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11 - 15 September 2020
RAI Amsterdam
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A landmark sports rights deal will see New Zealand Rugby take a 5% stake in Sky New Zealand in exchange for the rights to show All Blacks matches for the next five years.
A landmark sports rights deal will see New Zealand Rugby take a 5% stake in Sky New Zealand in exchange for the rights to show All Blacks matches for the next five years.
Sky is extending its rights deal for the All Blacks and the agreement comes just months after telco Spark outbid the broadcaster for rights to televise the Rugby World Cup.
- Read more: Streaming, 8K and AR: How bringing production in-house will transform Rugby World Cup 2019
The deal, which reportedly tops $148 million, will be subject to approval from Sky shareholders, but if it is rubber-stamped, NZR will claim a 5% stake in Sky NZ, valued at around $11.6 million.
Sky described the deal as “revolutionary” and said it had involved a “record investment”. Reports from the country claim the deal is valued at around $372.7 million, with the outlay giving Sky rights to all of the All Blacks test matches as well as the Super Rugby tournament over the five-year spell.
“Rugby is a core and significant part of our offer as the Home of Sport. We know it attracts customers to Sky, who then also discover and enjoy the deep range of local and global sport that we offer. Our renewed partnership with NZR brings value to all of our sport partners, and we’re delighted to have them continuing as part of the Sky family,” Sky CEO Martin Stewart said
“A special part of this deal is the 5% equity stake that NZR is taking in Sky. We have long known that there is mutual benefit when each of us succeeds, and we’re pleased that NZR is becoming an investor in Sky.”
While the costs of sports rights have surged over recent decades, pressure from OTT and other “cord-cutting” services have raised questions about the value for money in buying up expensive rights deals, leading to a number of partnerships between OTTs and broadcasters.
- Read more: Innovating live sports production
For Sky, offering equity in the company could offset some of this, although a number of questions surround the deal, including what happens to the 5% stake after the five-year period expires, and how this impacts future negotiations for NZR.
However, reports from Yahoo News said that Stewart called the sale of the stake a “one-off” that was unlikely to be repeated in future deals.
“This is a great result for NZR – we not only have a vastly experienced broadcast partner, but we have a partner prepared to work and invest with us in initiatives that will help grow the game over a prolonged period of time,” said NZR chief executive Steve Tew.
“For rugby in New Zealand, this is a hugely significant agreement that secures the long-term financial health of our game. We look forward to continuing to build our long-standing and deep partnership as we both face the challenges and opportunities that a rapidly changing broadcast, entertainment and sporting world presents.”
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Upcoming UK streaming service BritBox has unveiled a number of the specialist partners who will work with it ahead of its UK launch this quarter.
Upcoming UK streaming service BritBox has unveiled a number of the specialist partners who will work with it ahead of its UK launch this quarter.
ITV, which has partnered with other British broadcasters including the BBC for the service, revealed OTT specialist Deltatre will provide the user experience platform for BritBox.
The company, which already works on the BritBox platform in the US and Canada, is providing its Axis targeted UX management platform for BritBox’s UK launch, as well as designing a suite of multi-platform applications which will run across the internet, mobile and connected TVs.
For digital security, ITV has named Irdeto as its partner responsible for content packaging and protection, while Akamai will provide BritBox with a content delivery network. LoginRadius will look after customer identity and the BritBox access management platform, ITV said.
The project is being led by ITV’s internal technology teams who are working closely with all of the vendors named.
ITV also revealed Teleperformance will be providing customers services for BritBox through its offices located in Gateshead, UK. Consultancy Balance Agent is overseeing programme management for the SVoD.
In terms of media and PR, ITV has named Total Media as the streaming service’s media strategy partner, while creative agency ITV Creative has been tasked with branding and advertising the new service.
Reemah Sakaan said: “We have selected and built an outstanding new agency team of streaming, entertainment and data specialists at the top of their fields to complement the expertise of our team here at BritBox. We look forward to working hand in hand with them to a successful launch.”
BritBox is due to launch in the UK in Q4, offering past and current content from British broadcasters such as the BBC, ITV and Channel 5. The service will cost £5.99 per month and will include curation and playlists across the web, mobile, tablet and connected TVs.
- Read more: Channel 5 and Comedy Central join BritBox
It comes as there is increasing pressure on linear broadcasters from OTT providers such as Netflix. With a new raft of OTT services from the likes of Apple and Disney set to launch in the coming months, BritBox is an attempt to create a “best of British” location for content.
- Read more: Interview with Soumya Sriraman, BritBox
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A group of British MPs have challenged the BBC and the government to work together to protect free TV licences for all over-75s.
Elderly audiences: MPs have challenged the BBC to save free over-75s TV licences
A group of British MPs have challenged the BBC and the government to work together to protect free TV licences for all over-75s.
The House of Commons media select committee said the BBC’s decision to scrap free licence fees for some over-75s was an “absurd situation”.
In the UK, TV licences fund the BBC and have been free for all people over 75 since November 2000, with the cost initially met by a grant from the Department for Work and Pensions. However, during a 2015 funding settlement agreed by the BBC and the UK government, the BBC agreed to take over the funding, according to the DCMS committee.
In June 2019 the BBC announced changes to the scheme which mean that from June 2020 only a household with someone aged over 75 and who receives Pension Credit will be eligible for a free TV licence, impacting up to 3.7 million.
The broadcaster was widely criticised for the decision, including by the government, with a spokesperson saying: “We’re disappointed with the BBC’s decision not to continue free licences for the over-75s.”
He added: “We’ve been clear that we want and expect it to continue this concession. Taxpayers want to see the BBC using its substantial licence fee income in an appropriate way to ensure it delivers for UK audiences. We will respond to the select committee report in due course.”
However, the BBC hit back, saying it had to scrap the free licence fee or face a reduction in services, including the potential axing of a number of channels. According to the broadcasters estimates, it could save up to £500 million of the £3.7 billion the licence fee raised last year.
David Clementi, chairman of the BBC, said the DCMS committee had recognised there was no “automatic assumption” that the BBC would continue to bear the cost of the free TV licences.
In the report, BBC director general Tony Hall also came under fire for his handling of the 2015 negotiations. The Committee claimed Hall failed to seek formal agreement from the BBC Executive Board before recommending the agreement to the BBC Trust.
MPs also criticised the government, saying it was wrong to “bounce” the BBC into accepting the agreement. However, Conservative MP and committee chair Damian Collins accused the BBC of giving “false reassurances” over funding a benefit it “could not afford”.
“This is an invidious position for the BBC to put itself in,” he added.
Despite these comments, the report said that correspondence between the government and the BBC made it clear that the broadcaster had not pledged to bear the whole cost of the exemption, claiming it was “disingenuous” for government ministers to suggest otherwise.
The report also looked at the wider challenges facing the BBC’s financing model as the broadcaster comes under increasing pressure from the growing number of OTT services.
As younger viewers shift away from linear TV to streaming services such as Netflix, the BBC’s income could face increasing pressure. The committee cited data that shows under-34s spend twice as much time watching YouTube as they do traditional linear channels combined.
This “poses a further threat to BBC licence fee revenue in the future”, Collins said, with TV production costs and rights costs also inflating as more media and tech companies, such as Apple and Disney, enter the streaming market. This will see the BBC forced to spend an increasing portion of its budget on content.
The BBC has already taken steps aimed at competing with the OTTs. Earlier this week, the corporation announced a major overhaul of its iPlayer streaming platform which, the BBC said, will be at “the heart of everything we do”.
- Read more: BBC unveils major revamp of iPlayer
It has also partnered with ITV for streaming platform BritBox, which is set to launch in the UK next year, offering “best of British” content.
- Read more: Interview - Soumya Sriraman, BritBox
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