Sky TV could launch a counter-suit against TV3 if a High Court ruling goes against the pay to view channel.
Its chief executive John Fellet said today that if Sky is stopped from running Rugby World Cup footage then a counter-suit could be launched against TV3's Hyundai Sports
Tonight.
Mr Fellet said Sky holds the rights to other sporting events which are sometimes shown on other networks' shows.
He said they have never taken TV3 to court before because they saw the use of their footage as advertising for the network.
"Eleven months out of twelve, I have the best rights," Mr Fellet said.
Yesterday former TVNZ head of news Bill Ralston told nzherald.co.nz that in the past the boundaries of exclusive coverage were relaxed because sooner or later the other networks would have to use exclusive footage owned by Sky.
"Bill has hit it dead on," Mr Fellet said.
Ross Friesen, chief operating officer of TV Works - a subsidiary of MediaWorks and owner of TV3 - denied the station had broken any agreements in its Hyundai Sports Tonight show.
"We're sticking within the laws," Mr Friesen said.
He said the show does use Sky footage, but for sports reporting - not analysis.
MediaWorks yesterday won an injunction in the High Court to stop Sky using footage of the Rugby World Cup in three of it's programmes, including Sport 365 Highlights, The Cup and Rugby Highlights.
The networks have an agreement that the footage can be used on news programmes but TV3 claimed Sky has been using the footage in "magazine style" shows.
"TV3 is trying to turn the clock back. They think the news is just a six o'clock bulletin. TV1 and TV3 have excellent six o'clock news but you look at the last few years, the numbers have been falling, we're consuming news in different ways," Mr Fellet said.
The two networks head back to court tomorrow and TV3's injunction against Sky ends tomorrow night.
Mr Friesen said TV3 will be looking at extending the injunction to shows like Rugby Re:union, Deaker on Sport and The Crowd Goes Wild.
