Prime wins free-to-air rugby rights

Prime TV has won free-to-air rugby rights for 2006, Prime Australia chief executive Warwick Syphers said today.

Mr Syphers said the addition of rugby to Prime's sport programming, which already included rugby league and cricket, would create a "compelling viewing option".

TV3 and Prime were bidding for the rights after a three-year contract between TV3 and Sky expired.

On November 18, Sky Network Television entered into a conditional agreement to buy Prime Television's New Zealand business for $30 million. The deal is subject to clearance from the Commerce Commission.

"The negotiations with Sky took several months as it was important to Prime that this deal would work for us whether or not Sky purchased the business," Mr Syphers said.

"Our bid was an aggressive one. However, if we can just lift viewership by just one per cent it will be worth the investment."

Mr Syphers said criticism of Prime's coverage was unwarranted.

"In fact in April 2005, as part of its application for New Zealand on Air funding, Broadcast Communications Ltd estimated Prime's coverage at more than 91 per cent," he said.

Prime confirmed it was currently reviewing a proposal by BCL, the government-owned wireless network provider, to extend its existing coverage areas.

Sky's chief executive, John Fellet, said the only other bid received was "almost half the value received by Sky in the 2005 season".

He said with the new-look Super 14, the NPC and the expanded Tri-Nations series, he believed rugby was "more valuable than ever".

Mr Fellet said a free-to-air replay in prime time would achieve a much greater viewership than a replay after midnight on a network with a larger reach.

- NZPA