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New Zealand Companies Lightbox, Coliseum Sports Media Form Joint Venture

Coliseum Sports Media CEO Tim Martin said that his company and Spark's Lightbox have formed a "50-50 joint venture called Lightbox Sport," according to Chris Keall of the NATIONAL BUSINESS REVIEW. Martin is now managing director of Lightbox Sport. Neither side will say "how much capital is being put into the JV," but Lightbox CEO Kym Niblock said that there will "be dedicated content and license budgets for Lightbox Sport content." Martin said that CSM NZ will "cease to exist as a standalone company," although its int'l operation will continue. It has been confirmed that "subscribers to Lightbox will have to pay extra to access Coliseum's online sports content," which currently includes the EPL and French rugby, "and will expand to PGA and LPGA golf in January" (NBR, 12/18). The NEW ZEALAND HERALD reported Niblock said that the partnership aims to deliver "more relevance and value to customers." She said, "This partnership looks to simplify the crowded online TV marketplace. By joining forces we will be giving customers a greater breadth and depth of choice and a more compelling viewing experience." The joint venture agreement "is signed and comes into effect" on Thursday, however it "remains conditional on a number of legal matters" (NZ HERALD, 12/18). STUFF's Tom Pullar-Strecker reported Martin said that Lightbox Sports "would be staffed by people from both companies." Martin: "This is by no means the end of the line. Coliseum owners are still contributing financially to the business." Neither Lightbox nor Coliseum "have revealed their subscriber numbers." Forsyth Barr analyst Blair Galpin said the move "was logical for Spark but questioned whether Lightbox Sports would always be able to deliver the high quality of service people expected from live sports, over copper broadband." Galpin asked, "Golf is going to be an interesting challenge; what happens when all the golf fans want to watch a live event at the same time?" (STUFF, 12/18).

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