Warner Bros. Discovery Just Sold Some of Its Cable Channels for $1

As the media landscape continues to change, and streaming becomes a priority, Discovery New Zealand has a new owner. Sky New Zealand (Sky) and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) announced recently that Sky will purchase 100% of the shares in the local WBD subsidiary, Discovery NZ Limited (Discovery NZ).

Discovery NZ owns and operates Three, ThreeNow, eden, Rush, and HGTV. WBD will retain ownership of its remaining assets in the New Zealand market, which currently include Pay TV channels, streaming service HBO Max and Warner Bros. International Television Production (WBITVP) New Zealand.

The acquisition will include broadcast video on demand (BVOD) platform ThreeNow, and free-to-access linear channels. As part of the deal, Sky owns the shares in Discovery NZ for $1 on a cash-free, debt-free basis, which also comes with a multi-year commercial agreement for continued supply of WBD’s premium content.

In a statement about the acquisition, Sophie Moloney, Chief Executive of Sky said: “This is an exciting, future-focused step for Sky and a win for our growth and ambition to be Aotearoa New Zealand’s most engaging and essential media company. It positions us to scale faster, puts real momentum into our strategy, and grows and further diversifies our revenue streams, particularly in advertising and digital.”

She added, “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. 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, added: “This is a fantastic outcome for both WBD and Sky. The continued challenges faced by the New Zealand media industry are well documented, and over the past 12 months, the Discovery NZ team has worked to deliver a new, more sustainable business model following a significant restructure in 2024. While this business is not commercially viable as a standalone asset in the WBD New Zealand portfolio, we see the value Three and ThreeNow can bring to Sky’s existing offering of complementary assets. The transaction includes a significant and ongoing content supply agreement for WBD’s premium content, for the mutual benefit of both parties.”