Sky Network Television Ltd [NZX:SKT] has plummeted by 14.41% today, with the stock price down to $0.950 at the time of writing.

Sky — founded in 1987 — is New Zealand’s largest pay-per-view satellite TV provider. A popular presence in many Kiwi households, the company is well-known for its sporting coverage, as well as its movie and documentary offerings.

Sky currently has a market cap of $393 million.

Why has the [NZX:SKT] share price plunged?

Sentiments today were overwhelmingly negative, fuelled by news that competitor Spark [NZX:SPK] had pulled off an unexpected coup: securing Kiwi cricket broadcast rights for six years.

This shock blow has left Sky reeling, threatening its long-standing position as New Zealand’s preferred sports platform.

This has given rise to a bearish mood amongst investors, leading to a sharp sell-off of Sky shares.

Where could Sky Network Television go from here?

There is a pervasive feeling of grimness among analysts.

Sky previously posted a net loss of $608 million for the financial year, and to add to the sour news, it also declared that dividends would be suspended.

Sky has lost over 40,000 subscribers in the past 12 months, a trend that has been accelerated by fierce competition from other streaming services offered by Spark and Netflix.

For the foreseeable future, the share sentiment for Sky remains negative and will likely continue to track on a downward trend.

Regards,

John Ling,
Contributor, WealthMorning.com