Chief executives from four national sport organisations have formed a working group over a proposed new television channel.

And while the project remains on the table, the need for clearer short and long-term goals has been identified.

Following Sunday Star-Times reports over the last two weeks revealing the Oceania Football Confederation's plan to launch a free-to-air TV sports channel, at least 15 national sport bodies have been engaged with the proposal.

Bosses of New Zealand Football, Triathlon New Zealand, Bike New Zealand and Touch New Zealand have this afternoon revealed their election to a "Representative Working Group" which will continue to explore the concept.

Yesterday, respective CEO's Grant McKavanagh, Craig Waugh, Kieran Turner and Joe Sprangers met with the OFC, whose secretary general Tai Nicholas recently pleaded guilty to contempt of court charges laid by the Fijian Government.

Nicholas is also the man leading the OFC TV project.

"A meeting was held on July 19 between Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) and a national sporting organisation (NSO) representative working party to further understand the opportunities that surround the possibility of a free-to-air sports channel," a joint statement, distributed by NZ Football media liaison Jamie Scott, read.

"This working meeting followed an earlier meeting on July 5 between approximately 15 NSO's to begin discussions on the issue and subsequently elect the working group.

"Currently, NSOs have relationships with various production houses and television networks, investing considerable money individually. This initiative is to look at a collective of sports and its ability to produce and offer content to willing broadcasters. 

"As a consequence of yesterday's first working meeting, it was decided that each party (OFC and the NSO working party) needs to further evaluate its own short and long term requirements separately.

"The commercial landscape that surrounds the three key areas of the sports content supply chain - that being content owners, production units, and broadcasters - will be further analysed to understand the best way forward for all parties.

"It is proposed that the NSO working group will continue to meet with regards to the opportunities for better access to broadcast visibility for all national sports."

Fairfax has previously revealed three of New Zealand's "big four" sports bodies -  New Zealand Rugby League, New Zealand Cricket and Netball New Zealand - are also among the interested parties.

It is understood the Oceania plan is for 24-hour broadcasting, including live events, built around football but also encompassing other sports - many of which struggle to meet the financial demands of subscription satellite provider Sky TV.

If successful, the plan could beam significantly more domestic sport into New Zealand homes free-of-charge and, potentially, the competition could drive Sky's prices down.

The lure for taxpayer-funded national sport organisations is significantly lower prices for televised content than those set by subscription satellite provider Sky TV.

- © Fairfax NZ News