Receivers have called a last-minute halt to the handing of MediaWorks to new owners. Receiver KordaMentha has failed to renegotiate programming deals with distributors, especially the Fox television studio.
KordaMentha said it would hand over MediaWorks on Sunday to bankers who wrote off huge amounts of debt and have taken equity.
But Fox - which owns TV3's top shows and also the less popular shows MediaWorks wants to discard under renegotiation - has resisted and KordaMentha is now forecasting the handover will be "weeks away".
It appears the terms of the receivership require programming deals to be pared back. Receivers have played down the delay.
MediaWorks owns TV3 and Four as well as half the country's commercial radio stations including RadioLive, the Rock and the Edge.