Competition hots up for TV customers
Spark has deepened its year-old partnership with Netflix and will give customers the option of putting Netflix on their Spark bill.
Sky Television has meanwhile confirmed that customers who have unlimited broadband with Vodafone will be able to buy its new Sky Starter entry-level service for $14.91 a month, carrying over a $10 discount that previously applied to Sky Basic.
A year ago Spark began offering new and existing customers that signed up to unlimited broadband on a two-year contract a year’s ‘‘free’’ Netflix subscription, worth $180.
The offer was announced days after the Commerce Commission rejected Sky Television’s proposed merger with Vodafone, and there was speculation Spark had negotiated the arrangement as ‘‘insurance’’ to take some of the shine off the merger if it went ahead.
The one-year promotion was believed to have cost Spark tens of millions of dollars.
Spark said it would now offer customers with unlimited broadband a further year’s free Netflix if they signed, or re-signed, for a two-year plan, and for six months on a one-year plan.
In addition, customers who had previously signed up for a year’s free Netflix will be able to get another six months free added on to their one-year promotion, extending the free period to 18 months.
Once the free periods end, Spark customers will be able to put Netflix on their Spark bill.
Spokeswoman Ellie Cross said billing integration was a ‘‘key sign of the commitment’’ between the firms.
She would not comment on whether Netflix would share revenues with Spark once customers were paying for the service.
Sky shares have meanwhile continued to fall in the wake of its decision to effectively cut its price by $25 a month, for customers willing to opt out of 18 news and entertainment channels that were previously bundled within the Sky Basic package.
The company’s shares were trading at
$2.29 yesterday morning, having halved in value since January last year.
Spokeswoman Melodie Robinson said the company had decided on Friday to let Vodafone customers who previously qualified for a $10 discount on Sky Basic apply the same discount if they downgraded to Sky Starter.
That brings Sky Starter’s price under the Vodafone promotion down to $14.91 a month and the cheapest price for Sky Sport, if bought as part of a bundle with Vodafone unlimited broadband, down to
$44.91 a month.