A spokesperson for TVNZ said the New Zealand public-service broadcaster was in talks about acquiring rights for this year’s Wimbledon tennis championships amid increasing speculation that the 2012 edition may not be shown on television in the country.
According to the New Zealand Herald, the spokesperson said that the broadcaster’s bid for this year’s tournament was “still under negotiation.”
TVNZ-owned TV One broadcast the event last year, but was criticised by tennis fans for cutting away to other scheduled programmes in the middle of matches.
A bid for the rights from pay-television broadcaster Sky New Zealand has been rejected.
The only platform to have agreed a rights deal for live coverage of the tournament in New Zealand so far is the Watch&Bet online streaming service, which is operated by Australian gambling and entertainment group TabCorp.