Radio Sport pulls out of SL Tests over high costs

New Zealand's Radio Sport will not be broadcasting live commentary from the ground for New Zealand's two Tests in Sri Lanka after the radio station failed to come to an agreement over the cost of broadcasting rights with Ten Sports*, the broadcaster. Terming the deal as "expensive," Dallas Gurney, the radio's general manager of talk, said the price asked wasn't cost-effective for the network.

NZC chief executive David White said the money being asked was "way above anything they'd [Radio Sport] done before."

"My understanding is what they were being requested to pay was significantly more than they've ever had to pay before. It was very challenging for them commercially," White was quoted as saying in Fairfax NZ News. "Our tour just recently to India was reasonable and not an issue, and it was covered. I don't know why in this instance it's so expensive and, hopefully, it's just a one-off."

The episode, which has parallels to the recent standoff between the BCCI and the BBC over the cost of radio broadcast rights, will not affect the stations' plans to broadcast live from New Zealand's tour of South Africa that starts in December and the tour of England next year.

"We've still got South Africa to come [in December-January] and Bryan Waddle [the radio's commentator] will be going to South Africa. We've pretty much got the rights sorted for that. And England after that, we'll have ball-by-ball coverage of that tour as well."