July 22, 2025 • 4 mins
Sky TV is promising it won't shake the boat too soon after buying TV3 and ThreeNow - for a dollar.
Warner Brothers Discovery has sold its Kiwi TV arm, including a range of linear and streaming channels.
Sky TV says, for now, Sky Open will continue operations as normal and Three News will be kept at the six o'clock slot.
Chief executive Sophie Moloney says they might even still negotiate with TVNZ on sports.
"I think it's actually really important for the local media ecosystem that you do have two vibrant opportunities for sport partners and beyond."
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Afternoon, we have got another one dollar deal. Sky TV
is buying TV three from Warner Brothers Discovery for a
single dollar. It will take on none of TV three's debt.
Now the investors are loving it. Shares and sky TV
are up more than five percent today the move. It
gives sky TV a huge free to air platform and
will undoubtedly put pressure on TV as Z. Sophie Maloney
is the boss of sky TV. Hi, Sophie, you got
(00:22):
to hear that.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
How are you doing well?
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Thank you? Have you cracked a champagn yet?
Speaker 2 (00:26):
No, I haven't. These are very important discussion, so but
thrilled to be with you and share this exciting news.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
This is a bargain. I mean, have you got the
bargain of the year.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
We worked hard with Warner Brothers Discovery to get to
a very good place here and we're absolutely thrilled about
welcoming the Discovery New Zealand team and to the wider
Sky business. So yeah, it's a great opportunity for us
that we're uniquely placed to go after.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
So are you going to shut down Sky open the channel?
Speaker 2 (00:53):
No? Not at this where we're definitely just continuing business
as usual. We've got a full transition plan to step through.
You know, we don't. You can pleate until the first
of August, and so there's absolute continuity of content and
delivery across all of the channels and no change in
the near future. In time, of course, we'll have a
look across all of it and see what's the best
way to deliver for all of New Zealand. But as
things stand, absolutely no change and we're excited about the
(01:16):
offering on Sky Open right.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
But this is obviously this is the platform where you
put your free to air content once you've monetized it
and got all the money you can out of it,
behind the paywall of Neon and Sky TV. Surely this
is where you put it. For the advertising well, I.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Think there's actually different audiences and different content that resonates
across free and pay and as you say, though, this
does give us an awesome opportunity to deliver right across
the piece, and we're really excited. You know, three has
an amazing history and three now is the missing platform
from our go to market from an advertising perspective, so
that's a very exciting part of the deal for us.
(01:50):
And it's got a massively diverse audience from what we
have on.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
The Sky side. Okay, so does this basically mean that
TVs is no longer an option when comes to sports negotiations,
You guys are the only game in town because you've
got the existing infrastructure of Sky TV. You can broadcast it,
you can do all of that hard work. But you've
also got the free to air platform now in TV three.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
No. Look, I don't think it's the end of that
at all. I think TVNZ's a super important player in
the market. They're still the juggonnaut in terms of advertising
revenue share, and you know, ultimately hither it is about
the sports partners and where they want to be showcasing
their content, and it still needs to make financial sense, right,
So I think it's actually really important for the local
media ecosystem that you do have two vibrant opportunities for
(02:35):
sport partners and beyond.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
Is this why the rugby broadcast deal and the netball
broadcast deal has not been tidied up and finished by
the time we all thought they were going to be,
because you guys were waiting for the steal.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
No, not at all. This is unrelated. This deal has
been worked on for a long time. It came to
fruition finally last night and is unconnected to both of
those arrangements.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
Are you going to keep the news at six on
TV three?
Speaker 2 (03:03):
Again? Absolutely no change, So yeah, we're going to be
keeping the news at six em. We're excited about that
partnership with Stuff going forward. You know, once it's complete
from the first of August.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
How long has that deal got to run between.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
TV three and here that confidential information. But there's a
decent period to run, which is great.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
What's a decent period? Are we all years or months?
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Because yeah, yeah, longer than months, Heather, longer than months.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Okay, because because you're going to have to cut it
right it is. It is expensive and it is not delivering,
is it.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Oh? I don't. I wouldn't say that at all. In fact,
I think the team have done a remarkable job. And
we know news is super important, right you were talking
about that earlier, that we've got to make sure we've
got news coverage speaking the word decent. So absolutely no
change to the delivery of three News and the partnership
with Stuff, And I think it's a really important aspect
(04:02):
of the deal that we do continue to see news
thriving doesn't mean we're going to go created ourselves. By
the way, it's really important that we partner with local
news providers who've got all the infrastructure and talent, so
you need never know whither. Maybe there'll be an opportunity
for you.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
Listen to this. Okay, listen, are you are you gonna
crack If you haven't cracked a champagne yet, are you
going to crack your champagne tonight?
Speaker 2 (04:27):
We are definitely going to have a champagne As a team.
They've worked incredibly hard to get to this place, so yeah,
it's a thrilling place to be.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
Good stuff. Enjoy it very much, Sophie. Thank you, Sophie Maloney,
Chief executive sky TV. For more from Heather Duplessy Allen Drive,
listen live to news Talks it'd be from four pm weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
Afternoon, we have got another one dollar deal. Sky TV
is buying TV three from Warner Brothers Discovery for a
single dollar. It will take on none of TV three's debt.
Now the investors are loving it. Shares and sky TV
are up more than five percent today the move. It
gives sky TV a huge free to air platform and
will undoubtedly put pressure on TV as Z. Sophie Maloney
is the boss of sky TV. Hi, Sophie, you got
(00:22):
to hear that.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
How are you doing well?
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Thank you? Have you cracked a champagn yet?
Speaker 2 (00:26):
No, I haven't. These are very important discussion, so but
thrilled to be with you and share this exciting news.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
This is a bargain. I mean, have you got the
bargain of the year.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
We worked hard with Warner Brothers Discovery to get to
a very good place here and we're absolutely thrilled about
welcoming the Discovery New Zealand team and to the wider
Sky business. So yeah, it's a great opportunity for us
that we're uniquely placed to go after.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
So are you going to shut down Sky open the channel?
Speaker 2 (00:53):
No? Not at this where we're definitely just continuing business
as usual. We've got a full transition plan to step through.
You know, we don't. You can pleate until the first
of August, and so there's absolute continuity of content and
delivery across all of the channels and no change in
the near future. In time, of course, we'll have a
look across all of it and see what's the best
way to deliver for all of New Zealand. But as
things stand, absolutely no change and we're excited about the
(01:16):
offering on Sky Open right.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
But this is obviously this is the platform where you
put your free to air content once you've monetized it
and got all the money you can out of it,
behind the paywall of Neon and Sky TV. Surely this
is where you put it. For the advertising well, I.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Think there's actually different audiences and different content that resonates
across free and pay and as you say, though, this
does give us an awesome opportunity to deliver right across
the piece, and we're really excited. You know, three has
an amazing history and three now is the missing platform
from our go to market from an advertising perspective, so
that's a very exciting part of the deal for us.
(01:50):
And it's got a massively diverse audience from what we
have on.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
The Sky side. Okay, so does this basically mean that
TVs is no longer an option when comes to sports negotiations,
You guys are the only game in town because you've
got the existing infrastructure of Sky TV. You can broadcast it,
you can do all of that hard work. But you've
also got the free to air platform now in TV three.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
No. Look, I don't think it's the end of that
at all. I think TVNZ's a super important player in
the market. They're still the juggonnaut in terms of advertising
revenue share, and you know, ultimately hither it is about
the sports partners and where they want to be showcasing
their content, and it still needs to make financial sense, right,
So I think it's actually really important for the local
media ecosystem that you do have two vibrant opportunities for
(02:35):
sport partners and beyond.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
Is this why the rugby broadcast deal and the netball
broadcast deal has not been tidied up and finished by
the time we all thought they were going to be,
because you guys were waiting for the steal.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
No, not at all. This is unrelated. This deal has
been worked on for a long time. It came to
fruition finally last night and is unconnected to both of
those arrangements.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
Are you going to keep the news at six on
TV three?
Speaker 2 (03:03):
Again? Absolutely no change, So yeah, we're going to be
keeping the news at six em. We're excited about that
partnership with Stuff going forward. You know, once it's complete
from the first of August.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
How long has that deal got to run between.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
TV three and here that confidential information. But there's a
decent period to run, which is great.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
What's a decent period? Are we all years or months?
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Because yeah, yeah, longer than months, Heather, longer than months.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Okay, because because you're going to have to cut it
right it is. It is expensive and it is not delivering,
is it.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Oh? I don't. I wouldn't say that at all. In fact,
I think the team have done a remarkable job. And
we know news is super important, right you were talking
about that earlier, that we've got to make sure we've
got news coverage speaking the word decent. So absolutely no
change to the delivery of three News and the partnership
with Stuff, And I think it's a really important aspect
(04:02):
of the deal that we do continue to see news
thriving doesn't mean we're going to go created ourselves. By
the way, it's really important that we partner with local
news providers who've got all the infrastructure and talent, so
you need never know whither. Maybe there'll be an opportunity
for you.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
Listen to this. Okay, listen, are you are you gonna
crack If you haven't cracked a champagne yet, are you
going to crack your champagne tonight?
Speaker 2 (04:27):
We are definitely going to have a champagne As a team.
They've worked incredibly hard to get to this place, so yeah,
it's a thrilling place to be.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
Good stuff. Enjoy it very much, Sophie. Thank you, Sophie Maloney,
Chief executive sky TV. For more from Heather Duplessy Allen Drive,
listen live to news Talks it'd be from four pm weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
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