Spark has announced what it says is an exclusive deal with Netflix to offer bundled packages, just days after the Commerce Commission rejected Sky Network Television’s proposed merger with Vodafone.
Under the Spark-Netflix tie-up, Spark broadband customers will get a one-year subscription to Netflix’s standard plan when they sign up to a 24-month ‘Unlimited Data Spark’ broadband plan, the telecommunications company said on Monday.
The Netflix deal would sit alongside Spark’s current Lightbox offer, it said.
Chief executive Simon Moutter says the deal is “consistent with our shift towards becoming a digital services provider, rather than just a traditional telco”.
Sky TV’s shares tumbled to their lowest level since mid-2009 last week after the Commerce Commission rejected its proposed merger with Vodafone’s New Zealand business, citing ownership of “all premium sports content” by a “strongly vertically integrated pay-TV and full-service telecommunications provider” as its key concern.
The announcement wiped almost $300 million off Sky TV’s market value on February 23 and the shares closed last Friday at $3.77.
Spark shares ended trading last week at $3.565, the highest in almost two weeks.
-NewstalkZB
