Sky TV does deal with Warner Bros Discovery to get Max

Tuesday, 22 October 2024

Company believes the development will be important for investors.

Sky Television has secured the rights to provide Warner Bros Discovery’s Max streaming service to customers in New Zealand.

The deal will see Sky become the exclusive home of Max in New Zealand from October 30, Sky TV said in a statement to the NZX.

The length of the agreement – the number of years it will run for before it needs to be renegotiated — has not been disclosed.

Sky labelled the announcement as “price sensitive”, indicating it believed the development would be material to investors.

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Its shares were trading up 1.8% at $2.81 in late morning trading in the wake of the announcement, before losing those gains in the afternoon.

A “Max branded hub” on Sky and Neon would offer an unrivalled array of entertainment programming, Sky said.

Max, known as HBO Max in some markets, is used to stream premium HBO-branded content and other premium content from Warner Bros Discovery.

Sky chief executive Sophie Moloney said she was thrilled Warner Bros Discovery had decided to extend its partnership with Sky, rather than launch its own streaming service in New Zealand.

“This strategically significant agreement also delivers for our investors, having been secured on improved commercial terms, aligned to our stated targets,” she said.

There has been speculation Warner Bros Discovery’s decision to continue selling its premium content through Sky could indicate a lack of commitment to its loss-making free-to-air business, which owns television channel Three and streaming platform ThreeNow.

But a spokesperson said it saw the two businesses as “complementary”.

ThreeNow remained key for Warner Bros Discovery’s free, advertising-supported video streaming content, she said.

Ensuring Sky aggregates Warner Bros Discovery’s premium content under the Max brand would appear to preserve the US content giant’s ability to go it alone at a later date.

But Warner Bros Discovery’s spokesperson said “at this stage, we are fully focused on the launch of Max on Sky”.