Full Coverage Of The 2006 Fifa World Cup

3 May 2006

Full Coverage Of The 2006 Fifa World Cup(Tm) Live On Sky And Tvnz

SKY Television and TVNZ, today announced the acquisition of the LIVE broadcast rights for the world's biggest sporting event, the 2006 FIFA World Cup, for New Zealand.

Under the agreement with Infront Sports & Media, FIFA's exclusive television partner for the event, SKY will provide full LIVE coverage of the 2006 FIFA World Cup(tm). The coverage includes every match LIVE, daily pre-shows during match days, a daily review show as well as special lead-up programming.

"With a focus on featuring every World Cup match live, SKY is very excited to continue its commitment to New Zealand football fans. We are also pleased to be working with TVNZ once again, which will ensure comprehensive coverage for New Zealand viewers", says SKY's Director of Programming - Sport, Kevin Cameron.

TVNZ will screen eleven LIVE matches and daily highlights of all games in two highlight programmes in the afternoon and evenings.

The eleven games that TVNZ will screen are:

- The opening match
- 4 matches from Round of 16
- 2 quarter finals
- Both the semi finals
- 3rd and 4th place finals
- World Cup final

"We are delighted to be in partnership with SKY in order to provide expansive coverage, across both networks, of this prestigious global event," says TVNZ's General Manager of Sport, Murray Needham.

Thirty-two teams from across the globe make up the field for the 2006 FIFA World Cup(tm) finals. Six continents are represented and six past winners will take part, including hosts Germany, who head the 14-strong European contingent, and holders Brazil who lead the South American challenge. The event is expected to draw a worldwide audience of over 375 million people.

The opening match of World Cup 2006 will be Germany vs Costa Rica in Munich at 4am, Friday 9 June 2006.

In addition to the LIVE coverage, every Wednesday evening SKY Sport will screen BBC Worldwide's sensational series, More Than a Game. The series explores the superpowers of world football in 76 years of World Cup football, and includes exclusive access to FIFA's film archive and interviews with famous players. The first episode More Than a Game - Brazil will screen Wednesday 3 May at 10pm on SKY Sport 1.

Commencing Sunday 21 May, National Geographic Channel (SKY Digital Channel 51) will screen Planet Football which takes an exclusive look at the 2003 takeover of FC Barcelona, one of the biggest football clubs in the world - a riveting tale about football, power, ambition and identity; marvel at the amazing History of Football plus take a tour of the German stadiums and cities.

>From Sunday 7 May, The History Channel (SKY Digital Channel 53) presents The History Of Football: The Beautiful Game, a definitive 13 episode series that looks at the early history of the game, how it has become a global cultural obsession and reflects on the careers of players who have left their lasting mark on the game. Including interviews with Pele and Maradona.

TVNZ will also be providing lead-in programming with the official FIFA preview series which screens on TV One on Monday and Wednesday nights following 'TONIGHT'.

ENDS

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