As at 12.00pm today free-to-air sports channel Sommet Sports will cease transmission.
Launched 18th July 2013, Sommet Sports has delivered both live and pre-recorded sports on Freeview Channel 14, and Sky Channel 69. Funding initially understood to be available for the channel upon launch had largely never materialised and Sommet has been forced to attempt to deliver a full nationwide broadcast channel on one third of the finance.
“I am totally gutted at not being able to sustain something that we have long held a fervent desire to deliver to New Zealanders. Sommet was born from a dream to deliver free sports to all kiwis. Sadly this dream is not to be.” says Andrew Reeves, Director of Sommet Sports Ltd. “We have been blown away by the amazing support and consistently growing viewership that we gained in such a short time. We can only thank our loyal fans who have stayed with us until the end.”
“Being the ‘new kids on the block“, we also struggled to gain a strong foothold with most advertising agencies. This coupled with an acute funding shortage has left us with the sad reality of having to make the difficult call.”
“I would like to thank OMD, Spark, McDonalds, KFC and Fiat Chrysler group for their support and belief in our vision of delivering ‘Free Sports for Kiwis’ “.

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