Sky on offensive after TVNZ criticism

Sky TV chief executive John Fellet has hit back at TVNZ after it called for operational separation of Sky.

Mr Fellet said a TVNZ submission to the Culture and Heritage Ministry calling for Telecom-like reforms to be imposed on pay-TV was "so incredibly filled with misrepresentation" that Sky intended to file a cross-submission to "jog their memory".

The ministry has not invited cross-submissions, but Mr Fellet said it would have to accept submissions "that corrected outright fabrications".

All the major sporting codes would go bankrupt if the Government prevented Sky from buying exclusive rights to sporting events, as recommended by TVNZ, he said.

"Top players would go overseas and viewers would be watching Christ's College versus Auckland Boys' Grammar and even then I'd expect TVNZ would be showing it three hours delayed."

TVNZ claimed in its submission that Sky's deeper pockets meant free-to-air broadcasters were finding it increasingly difficult to compete for programming.

But Mr Fellet said Sky had been outbid by TVNZ for television series made by Warner Bros and Disney and had dropped out of the bidding for those made by 20th Century Fox.

"We haven't won anything, we keep getting outbid, and then they are complaining they are paying too much for it - I don't know what to do."

Mr Fellet also lashed out at a call by TV3 owner TVWorks for a law change that would force Sky TV to sell Prime.

The reason the Commerce Commission approved Sky's $30 million takeover of Prime in 2005 was that Prime would otherwise have gone bust, he said.

"They purposely want Prime separated, because separation means death for Prime."

It was hypocritical to be philosophically opposed to pay-TV and then call - as TVNZ had done - for Sky to pay a contribution to public broadcasting.

"They seem to be all in a rage about people having to pay money for television - heaven forbid - but propose a hidden tax where Sky would have to pay for people watching TVOne, TV2 and TV3."

The Screen Production and Development Association joined TVNZ in calling for the Government to consider the operational separation of Sky TV.

Chief executive Penelope Borland stopped short of directly advocating a break-up of the pay-television company but said Sky's dominance had been a huge issue for the television production industry and "options need to be looked at".

- © Fairfax NZ News