KEY POINTS:
Wresting live coverage of key rugby matches away from pay television would have dire consequences for the sport, the New Zealand Rugby Union has warned.
The union has joined Sky TV in fighting moves to "unbundle" sports coverage - preventing television companies negotiating exclusive contracts with the major
sporting codes. Unbundling would mean competitions such as provincial championships, Super 14 and test matches could not be sold as a package and would be subjected to separate bidding.
The pair also oppose another option flagged in a Government discussion paper - anti-siphoning legislation: basically a list of events which must be shown on free-to-air television. Australia has such legislation covering "events of national importance" such as the Melbourne Cup and rugby, cricket and league internationals.
The options are included in a review of broadcasting regulations to set the ground rules for digital television, expected to bring an explosion of new channels.
Television New Zealand and TV3 claim unbundling and anti-siphoning rules are needed to counter Sky's "monopolistic" tactics with live sport and give free-to-air digital platform Freeview a chance to grow. TVNZ and TV3 are part-owners of Freeview, along with Maori TV and Radio NZ.
Such intervention, warns Sky, could seriously deplete finances for the likes of the NZRU and NZ Cricket. "The reduced level of revenues under anti-siphoning would also affect the quality of sports as they struggle to retain top talent from moving to more lucrative contracts overseas," its submission says. "Funding from pay television has allowed the creation of new sports competitions, such as the Tri Nations and Super 14 series and the Transtasman Netball Championships."
Sky also claims its coverage of minor sports would disappear ifit lost major sports programmes.
The NZRU, whose losses have topped $5 million for the past two financial years, has weighed in with its own submission. It says New Zealand is too small to split rugby rights into contestable packages.
"In order to achieve the necessary critical mass to be a high-value proposition for a broadcaster, it needs to bundle not only its own offerings but also the matches under the control of Sanzar [the Super 14 and Tri-Nations].
"Even with that degree of bundling, it is difficult to generate sufficient funds in the current market. Any regulation impacting on the NZRU's ability to best sell its property rights would potentially be dire."
But TVNZ and Freeview argue that experience with football in Europe shows sports coverage can be unbundled without harming the sport. "A bit of clever packaging would ensure that the sports body continues to receive the revenue that helps sustain their sports, while meaning all Kiwis can see the sporting heroes our children aspire to emulate," Freeview general manager Steve Browning wrote in the Herald thisweek.
TVNZ head of corporate affairs Peter Parussini contrasts the rugby union's stance with that of Netball NZ, which has launched its new transtasman franchise competition on Sky but ensured test matches and local provincial matches remain free to air.