In Wellington, as the Black Caps raced towards victory in the second test, onlookers seemed excited at the presence of Hamish Trott and Chris Neves' buzzing drone.
It also raised a few eyebrows when Sky briefly showed a private residence near the Basin Reserve, as noted by commentators.
The Privacy Commissioner has not received any complaints so far about drones or similar unmanned aircraft.
"Of course, given the increasing use of them, it is a real possibility that this will change in the near future," said Katrine Evans, Assistant Commissioner.
Drone operators have mostly used a commonsense approach when navigating both airspace and grey areas of the law. But public submissions are being taken on Civil Aviation Authority plans for an overhaul of drone laws.
"Many of the rules being developed for drones relate to safety rather than to privacy," Ms Evans said.
"Where the Privacy Act becomes relevant is where UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] are used to record images - still photographs and video - about identifiable people."
The octocopter's camera operator, Hamish Trott, worked with pilot Chris Neves to broadcast shots from the Basin Reserve.
"It was pretty hard to get this broadcast system up and running and we had to prove it to Sky."
They were in constant contact with air traffic control and with Sky staff, who decided what footage to use from the drone, which competed with - or complemented - the broadcaster's many traditional cameras.
As pilot, Mr Neves had to keep the drone within his sight at all times. He and Mr Trott will provide similar coverage for the World Cup host broadcaster, Star Sport.
They are also in demand for high-rating reality TV shows and ads for foreign clients. "We shoot The Block, we're currently doing The Bachelor and we do a lot of overseas commercials as well and we put various film cameras on them," Mr Trott said.
He said he had also been approached to shoot for events involving Lorde and other artists.
Sky TV is also keen to exploit the technology. "It's fairly new for us," said spokeswoman Kirsty Way, "and as far as privacy goes, we're only going to use it to look at the game, not crowds or surrounding homes or anything like that.
It seems many are keen to exploit the technology, with reports drones were a popular gift this Christmas, and a whole section dedicated to them at this week's consumer electronics show in Las Vegas.
Closer to the action TV camera innovations
Racecam
In 1979, Australian engineers for TV channel ATN-7 covering the Bathurst 1000 car race pioneered the mounted in-car camera. Driver Peter Williamson talked viewers around the racetrack as images came from his car. The cameras use microwave radio transmitters to relay the images via helicopters to the TV audience.
Cricket stump-cam
In the early 1980s, Australia introduced the stump-cams that are now standard. A camera was sheathed in the middle stump and helped the new limited-overs format become a TV hit. During the 1990/91 Ashes series, English pace bowler Devon Malcolm shattered one of the stump cameras in spectacular fashion. The stump-cam led to several more TV-led innovations, including the speedgun, Snick-ometer, Hawkeye and Hot Spot.
Segway-cam
The two-wheel Segway with steadicam mounted has been described as a dolly without tracks. Perfect for sports coverage, it enables the camera operator to move at speed without the hassle of cords and wires. At the London 2012 Olympics Segway-cam captured Usain Bolt celebrating after winning the 100m final. During the 2011 Boxing Day cricket test match, a Channel 9 cameraman crashed his Segway in front of 50,000 spectators.
Spidercam
High-definition cameras zoom soundlessly above stadium playing fields on wires. They have become the must-have device for any major sports event. Used at the 2011 Rugby World Cup, Spidercam gave fans a bird's eye view. But during the Australia v India cricket test at the SCG this week, Australian captain Steve Smith dropped a catch and claimed he was distracted by the camera above.
Safety rules
• Drone can't be flown higher than 120m above ground level
• Can't be flown closer than 4km to any aerodrome
• Must give way to all aircraft
• Can be flown only in daylight
• Operator needs to be able to see the aircraft with their own eyes
• Must not be flown in areas where they could endanger people
Source: Civil Aviation Authority.
