Sky is launching the country’s first subscription video on demand (SVOD) advertising on its streaming service NEON, as it looks to provide new options for advertisers in the digital era.
Sky has relaunched its sales offering in a national roadshow to agencies, revealing ambitious plans to grow the subscription TV company’s share of the local advertising market.
Ads will begin on Neon in January, and Sky says they have been designed to “ensure minimum disruption to the viewer experience and maximum impact for brands” with 45 seconds per show of video pre-roll advertising on NEON’s entry-level basic tier, and audience-initiated Ads on Pause across all tiers.
Sky says strict ad serving controls, a very low ad load and frequency caps limiting over-exposure to the same ads would make the NEON ad experience “one of the most premium and sought-after digital ad opportunities in market”.
In addition, High Definition will be added to the NEON Basic Tier and the number of user profiles will grow from two to five.
“While a first for New Zealand, globally there has been a shift to advertising on SVOD platforms so we’ve had the benefit of learning from others,” says Sky’s Chief Media and Data Officer Lauren Quaintance.
“By introducing advertising to NEON’s basic tier we’re giving brand and agency partners immediate access to a premium audience that skews younger, affluent and female.”
Sky’s Head of Sales Ben Gibb says the launch of ads on NEON is the first step in unlocking the broadcaster’s valuable streaming audience for advertisers, with 763,000 Kiwis using one of Sky’s streaming services every week.
“It’s a really exciting time to be in Sky Sales as we transition from being a Linear-only advertising business to an integrated multi-channel ad business,” says Gibb.
“From a consumer perspective Sky is already a multi-channel offering with a huge number of consumers streaming content on our streaming platforms NEON, Sky Sport Now and SkyGo. Until now we haven’t made those audiences available to advertisers but that’s about to change.”
As well as launching digital advertising, Sky Sales has invested in expanding its integration team under the leadership of highly experienced sales leader Kathryn Allemann.
“Integration and branded content are a big area of focus for us and an area where we think Sky has been something of a sleeping giant,” says Allemann.
“We have NZ’s most diverse bundle of content across every genre, and we produce a great deal of high-quality local shows making it possible to integrate brands deeply into our programming in ways that add value for the viewer.
“Sky also has undeniably the best sport offering in New Zealand and sport provides a particularly strong platform for brand integration.”
Sky is also raising prices for some of its content. Customers were told this week that from January 11 next year, the monthly standard plan for Neon will go up from $17.99 per month to $19.99 per month, while the annual plan will increase from $179.99 per year to $199.99 per year.
In February the cost of a Sky TV sport subscription will go up by just over $4 to $42 a month, a 10 percent increase.
