Sky TV New Zealand has announced that it will buy Discovery New Zealand, which owns and operates free-to-air channel Three and its streaming platform ThreeNow, for just $1. The deal was set up on a cash-free, debt-free basis.
With the agreement, Discovery will retain ownership of its remaining assets, including Pay TV channels, streaming service HBO Max and Warner Bros. International Television Production (WBITVP) New Zealand.
“ThreeNow and Three are much-loved brands. We recognise the substantial work and investment undertaken by Discovery NZ in the past 12 months to create a more digital-focused business with a significantly reduced cost base,” said Sophie Moloney, Chief Executive of Sky.
“We are confident Sky is uniquely placed to take the business forward and give effect to the opportunity to accelerate our growth strategy. We see strong value in ThreeNow’s high quality broadcast video on demand platform, and Three’s mass reach, and we are looking forward to creating opportunities to do more with our content, for more New Zealanders, in more ways that work for them across a comprehensive portfolio of subscription and free-to-access platforms.”
Michael Brooks, Managing Director Australia and New Zealand for WBD noted that “this business is not commercially viable as a standalone asset in the WBD New Zealand portfolio” but that the network and content will be a better fit as part of the Sky portfolio.
The deal includes an ongoing agreement for Warner Bros. Discovery to continue supplying content to Sky. There are no immediate plans to change the content line up on Discovery NZ platforms, according to the statement released by Sky and Discovery.
The sale is expected to be completed on August 1, 2025.