Australian Broadband Service BigPond Rakes in AUS$30 Million in Yearly Revs; Sports Rights Renewal

Australia’s biggest telco Telstra’s Internet division BigPond is generating annual revenues of about AUS$30 million from its film, music and gaming download services, and expects the figure to increase to more than AUS$250 million within five years, the company said today. It will sign a deal with a second Hollywood studio within weeks to double its catalog of film titles for rental downloads.
BigPond’s move came as rival online film and TV operator ReelTime told analysts this week it could generate revenues of up to AUS$100 million in the next 12 months from its recent joint venture with Yahoo!7, which has online deals with all the big studios and TV producers.
These are some big numbers being thrown around by the two: BigPond only has about 1.4 million broadband users for its ISP service, while, Reeltime is making these sketchy calculations: at least 10 per cent of Yahoo!7’s 5.6 million monthly users should download three films or TV programs a month for an average of AUS$5 each. Yahoo!7’s service is slated to launch in October.
TheAustralian: Also, on the content rights front, Telstra is discussing new internet rights to its four main online sports, which could cost it more than AUS$100 million. The sports are Australian Football League, National Rugby League, V8 Supercars and thoroughbred horseracing.

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