July 26, 2025 • 14 mins
Sky TV is promising stability for viewers as it buys TV3.
There's growing speculation about what Sky's purchase of Three means for New Zealand sport, especially ahead of the upcoming FIFA World Cup.
Sports broadcasting expert Colin Smith joined Piney to discuss.
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Weekend Sport podcast with Jason Vine
from Newstalk ZEDB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
With a major shakeup in the New Zealand sports broadcasting
landscape this week. On Tuesday it was announced that Sky
have purchased TV three, giving themselves a ready made free
to wear platform for some of their sports content. And
on Friday it was reported and this is not yet confirmed,
but it has been widely reported that TV and Z
(00:35):
have won the battle to screen next year's fee for
World Cup, fending off Sky in the battle for those rights,
and they will again reportedly screen a significant portion of
the one hundred and four matches that now happened at
a World Cup. Because it's forty eight teams, a significant
portion of those one hundred and four games will be
(00:56):
on a new paywalled digital platform that's going to be
up and running by the time the tournament kicks off
in June of next year. So in other words, you
will pay to see the entire tournament. You'll pay TV
and Z. They will obviously also have some free to
wear content, either on their main channels or streaming. The
(01:17):
new rugby deal, of course, is yet to be finalized,
although those discussions are well advanced apparently with an announcement
imminent that'll be skypicking those rights up again. It's just
a matter of the dollars and some of the finer detail.
So what will all of these changes mean for you
and I for the everyday sports viewer. For a bit
of analysis, let's bring in Colin Smith, Managing Director of
(01:39):
Global Media and Sports and founding director of Media Rights Value.
Colin is hugely experienced in the provision of strategic advice
and negotiation leadership on sports, media and competition structures. He
advises leading media companies and major professional sports in Australasia,
(02:00):
in Europe and across Asia as well. Colin, thanks for
joining us and lending us your expertise. Let's start with
Sky's purchase of TV three. How important is it for
a pay per view operator like Sky to have a
free to air platform like this?
Speaker 3 (02:18):
Thank you a pleasure to talk to you. It's really
interesting and when we look at the New Zealand media market,
what we are now seeing is in essence the domination
by TV and Z on one side and both entering
into now behind the paywall and free to air, and
(02:42):
then with a Sky acquiring the rights from Warner Brothers
and having a free to wear and also additional streaming,
so you've got two powerful, formidable broadcasters now in New Zealand.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
The free to air side of things is really interesting
to meet, Colin. Is it crucial for a company to
have free to wear, you know, ability because it allows
for advertising to be sold on that platform, or because
most sports now want a free to wear components in
their broadcast offering.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
Well, it's a really good question, and the fundamental is
if you want to get mass viewership, free or area
is the way to go. But then if you want
to maximize your revenues, you want to be behind the paywall.
So a combination of free content plus behind the paywall
(03:38):
is highly successful and it maximizes both the viewership and
the revenues for the broadcaster.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
It sounds so simple when you say that, Colin, it
sounds so simple. I'm not in my head, But it
seems to be a very hard balance to strike. What
are the conversations that go on around board tables at
both a broadcaster and a sports organization when these deals
are being put together.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
It is a really a debate actually, because on one
side you need to make sure you've got the interests
from the viewers from the New Zealand viewers, so therefore
that has a compelling portion of free to wear. But
then in terms of maximizing the revenues for a sport
(04:27):
or a sports competition, then it needs to be behind
the paywall. It's frankly that simple, but that complicated as well,
and it is a trade off.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Do you think broadcasters care about a sports desire to
expose their sport to as wide an audience as possible
or does a broadcaster, a pay per view broadcaster simply
want if they head it their way, everything behind their paywall.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
The answer is that most pay per view of broadcasters
would prefer to have as much content behind the paywall.
But the other part of this is to promote and
to keep on promoting that competition. Having a free to
(05:16):
air component is a win win, and you could argue say,
if we look at the New Zealand example of the
provincial rugby, being behind the paywall is probably cost it's
a lot of viewership and where now probably not an
attractive TV product for a pay TV operator.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
In terms of the organization's the sporting organizations, do you
think they are now all totally cognizant colin of the
concept of free to wear that they have to have
some on free to wear. It's no good just taking
the money from the broadcaster. They have to have a
free to wear component in order to keep their sport exposed.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
I would argue with you, yes, they do need a component,
but it doesn't if it's one game per week or
a premium game. Yes, but you want the major behind
the paywall to maximize a revenue for that sport. And frankly,
(06:22):
sixty to eighty percent of revenues for a sport come
from paid television.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
It's an incredible amount, isn't it, and so crucial to
so many sports. The other piece of news this week
is TV and Z securing the rights to the FIFA
World Cup next year. They've got new technology coming to
charge for it as Sky do. Now how big a
play is this in your view? From TV and Z
our state broadcaster, it's.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
Very significant and one of the interesting aspects about TV
and Z it is both a it is government owned,
but it's totally commercial as well, and it really dominates
the New Zealand market and then now entering into PATV
side makes it even more competitive and therefore more important
(07:15):
for Sky to have the acquisition of TV three.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Well indeed, and so you would expect that the acquisition
of TV three would naturally lead to Sky including that
as a free to air element on future broadcast deals
with any.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
Code possibly and I could see that with rugby for sure,
and potentially you know, things like the Olympic if they
did for the Olympic Games or the Conwalk Games, I
could see that for sure.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
How important to a broadcaster are marquee events like World
Cups Olympic Games compared to the regular content of a
sporting season.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
For a pay television operator, the most important is the
the games, and it's not the pinnacle events, it's the
round by round. So in other words, the Super Rugby
or the NRL Games, they are really important. They attract
(08:22):
consistent viewership and therefore consistent subscribers. In terms of the
premium events like the Olympic Games or the Pink World Cup,
generally they are globally in front of the paywall, as
opposed behind the paywall. But you can see that changing
(08:45):
where some sport will be behind the paywall and some
sport leading sport will be in front of the paywall.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
So it makes sense, It does make sense, It makes
perfect sense. I wonder what the feeling will be at
Sky having not acquired the FIFA World Cup next year.
How much of a blow is that to them, or
as you've just outlined, are they more interested in content
that's provided by a regular season that goes across many months.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
I think FIFA World Cup is a one off and
football generally is not as strong in New Zealand or
for that matter, in Australia, and so therefore what is
really important with New Zealand being close to being in
(09:33):
its winter code, being a one sport nation or historically
a one sport nation with rugby and growing with NRL,
it's therefore it's those regular games that is important.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
We're still yet to have the official announcement of Sky
in New Zealand Rugby's new broadcast deal. It runs out
as you know, at the end of this year. We're
told it's imminent. What do you think the sticking points
would be, you know, right at the end when they're
just trying to nut out the final nuts and bolts
of their deal.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
I think there would be two parts of this. Of course,
it's going to be how many New Zealand dollars millions
of dollars are they're paying per year and whether it's
the same amount as the previous deal and I'd say
that's unlikely, and I think it will be lower, but
you never know. And the other part of that is
(10:30):
to ensure what's the future of super rugby and how
does that continue to thrive when it's got its challenges.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
In general terms, Colin zoom out of it from this,
how would you describe the global sports rights landscape right now?
Speaker 3 (10:51):
Well, it's over the last twenty years it's boomed and
that's been huge for the funding of professional sport globally.
Now with the advent of streaming and many streamers, we're
(11:11):
getting to a timeline when the values of rights will
not increase so dramatically as they have in the last
twenty years. And you can see that's happened already in
the French league, which is a football league one, and
(11:32):
it's going to be increasing the case globally. The two
exceptions so that have been the NFL, you know, earn
thirteen billion US dollars a year and now the latest
deal with the NBL, the NBA. Sure, I say in
the United States that's a deal of seventy six billion
(11:56):
US dollar. But they are massive with massive markets. But
I continuing to the same extent, and they are the
other challenge that brought us them. A view of gen
Z the younger viewers is less. They're not holding them
(12:17):
for an entire game, and how they address that is
a real is an issue they need to consider.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Indeed, and just on the fact that there was a
downward trend or certainly it's a plantau of anything, is
it like the housing market, Colin might go up again,
or is the downward trend likely to continue now?
Speaker 3 (12:36):
I think my view is it's starting to too close
to being max out unless they reattract gen Z in
and they come back into They follow sports significantly in
the professional sports, but they don't stay for entire games,
and therefore if they don't subscribe to the paywalls broadcasters
(13:03):
or don't watch them free to air and therefore to advertisers,
that means the revenue is flowing in to broadcasters because
of sports content is an issue, even though sport is
one of the premium products of broadcast globally, And.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
Just back to the revenue that broadcast money provides, the
sporting organizations. You mentioned the sort of sixty seventy maybe
even upwards of that for some sports. Do you see
that going down? Will sporting organizations need to look at
other other revenue streams, better sponsorship deal, better ticketing and merchandise,
that sort of thing.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
Well, the interesting part of sponsorship revenue is really driven
because of broadcasts. Yes, it's not driven, it's not driven
by attendance as of games. The challenge, I think the
challenge is that that percentage I don't think will change.
There could be some more sponsorship, the issue of sports
(14:07):
bedding could increase, but that's got some real issues socially,
and I think that's on both sides of the ditch,
and so that's I don't think necessarily that's going to
grow without some government interventions or constraints. And I think
(14:30):
what's going to happen is the costs of these sports
leagues where we will need to be addressed going forward
as well.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
Colin, you've given us tremendous insight. Thank you so much
for joining us this afternoon with your expertise. I really
appreciate your.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
Time, absolute pleasure.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
Thank you for joining us, Colin sports broadcasting expert Colin Smith.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
There for more from Weekend Sport with Jason Fine. Listen
live to news Talks b weekends from midday, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio
You're listening to the Weekend Sport podcast with Jason Vine
from Newstalk ZEDB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
With a major shakeup in the New Zealand sports broadcasting
landscape this week. On Tuesday it was announced that Sky
have purchased TV three, giving themselves a ready made free
to wear platform for some of their sports content. And
on Friday it was reported and this is not yet confirmed,
but it has been widely reported that TV and Z
(00:35):
have won the battle to screen next year's fee for
World Cup, fending off Sky in the battle for those rights,
and they will again reportedly screen a significant portion of
the one hundred and four matches that now happened at
a World Cup. Because it's forty eight teams, a significant
portion of those one hundred and four games will be
(00:56):
on a new paywalled digital platform that's going to be
up and running by the time the tournament kicks off
in June of next year. So in other words, you
will pay to see the entire tournament. You'll pay TV
and Z. They will obviously also have some free to
wear content, either on their main channels or streaming. The
(01:17):
new rugby deal, of course, is yet to be finalized,
although those discussions are well advanced apparently with an announcement
imminent that'll be skypicking those rights up again. It's just
a matter of the dollars and some of the finer detail.
So what will all of these changes mean for you
and I for the everyday sports viewer. For a bit
of analysis, let's bring in Colin Smith, Managing Director of
(01:39):
Global Media and Sports and founding director of Media Rights Value.
Colin is hugely experienced in the provision of strategic advice
and negotiation leadership on sports, media and competition structures. He
advises leading media companies and major professional sports in Australasia,
(02:00):
in Europe and across Asia as well. Colin, thanks for
joining us and lending us your expertise. Let's start with
Sky's purchase of TV three. How important is it for
a pay per view operator like Sky to have a
free to air platform like this?
Speaker 3 (02:18):
Thank you a pleasure to talk to you. It's really
interesting and when we look at the New Zealand media market,
what we are now seeing is in essence the domination
by TV and Z on one side and both entering
into now behind the paywall and free to air, and
(02:42):
then with a Sky acquiring the rights from Warner Brothers
and having a free to wear and also additional streaming,
so you've got two powerful, formidable broadcasters now in New Zealand.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
The free to air side of things is really interesting
to meet, Colin. Is it crucial for a company to
have free to wear, you know, ability because it allows
for advertising to be sold on that platform, or because
most sports now want a free to wear components in
their broadcast offering.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
Well, it's a really good question, and the fundamental is
if you want to get mass viewership, free or area
is the way to go. But then if you want
to maximize your revenues, you want to be behind the paywall.
So a combination of free content plus behind the paywall
(03:38):
is highly successful and it maximizes both the viewership and
the revenues for the broadcaster.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
It sounds so simple when you say that, Colin, it
sounds so simple. I'm not in my head, But it
seems to be a very hard balance to strike. What
are the conversations that go on around board tables at
both a broadcaster and a sports organization when these deals
are being put together.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
It is a really a debate actually, because on one
side you need to make sure you've got the interests
from the viewers from the New Zealand viewers, so therefore
that has a compelling portion of free to wear. But
then in terms of maximizing the revenues for a sport
(04:27):
or a sports competition, then it needs to be behind
the paywall. It's frankly that simple, but that complicated as well,
and it is a trade off.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Do you think broadcasters care about a sports desire to
expose their sport to as wide an audience as possible
or does a broadcaster, a pay per view broadcaster simply
want if they head it their way, everything behind their paywall.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
The answer is that most pay per view of broadcasters
would prefer to have as much content behind the paywall.
But the other part of this is to promote and
to keep on promoting that competition. Having a free to
(05:16):
air component is a win win, and you could argue say,
if we look at the New Zealand example of the
provincial rugby, being behind the paywall is probably cost it's
a lot of viewership and where now probably not an
attractive TV product for a pay TV operator.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
In terms of the organization's the sporting organizations, do you
think they are now all totally cognizant colin of the
concept of free to wear that they have to have
some on free to wear. It's no good just taking
the money from the broadcaster. They have to have a
free to wear component in order to keep their sport exposed.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
I would argue with you, yes, they do need a component,
but it doesn't if it's one game per week or
a premium game. Yes, but you want the major behind
the paywall to maximize a revenue for that sport. And frankly,
(06:22):
sixty to eighty percent of revenues for a sport come
from paid television.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
It's an incredible amount, isn't it, and so crucial to
so many sports. The other piece of news this week
is TV and Z securing the rights to the FIFA
World Cup next year. They've got new technology coming to
charge for it as Sky do. Now how big a
play is this in your view? From TV and Z
our state broadcaster, it's.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
Very significant and one of the interesting aspects about TV
and Z it is both a it is government owned,
but it's totally commercial as well, and it really dominates
the New Zealand market and then now entering into PATV
side makes it even more competitive and therefore more important
(07:15):
for Sky to have the acquisition of TV three.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Well indeed, and so you would expect that the acquisition
of TV three would naturally lead to Sky including that
as a free to air element on future broadcast deals
with any.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
Code possibly and I could see that with rugby for sure,
and potentially you know, things like the Olympic if they
did for the Olympic Games or the Conwalk Games, I
could see that for sure.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
How important to a broadcaster are marquee events like World
Cups Olympic Games compared to the regular content of a
sporting season.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
For a pay television operator, the most important is the
the games, and it's not the pinnacle events, it's the
round by round. So in other words, the Super Rugby
or the NRL Games, they are really important. They attract
(08:22):
consistent viewership and therefore consistent subscribers. In terms of the
premium events like the Olympic Games or the Pink World Cup,
generally they are globally in front of the paywall, as
opposed behind the paywall. But you can see that changing
(08:45):
where some sport will be behind the paywall and some
sport leading sport will be in front of the paywall.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
So it makes sense, It does make sense, It makes
perfect sense. I wonder what the feeling will be at
Sky having not acquired the FIFA World Cup next year.
How much of a blow is that to them, or
as you've just outlined, are they more interested in content
that's provided by a regular season that goes across many months.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
I think FIFA World Cup is a one off and
football generally is not as strong in New Zealand or
for that matter, in Australia, and so therefore what is
really important with New Zealand being close to being in
(09:33):
its winter code, being a one sport nation or historically
a one sport nation with rugby and growing with NRL,
it's therefore it's those regular games that is important.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
We're still yet to have the official announcement of Sky
in New Zealand Rugby's new broadcast deal. It runs out
as you know, at the end of this year. We're
told it's imminent. What do you think the sticking points
would be, you know, right at the end when they're
just trying to nut out the final nuts and bolts
of their deal.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
I think there would be two parts of this. Of course,
it's going to be how many New Zealand dollars millions
of dollars are they're paying per year and whether it's
the same amount as the previous deal and I'd say
that's unlikely, and I think it will be lower, but
you never know. And the other part of that is
(10:30):
to ensure what's the future of super rugby and how
does that continue to thrive when it's got its challenges.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
In general terms, Colin zoom out of it from this,
how would you describe the global sports rights landscape right now?
Speaker 3 (10:51):
Well, it's over the last twenty years it's boomed and
that's been huge for the funding of professional sport globally.
Now with the advent of streaming and many streamers, we're
(11:11):
getting to a timeline when the values of rights will
not increase so dramatically as they have in the last
twenty years. And you can see that's happened already in
the French league, which is a football league one, and
(11:32):
it's going to be increasing the case globally. The two
exceptions so that have been the NFL, you know, earn
thirteen billion US dollars a year and now the latest
deal with the NBL, the NBA. Sure, I say in
the United States that's a deal of seventy six billion
(11:56):
US dollar. But they are massive with massive markets. But
I continuing to the same extent, and they are the
other challenge that brought us them. A view of gen
Z the younger viewers is less. They're not holding them
(12:17):
for an entire game, and how they address that is
a real is an issue they need to consider.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Indeed, and just on the fact that there was a
downward trend or certainly it's a plantau of anything, is
it like the housing market, Colin might go up again,
or is the downward trend likely to continue now?
Speaker 3 (12:36):
I think my view is it's starting to too close
to being max out unless they reattract gen Z in
and they come back into They follow sports significantly in
the professional sports, but they don't stay for entire games,
and therefore if they don't subscribe to the paywalls broadcasters
(13:03):
or don't watch them free to air and therefore to advertisers,
that means the revenue is flowing in to broadcasters because
of sports content is an issue, even though sport is
one of the premium products of broadcast globally, And.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
Just back to the revenue that broadcast money provides, the
sporting organizations. You mentioned the sort of sixty seventy maybe
even upwards of that for some sports. Do you see
that going down? Will sporting organizations need to look at
other other revenue streams, better sponsorship deal, better ticketing and merchandise,
that sort of thing.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
Well, the interesting part of sponsorship revenue is really driven
because of broadcasts. Yes, it's not driven, it's not driven
by attendance as of games. The challenge, I think the
challenge is that that percentage I don't think will change.
There could be some more sponsorship, the issue of sports
(14:07):
bedding could increase, but that's got some real issues socially,
and I think that's on both sides of the ditch,
and so that's I don't think necessarily that's going to
grow without some government interventions or constraints. And I think
(14:30):
what's going to happen is the costs of these sports
leagues where we will need to be addressed going forward
as well.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
Colin, you've given us tremendous insight. Thank you so much
for joining us this afternoon with your expertise. I really
appreciate your.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
Time, absolute pleasure.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
Thank you for joining us, Colin sports broadcasting expert Colin Smith.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
There for more from Weekend Sport with Jason Fine. Listen
live to news Talks b weekends from midday, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio
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