Streaming services Neon and Lightbox will merge next month. So what does this mean for your favourite shows? Tara Ward finds out.

What’s happening to Neon and Lightbox?

In December 2019, Sky announced the purchase of Lightbox, the entertainment subscription service formerly owned by Spark. Sky’s plan was to merge Lightbox with its own streaming on-demand service Neon by mid-2020, creating a new “supercharged” streaming service they claim will be “the biggest 100% New Zealand owned paid-entertainment platform”.

When will this blessed union take place?

July 7, 2020.

So, no more Lightbox then?

That’s right. When the new-look Neon launches next month, Neon and Lightbox’s catalogues of TV shows, kids programming and movies will be combined into a single app. There’ll be more to watch in one place, basically. Sky says the refreshed Neon app will look similar to the existing Lightbox app, but Lightbox’s yellow branding will be replaced by Neon green.

The new Neon will also include some of the better features of Lightbox’s platform, meaning users can “download and go” selected shows to tablets and phones, create profiles to personalise their viewing experience, and rent blockbuster movies for a small, one-off price. Lightbox customers will be able to view selected movies as part of their monthly subscription, which they couldn’t do previously.

Sure, but can I still watch Outlander?

Don’t panic, Jamie Fraser is not going through the stones. Your favourite Lightbox shows won’t disappear, they’ll just turn up alongside Neon’s powerhouse HBO dramas, classic boxsets and recent-release movies, plus the odd episode of Naked Attraction.

Naked Attraction! Won’t someone think of the children?

Of course. Neon will feature The Kids Area, a safe space of child-friendly content that includes shows like Dora the Explorer and Paw Patrol. Existing Neon customers will need to reset their parental settings on launch day.

So if the new Neon is bigger and better, will the price be bigger and better, too?

Neon’s monthly sub stays at $13.95 (an increase of $0.96 for Lightbox Standard customers), while Spark customers can add Neon to their account and pay a discounted rate of $9.95 per month.

But I’m a Spark customer who gets Lightbox for free, and I love free things.

Then colour you surprised, because Neon will be free for Spark customers until July 28. Customers who watch more than 3 hours of Neon between July 7-26 will automatically have Neon added to their Spark account. If you don’t want Neon on your account at all, you need to opt out with Spark before July 26 to avoid being charged.

What else do I need to do?

Not much, really. On July 7 the Lightbox app will be replaced by an updated Neon app, and existing Neon customers may need to download or refresh the Neon app on their smartphone, smart TV or tablet. Lightbox customers can use their existing log-in to access Neon.

Neon will email Lightbox and Neon customers closer to launch day to confirm the general changes to their account. Terms and conditions will also change.

What if I’m both a Neon and a Lightbox subscriber?

If your subscriptions are registered under the same email address, Neon will merge your details into a single subscription on July 7. If you’re subscribed to both services under different email addresses, Neon recommends synchronising your details now to avoid ending up with two accounts.

Do I need to be a Sky subscriber to get Neon?

Nope.

Anything else I need to know?

If you’re a Neon subscriber, your watchlist and bookmarks will take a couple of weeks to be merged over to the new platform, and device lists will be cleared.

Lightbox customer settings will be carried over to new Neon, including profiles.

What if I have more questions?

Visit Neon’s detailed FAQ page, which explains what the merge means for Neon subscribers, Lightbox subscribers, subscribers of both services, and Spark customers.

Over lockdown, the daily Covid-19 update became appointment viewing. As the country returns to normality, Fiona Rae looks back on how the 1pm briefing became a nationwide ritual.

It was a low-budget show that screened every day at lunchtime. There were only two starring roles and about the same number of camera angles. The scripts were strictly expositional.

The location, a windowless theatre, featured two socially distanced podiums. We could hear questions coming out of the dark, but could not see who was asking them.

But as any director of a Marvel franchise movie knows, it’s not the size of the budget, it’s the strength of the ideas and the Covid-19 press briefings from the Beehive were that rare thing: appointment viewing. Which isn’t even a thing any more, not since Netflix, anyway. 

Under lockdown, with not much to do, the daily stand-ups became a nationwide ritual. The show that everyone watched and dissected and discussed. We tuned into them like an episode of Game of Thrones. In reality, they weren’t that interesting, but the possibility of wildfire kept us glued, especially with the worldwide death toll reaching Battle of Winterfell levels.

We held our breath and collectively exhaled only after mild-mannered director general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield revealed the numbers. There was March 29, the black day of our first Covid death and the scary first week of April in which 89 new cases were recorded on two days. 

Never before has maths meant so much to so many: the days, the numbers, the dollars, the countdown, until finally, our first 0 day on May 4. What a thriller.

We’ve come a long way since Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced, with the slightest of dramatic pauses, that “New Zealand is at alert level … two”, but within two days would be at “alert level … four”. Like the day Princess Diana died, I remember where I was. At home, because everyone had been sent there.

We already knew that Ardern was good in a crisis, but her communications degree has again been revealed as her most valuable asset. While international versions of the same show descended into farce, Ardern’s Covid-19 scripts were a mix of hard information, catchphrases and personal messages. 

Act like you have Covid-19; team of five million; stay in your bubble; and, of course, be kind. At Easter: “You’ll be pleased to know that we do consider the tooth fairy and the Easter bunny to be essential workers.” On Anzac weekend: “Stay local, reflect on the amazing sacrifices of our forebears.” Finally, on June 8, the 75th day of lockdown: “We want to not just move to level one, we want to stay there”.

Brands have always sought to become part of the culture, but some of these messages have seeped the other way into advertising campaigns – AMI informed us that “a little kindness goes a long way”; Contact Energy saluted hairdressers of New Zealand; Anika Moa urged us to #shopnormal and #bekind at New World.

During the Covid show, Grant “Iron Bank” Robertson made it rain a few times, but it was the civil servant hitherto unknown to 99% of New Zealanders who was Tyrion to Jacinda’s Daenerys (you know, back when she was the people’s champion). Bloomfield was the other person we needed in a national emergency: so reasonable and nerdy, the press pack found he was impossible to bully. 

There was that time he couldn’t form a response when asked about “suggestions by some leaders overseas that people should be injecting themselves with bleach”. He’d just been discussing a paper in the New England Journal of Medicine, for God’s sake. He was similarly lost for words when confronted with the 5G conspiracy theory.

But the show ended on Monday, replaced by press releases, and life seems a little bit empty without it. Normal service has been resumed and the folks in the retirement homes can go back to Emmerdale and the Coronation Street repeats. 

“I hope this is the last 1pm stand-up,” said Bloomfield on June 9, on the money, as always. It may have been unmissable, but we definitely don’t want a second season.