Sky TV is increasing the price of its Sky Sport and Sky Sport Now packages again.
By Susan Edmunds of RNZ
The Sky Sport price will lift from $47 to $52 a month – a roughly 10% increase.
Last March, Sky put up its price by 12%, from $42 to $47.
In February 2024, it rose from $37.99 to $42.
Sky said Sky Sport Now customers' monthly pass would increase from $54.99 to $59.99, while the premium monthly price increased from $59.99 to $64.99.
"The cost of Sky Sport Now day pass and annual pass is not changing. All existing discounts and deals will stay in place until they expire," it said in a statement.
"We work hard to keep providing exceptional value for fans, and we're proud that Sky Sport offers an extraordinary amount of world class sport for New Zealanders. While we understand every household has to choose what to spend their money on, we believe it's great Kiwi fans are able to access a breadth and depth of live international and local sport (that is genuinely rare in global markets) in a single subscription."
It said it was able to offer a range of sporting events because of its long-term commitment to securing rights.
"We're also improving the viewing experience this year, with a range of sporting events now being broadcast in 4K, and more to follow."
Forsyth Barr New Zealand equities analyst Benjamin Crozier said Sky had been able to maintain customer numbers in recent times despite its price increases.
"It's always the question, how much do you push the price… But you look at what Sky's done, it's renewed the rugby, it's won back the cricket… it's got a broader suite of sports there."
He said there was less competition for Sky in sport than in other parts of the business.
"As with any good business, you've got to test the price elasticity of your customers. In the last couple of years they've put up prices and in terms of the numbers they report in terms of sport subscribers, they've held steady.
"There's always ups and downs depending on what sports events are on around the word but it has been working for them and they've been able to offset some of the declines in the legacy parts of their business."
He said the arrival of HBO Max would be an area to watch.
"There's already so many competitors in that space, is one more going to make that much difference? A big area to watch over the next six months is when Neon loses HBO, do people start dropping their subscriptions to Neon? Sky will want to keep people subscribed with other content."
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