Sky attempt to serve Team NZ $70,000 bill for commentary

Emirates Team New Zealand executives are said to be astonished that Sky Television attempted to sting the team for nearly $70,000 towards providing NZ commentary. Photo / Photosport.nz

Sky Television attempted to sting Team New Zealand for nearly $70,000 to meet the costs of providing New Zealand commentary for the America's Cup racing.

Emirates Team New Zealand executives are said to be astonished by the attitude of Sky, who locked up the broadcast rights at a cut-rate price, but have shown little interest in providing New Zealand audiences with localised coverage.

The services of veteran America's Cup commentators Martin Tasker and Peter Lester, who are already in Bermuda providing content on behalf of Team NZ's sponsors, were offered to Sky at no cost.

Sky boss John Fellet requested Team NZ stump up $68,000 to cover the additional expenses.

The bill included picking up the tab for sending a freelance sound technician to Bermuda, the hireage of a broadcast booth from the America's Cup Events Authority (ACEA), and satellite links.

Team NZ, who are running a lean operation in Bermuda, have refused to bow to Sky's demands.

Given the significant interest the America's Cup has generated in New Zealand, the move from Sky bosses to extract money out of Team NZ has gone down poorly in the camp.

The substantial production costs for the race coverage are all met by America's Cup TV - the Emmy Award winning broadcast arm of the ACEA.

The coverage, which includes on-water and aerial footage as well as fixed cameras on each of the boats, and stunning virtual graphics is packaged up and provided to 33 broadcast partners around the world, including Sky.

That package includes the host commentary feed, which tends to take a US-centric view given they are essentially employees of the ACEA, with whom Team NZ have been at loggerheads for much of this Cup cycle.

However Sky spokeswoman Kirsty Way said they "never charged [Team New Zealand] anything".

"A few weeks ago Team NZ advised us that they were sending a couple of commentators to Bermuda to provide commentary for a Facebook page for NZ fans. That page did not go ahead, and they proposed to SKY that they could provide us with a secondary commentary for our customers," she said.

She said secondary commentary had been done by Sky in the past, through Te Reo Maori commentary for rugby league games and Afrikaans commentary for Springboks rugby matches, and Sky was happy to do this.

"We gave them the option of providing the secondary audio to us, or they could simply have their commentators at Sky in Auckland where they could use our premises to call the races off the tube, in the same way that Peter Montgomery is doing for Radio Sport. They would incur costs if they wanted to record audio in Bermuda, there is no cost to do it at Sky.

"The broadcast feed for the America's Cup is produced by a New Zealander, Denis Harvey, who has produced America's Cup broadcasts for 30 years and has his pick of the best commentators in the world. We have faith in his ability to deliver an excellent service for our customers."

Way said Sky were "happy with our commentary we purchased with the World Feed but would also be happy to broadcast an alternate option if they wish us to".