US giant exits free-to-air market in deal that includes country’s second-biggest channel Three
Warner Bros Discovery has sold its linear channels including Three and sibling streamer ThreeNow to Sky New Zealand for $1.
The sale includes no debt and comes five years since WBD took control of the Mediaworks TV business, in a deal that was valued at the time at NZ$20m (£9m).
Sky New Zealand will now become home to channels including Eden, Rush and HGTV, as well as free-to-air channel Three and its streamer.
Three is New Zealand’s second-most popular channel and offers shows such as Married At First Sight New Zealand, with public broadcaster TVNZ its main competitor.
Sky New Zealand, which is a separate entity to its European sibling, also picks up a 50% stake in Bravo, which is co-owned with NBC Universal.
WBD is not, however, exiting the New Zealand market entirely - it retains ownership of pay channels including Animal Planet and Discovery Channel.
The US giant had acquired the channels after buying the TV operations of local business Mediaworks. However, WBD struggled to turn a profit and has been in cost-cutting mode over recent years, closing operations including its Newshub (fka 3 News) division.
The move comes with Warner Bros. Discovery in the process of splitting its streaming and linear business, including trimming costs ahead of the formal spin-off.
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