Sommet Sports was a sports-oriented television channel operated in New Zealand that was broadcast on channel 14 on Freeview NZ. It offered a varied range of sporting events, some of which had never been screened in New Zealand. This included live weekly coverage of the German Bundesliga, delayed Liverpool FC matches from the English Premier League and coverage of the former SKY-broadcast Moto GP.
Sommet Sports was officially launched on 18 July 2013 after delays, the original launch date for the channel was 18 April 2013. The channel is available to Freeview HD homes via an UHF aerial. Sommet Sports was later made available on the Freeview Satellite service as the old Prime location was vacated and added to the Sky channel line-up.
At 11 am on 12 December 2014, Sommet Sports released a statement saying they would cease transmission at midday the same day. The statement cites lack of promised funds as the reason why the channel closed down.
In January 2015 a crowdfunding proposal under the slogan "Sommet Strikes Back" was devised to get the station back up and running. It sought NZ$300,000 at the minimum. By mid-March only about NZ$50,000 was pledged and the project was declared unsuccessful.[1]
Free-to-air television in New Zealand
