Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern: Viewers 'very keen' on uninterrupted World Cup watching

"It's up to Spark, ultimately, to make sure they are delivering that," Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said in reference to the Spark World Cup streaming saga. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has weighed in on the Spark Sport streaming saga - but has struck a more diplomatic tone than her Deputy Prime Minister.

Speaking to media from New York, Ardern said it was obvious that New Zealanders would be "very keen to make sure they have uninterrupted viewing access for future games.

"But it's up to Spark, ultimately, to make sure they are delivering that."

Spark Sport's video streaming service was disrupted for some fans during the All Blacks vs South Africa match on Saturday night, with images of the game flickering, pixelating, blurring and buffering, or losing signal altogether.

The telco has apologised to fans and offered a refund to anyone who was affected by the glitches.

This morning, Spark's share price was down 8 cents (1.84 per cent) to $4.27 soon after the market opened.

When asked about the issue, Ardern said she was aware of the problems and had read some of the discussions around what happened.

She said she still has confidence in the telco – "based on the fact they have contingency plans in place".

Spark made the game freely available on TVNZ's Duke channel when the problems were discovered.

When pressed further on the matter, Ardern said the issues were a matter for Spark.

Ardern's take on the streaming saga was a lot more diplomatic than her deputy, Winston Peters – who is Acting Prime Minister while she is overseas this week.

He said the streaming of the game was an "abject disaster".

And he vowed the Government will get to the bottom of the issue.

"I can assure you we will find out as fast as possible as to what on earth is not going on," he told Newstalk ZB's Weekend Collective yesterday.

Peters – who was forced to watch much of the game on his phone as the stream on his TV was interrupted – said Spark should have been better prepared for the event.

"They [Spark] were told to get ready and we hoped that they would be ready and they promised us that they would be and they're not.

"It's not satisfactory."

Ardern was at the game on Saturday in Japan, watching it live.

Asked if she enjoyed the match, Ardern said she found it "very tense".

The All Blacks won 23 – 13 in the World Cup opener.