Sky Sport is a group of sports-oriented television channels operated by New Zealand's satellite pay-TV company, Sky.
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Country | New Zealand |
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Programming | |
Language(s) | English, Māori (special events) |
Picture format | 1080i (HDTV) 16:9 |
Ownership | |
Owner | Sky Network Television |
History | |
Launched | 18 May 1990 |
Links | |
Website | Official Site |
Availability | |
Streaming media | |
Sky Go | skygo.co.nz |
Sky Sport Now | skysportnow.co.nz |
History
Sky Sport 1 is the original Sky Television sport channel in New Zealand. It was first introduced in 1990 as Sky Sport on the Sky UHF service. When Sky Sport began it operated between the hours of noon and around midnight, and occasionally screened live sports events outside these hours. By July 1991, Sky Sport commenced 24-hour transmission with a direct feed of ESPN at certain times during the week.[citation needed]
A sister channel, Sky Sport 2 was launched in 1997 when Sky introduced a nationwide analogue direct broadcasting via satellite (DBS) service, followed by a third channel, Sky Sport 3 in 2003 and Sky Sport 4 in 2013.[citation needed]
On 1 August 2019, Sky launched five more Sky Sport channels, numbered from 5 to 9. Additionally all the channels were re-aligned to be sport-specific, and a Sky Sport News channel was launched providing the latest news and updates from across all sports. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand, the Sky Sport News channel was rebranded as Sky Sport Select, a combination of sports news and general sporting coverage.[citation needed]
Channels
Ten main channels comprise the Sky Sport service[1]
Channel | Name | Content |
---|---|---|
050 | Sky Sport Select | A mix of international sporting news supplied by Fox Sports News and general sport coverage. |
051 | Sky Sport 1 | Rugby union coverage and a mix of other sports. |
052 | Sky Sport 2 | General sport coverage. |
053 | Sky Sport 3 | Cricket coverage and a mix of other sports. |
054 | Sky Sport 4 | Rugby league coverage and a mix of other sports. |
055 | Sky Sport 5 | Motorsport coverage and a mix of other sports. Includes content from Red Bull TV. |
056 | Sky Sport 6 | Golf coverage, 24 hours a day. |
057 | Sky Sport 7 | Association football coverage, 24 hours a day. Previously known as Sky Sport 7 beIN Sports from 2019-2023. |
058 | Sky Sport Premier League | Premier League coverage, 24 hours a day. Includes coverage of all matches and Premier League-related content (e.g. match previews, highlights, documentaries). |
059 | Sky Sport 9 | General sport coverage. |
All Sky Sport channels are broadcast in 1080i high definition.
Pop-up channels
Additional Sky Sport channels are launched in order to broadcast major events such as the Australian Tennis Open and the Olympic Games.
Outside Broadcasting
Sky owned Outside Broadcasting Limited from 2010 to 2021, providing outside broadcast facilities for Sky Sport coverage with eight broadcast trucks and fly away kits. These traveled the length of New Zealand and overseas to cover events for Sky Sport. These trucks were also contracted out to other television networks like TVNZ and Māori Television. On 12 August 2020, Sky announced it had sold Outside Broadcasting to NEP New Zealand, part of American production company NEP Group. As part of the transaction, NEP will be Sky's outsourced technical production partner in New Zealand until at least 2030.[2] The sale was cleared by the Commerce Commission on 5 February 2021.[3]
Sky Sport Now
![Thumb](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/f4/Sky-sport-now-logoNZ.png/320px-Sky-sport-now-logoNZ.png)
On 14 August 2019, Sky launched Sky Sport Now, featuring online live streams for all 10 Sky Sport channels, highlights, on demand, match statistics and points tables. Three passes are available for purchase: a week pass, a month pass and a 12-month Pass. Pay-Per-View events can be purchased separately when they become available. Sky Sport Now is available via internet browsers as well as on iOS, Android and PlayStation 4 devices.[citation needed]
On 27 October 2020, Sky announced that its Sky Sport Now streaming service would be bundled with Spark Sport for a NZ$49.99 monthly subscription from 16 November 2020 onwards.[4]
Sports
Association football
Football
From 2019 until 2023, matches aired on beIN Sports platforms were also available on Sky Sport due to a four-year partnership contract.[5]
Leagues
- A-League Men
- A-League Women
- Premier League
- Serie A
- La Liga
- Bundesliga
- New Zealand Men's Football Championship (finals coverage only)
- New Zealand Women's National League (finals coverage only)
- All Whites (Men's national team)
- Football Ferns (Women's national team)
Domestic cups
- English FA Cup
- FA Community Shield
- Chatham Cup (final only)
- Kate Sheppard Cup (final only)
International club competitions
- FIFA Club World Cup (2019-2022)
International matches
International tournaments
Beach Soccer
- FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup (2019 and 2021)
Futsal
International tournaments
Athletics
Australian rules
- Australian Football League: One live game per week, plus weekly highlights.
Basketball
- National Basketball League
- National Basketball League (Australia): One game every Thursday night; live coverage of Semifinal, and Grand Final.
Cricket
- Overseas cricket:
- International fixtures - Cricket Australia, BCCI (India), Cricket South Africa, Cricket West Indies and Pakistan Cricket Board.
- Australian domestic competitions: Sheffield Shield, One-Day Cup, Women's National Cricket League, Big Bash League and Women's Big Bash League.
- Caribbean Premier League, Super50 Cup and Pakistan Super League.
- ICC
- All major ICC events: Men's Cricket World Cup, Women's Cricket World Cup, Men's T20 World Cup, Women's T20 World Cup, World Test Championship and Under-19 Cricket World Cup.
Cycling
Golf
Motor racing
- Formula One
- IndyCar Series
- Formula E
- Australian Supercars Championship (Includes support categories)
- Dunlop Super2 Series
- Superbike World Championship
- Supersprint NZ Championship
- D1NZ
Multi-discipline events
- Commonwealth Games (2022 and 2026)
- Summer Olympics (2020, free coverage is sublicensed with TVNZ)
- Winter Olympics
Netball
- ANZ Premiership
- 2019 Netball World Cup
- International Netball
- National Netball League
- Suncorp Super Netball
Rowing
Rugby league
- National Rugby League: Live coverage of all games
- New South Wales Cup: All Warriors home games live, plus any games available from Fox Sports
- State of Origin
- Super League
- Rugby League Challenge Cup
- Four Nations
Rugby union
- All Blacks, Black Ferns and Maori All Blacks
- The Rugby Championship: Live coverage of all games
- Super Rugby: Live coverage of all games
- Rugby World Cup
- World Rugby Sevens Series
- College 1st XV coverage: Live and delayed coverage and highlights of televised matches during the week.
- National Provincial Championship: Live coverage of all games
- Heartland Championship
- Farah Palmer Cup: Live coverage of all games
- National Sevens
- Six Nations Championship
- Premiership Rugby
- United Rugby Championship
- Currie Cup