TV3 lining up for World Cup

TV3 appears to have broken TVNZ's stranglehold and won the bidding war to broadcast the 2007 Rugby World Cup.

Industry sources were reluctant to make any public comment but were adamant TV3 had been awarded the New Zealand rights to show the sixth global tournament.

Final tenders for the 2007 rights were delivered to TWI, the production arm of sports marketer IMG, in May and word about TV3's apparent success has hit the market in recent days.

"It was a victory on the money front and also in tactics," one observer suggested.

The 2007 tournament is being hosted by France - plus some games in Britain - with the latter stages due to start about breakfast time in New Zealand.

TV3 could use their normal channel for free-to-air broadcasts, their current channels on the Sky network or buy another channel available on Sky for coverage of the event.

State-funded broadcaster TVNZ had won the RWC broadcast rights for every tournament since the initial 1987 event was staged in New Zealand and Australia. They had apparently struggled to recoup the revenue they spent on gaining the rights to the last World Cup in Australia and this year chose to submit a joint bid with Sky.

That reconstituted an arrangement for the 1991 and 1995 tournaments when TVNZ chose to subcontract a pay subscriber deal with Sky. After some acrimony that deal was discontinued for the last two World Cups.

But TVNZ and Sky discarded those troubles and joined forces to tender against TV3 for the next tournament. They reasoned that their combined financial clout and expertise in rugby coverage would prove a winner with the International Rugby Board.

The television industry was riveted waiting for the result.

"They [World Cup officials] were adamant they did not want broadcasters teaming up, they did not want any deals done," a source told the Herald at the time.

According to a report by consultants URS, TVNZ paid US$10 million ($14 million) for the package to broadcast the 1999 and 2003 World Cups.

TV3 will broadcast delayed coverage of the tests on the attempted Grand Slam tour next month, beaming in the pictures on Sunday afternoons.

Chief executive Brent Impey had been vocal this week about the reduced interest in TV3's delayed rugby coverage of the Super 12 and NPC. Those comments may be part of a strategy to try to reduce the price for the next Super 14, NPC and Tri-Nations package.

Sky has been the pay subscriber since the Sanzar series started, while TV3 has been their free-to-air partner since 2000.