New Zealand's only free sports channel has folded after 18 months on air and stopped broadcasting at midday.
Sommet Sports says it had the vision of 'Free Sports for Kiwis' but said funding it thought would be available never materialised.
A press statement from the company said it was subsequently forced to deliver a nationwide "broadcast channel on one third of the finance".
"I am totally gutted at not being able to sustain something that we have long held a fervent desire to deliver to New Zealanders. Sommet was born from a dream to deliver free sports to all kiwis. Sadly this dream is not to be." Sommet Sports director Andrew Reeves said in a statement.
"Being the 'new kids on the block", we also struggled to gain a strong foothold with most advertising agencies. This coupled with an acute funding shortage has left us with the sad reality of having to make the difficult call," he said.
