remained stable this year, while penetration of the basic plus sports package has increased from 36 percent to 38 per cent.

A total of 555,346 subscribers receive Sky Sports tier, compared to 506,240 last year.

Sky has exclusive pay and free-to-air rights to the Delhi Commonwealth Games.

It is planning to supplement 17 hours per day of free-to-air coverage on Prime with five dedicated channels of live games coverage on Sky Sport.

It has exclusive rights to the Sanzar rugby competitions for a further five years from 2011 and is host broadcaster for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

It has pay television rights for all 48 games, while TVNZ, MediaWorks and Maori TV have free-to-air rights to certain games.

- NZPA