By LOUISA CLEAVE television editor
One of the most eagerly awaited rugby test matches - the All Blacks against France - will screen on TV3 after a bidding war involving TVNZ for the free-to-air rights.
The two test matches in November have been snatched up in a joint deal between Sky Network
and TV3.
The pay channel will screen the games live and TV3 will have delayed coverage.
The re-match between the two sides will be one of the hottest dates on the rugby calendar because it is seen as a chance for the All Blacks to revenge their World Cup semi-final loss last year.
TVNZ said it had bid for the rights but decided it was too expensive for just two games, and would not have been profitable.
Denis Harvey, TVNZ's head of sport, said the deal involved a "large amount of money."
"We could have been in a situation where we could have decided to pay more or we could have paid less. You reach a point when you ask if it makes any sense for two matches of rugby and we got to the point that it no longer did."
Mr Harvey said TVNZ had to weigh up the rugby rights against its commitment to covering the Olympic Games in September.
TV3 has an existing deal with Sky to screen the Super 12, NPC, Tri Nations and All Black matches at home.
Nick Brown-Haysom, head of sport at TV3, described the bidding from TVNZ as "aggressive" and, if successful, would have undermined TV3 as the new home of rugby.
"For us, if we had all the domestic rugby and then missed out on the French tests we wouldn't have been too happy."
He said the network was confident it would make money on its "decent investment" for the rights.
A similar deal also covers the Black Caps' tour of Zimbabwe in September and South Africa in December, with Sky screening it live and TV3 showing delayed highlights.
