This morning we have announced an investment in Whistle Sports.  They are an innovative new startup who work with online personalities to create unique video, themed around sports and sports brands aimed at younger fans. You can read about the investment here and why it’s a great fit with Sky but perhaps the best way to understand what they do is to have a look at some of their content here.    

Our relationship with Whistle Sports comes quickly on the heels of other partnerships we have formed with tech and media startups.  For example, in the last couple of weeks we announced tie ups with Pluto.TV, an online video aggregator, and Sharethrough, an advertising technology firm.  We have previously partnered with other pioneering technology companies, including the IP streaming service provider Roku, the immersive 360 video specialists Jaunt and the video delivery firm 1 Mainstream.  You can read more about our investments here.

The strategy behind these partnerships is simple.  Sky has always been a leader in innovation; whether that’s to develop new and better products; to create, distribute and promote our content in new ways; or simply to make our business run more efficiently. 

We know future success means maintaining our innovative edge. Some of this, of course, we can achieve in-house. At Sky we have hundreds of highly-skilled developers and engineers, building innovative products - whether that’s set-top boxes and routers, OTT platforms like NOW TV and Sky Go, or other digital products. 

However the market is rapidly changing and there are more and more platforms and technologies emerging, many of which will shape the digital entertainment experiences of the future.  It’s therefore vital that we move quickly to embrace, understand and capitalise on the new technologies, no matter where they originate - and even if they are outside of Sky’s traditional areas of expertise.  

This means not only having a strong in-house R&D capability, but also partnering and collaborating with other innovators, both home and abroad. And for Sky specifically, this means identifying ambitious and pioneering startups that can help grow our business and extend our leadership in innovation. 

When we find interesting companies, as well as looking to develop a sustainable commercial partnership, we may also make an investment, to help them grow.

We find that startups are attracted to working with Sky not just because we might invest in their companies.   If you have enjoyed the first season of Silicon Valley on Sky Atlantic then you’ll know that there is no shortage of capital in San Francisco - but finding the right people to partner with is hard.  So companies like Sky need to demonstrate the value they can offer, above and beyond their willingness to invest.

Our approach – which is based on a commercial partnership - means we can create a mutually beneficial relationship and sustainable value for the companies we work with.  We do this by helping our partners share in Sky’s success while providing them with the freedom to export the successful new ideas and concepts we collaborate on into new markets.  We can integrate their technologies or ideas into our business, help test concepts, refine business models, and, of course, provide a bridge into the European market.  This bridge will only get bigger when our transaction with Sky Deutschland and Sky Italia is completed. 

For us, we get access to good people, fresh ideas and new technologies that we can quickly harness in our business, often giving us a head start over our competitors.  Just look at the example of how we worked with Roku to power the launch of the highly successful NOW TV box, which you can read about here. Or how 1 Mainstream have supported the rapid distribution of Sky News on to connected TV platforms in North America, as described here.

Our decision to open an office in San Francisco earlier this year has helped us to establish a presence at the heart of global innovation and we are meeting with lots of pioneering new companies and people.  You’ll hopefully be seeing more new partnerships in the coming years, as we look to work with the innovators who are helping shape the digital landscape of the future.