Rugby: Sky TV moves to wrap up All Blacks end of year tour coverage

Sky chief executive John Fellet.

Sharks may be circling and the Rugby World Cup has been lost, but Sky has moved quickly to ensure no more cracks appear in its broadcast empire by locking in the rights for the All Blacks end of year tour.

The beleaguered broadcaster has endured a tough few months where it has been forced to slash prices in the face of mounting speculation a number of major players are preparing to bid for the long term rights to show All Blacks tests when the existing deal owned by Sky finishes at the end of 2020.

The first signs that the market pressure is real came this week when a joint bid by Spark and TVNZ won the rights to broadcast next year's Rugby World Cup.

That victory for Spark/TVNZ led to some murmuring that the former state telecoms company may also try to buy the rights to show the All Blacks end of year tour as those games are not covered in the five-year agreement Sky signed with NZ Rugby in 2016.

Sky and NZR have historically negotiated year to year around the November tests and in some cases have left discussions until just weeks before.

But with the 2018 schedule having taken on epic proportions with games to be played in Japan as well as London, Dublin and Rome, Sky have already confirmed they have the rights.

"We have a great line-up of All Blacks end of year rugby, and given the form of some of the northern hemisphere teams it should be a great spectacle for Kiwi fans," said Sky chief executive John Fellet.

"We have Eddie Jones' England hosting the All Blacks on November 10 at Twickenham. We have the Six Nations champions Ireland versus All Blacks the following weekend. And to wrap up the year, All Blacks versus Italy on November 24. We also have the special Japan-based Bledisloe match on October 27."

By tying up the last five matches of the year, Sky have ensured Spark and TVNZ won't be able to gain any production experience ahead of the World Cup next year. Neither have a recent track record of producing rugby coverage and the latter has come in for heavy criticism for its packaging and presentation of the Commonwealth Games on Australia's Gold Coast.

Viewers were left outraged at times at some of the editorial choices made by the directors and the heavy commercial intrusion which constantly interrupted events at key times.