After raising the white flag in the battle with Walt Disney for the bulk of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts has one last prize to fight for: the British pay-TV company Sky, according to Bloomberg.
Comcast currently has the upper hand in the race for Sky, with an offer of 26 billion pounds that’s 6 percent higher than a rival, Disney-backed bid by Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox, which already owns 39 percent of the company. But as Disney CEO Bob Iger weighs whether to continue the bidding war for Sky and seek full ownership, here’s why Roberts is so keen on the asset.
Buying Sky would give Comcast international scale, a hedge against the erosion of cable-TV viewing in the U.S. and a larger palette to compete with streaming services like Amazon and Netflix. Sky has 22.5 million customers across five European countries and is pushing into Spain and Switzerland. Comcast would generate 25 percent of its sales outside of the U.S. if it buys Sky, compared with 9 percent currently.
Sky would give Comcast a high-tech set-top box, called Sky Q. It has an easy-to-navigate interface for viewers and allows voice-activated search for shows. Comcast would also get Now TV, Sky’s streaming service, which is pitched at consumers who don’t want to pay for a full-fat TV bundle. When Comcast first announced its approach for Sky in February, Roberts said an in-store demo of their products and technology left him “terribly impressed.“
Sky is also trying to modernize how it delivers its pay-TV packages. Historically done over satellite, Sky in the future wants to deliver its content via the internet. Italy is in line to get the first comprehensive such service, followed by Austria and other key markets, Sky said earlier this year.
Sky has a suite of sought-after TV content that it uses to lure and retain subscribers, including rights to Premier League football. It won big at the latest Premier League auction, bagging the rights at a cheaper price and ending years of investor fears of ever-spiraling costs. Sky has also been boosting its investment in original TV productions, airs the shows on its platform and also sells them abroad.
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