Sky Open comes to all of Aotearoa New Zealand - Sky

Sky’s new look free-to-air channel, Sky Open, launches 23 August

Welcome to Sky Open – Sky’s new free-to-air channel that offers New Zealanders some of the best sport, local and international entertainment from the world of Sky.

Launching at 6am on Wednesday 23 August, Sky Open will replace Prime, showcasing a wide range of exciting content, including locally-produced shows from Sky Originals NZ, news, exclusive Sky Sport coverage, documentaries, and entertainment – all free-to-air.  We look forward to sharing the cool new logo and colour scheme with our customers too. 

Lauren Quaintance, Sky’s Chief Media and Data Officer, says: “Our new free-to-air channel, Sky Open, enables Sky to create a bold and distinctive channel identity, connected to our family of Sky platforms and channels. This new look encourages existing and new audiences to open themselves up to a world of sport and entertainment, both local and international. Sky Open is a key part of Sky’s strategy to deliver superb content to New Zealanders in ways that work for them.”

Sky Open replaces Prime and can be accessed on Sky channel 4 and Freeview channel 15, with Prime+1 changing to Sky Open+1 on Sky channel 514.  

Viewers who prefer to stream or watch on demand will be able to watch Sky Open live and catch up with programmes on demand via Sky Go, for free.  

The launch of Sky Open will also see a change for our longstanding news show Prime News. From Wednesday 23 August, viewers can keep up to date with all the latest stories from Eric Young on News First, at 5.30pm. 
This month also sees two locally produced Sky Originals NZ productions premiere: season two of the Matthew Ridge-hosted architecture series Designing Dreams and an exciting new travel docuseries Lost In France, providing a perfect lead-in to this year’s much-anticipated Rugby World Cup. 

Sky Open will be the home of Sky’s free-to-air coverage for the Rugby World Cup 2023™ in September and October, broadcasting 12 games from the tournament as well as regular highlight shows. The free matches include the Opening Match (All Blacks v France) live and the Final live.  The full list of live and delayed matches is noted below. We look forward to sharing this exciting tournament with Kiwis right across Aotearoa New Zealand.

Later in the year, Sky Open viewers can also look forward to renowned investigative journalist Bryan Bruce’s latest documentary The Food Crisis and the second season of Pax Assadi’s award-winning comedy Raised By Refugees. Taking to the high seas again will be the second season of HBO’s New Zealand-filmed pirate comedy Our Flag Means Death.

Notes to Editor:

• Sky Open is the new name of Sky’s free-to-air channel (replacing Prime)
• Sky Open launches on Wednesday 23 August, 6am
• Sky Open is available on Sky channel 4, Freeview channel 15 and is accessible for free for non-Sky customers via Sky Go on web or via the app 
• Prime News will change its name to News First. This change will also take effect on Wednesday 23 August
• Designing Dreams will air Mondays from 14 August at 8.30pm. Made with the support of NZ On Air
• Lost In France will air Wednesdays from 30 August at 8.30pm. Made with the support of Te Māngai Pāho
• The Rugby World Cup 2023™ begins on Saturday 9 September. Sky Open will air 12 games free-to-air (a combination of live and delayed coverage), with Sky Sport and Sky Sport Now airing all games live.  The free schedule is:
  • Six live matches:
    • All Blacks v France: From 6:45am, Friday 9 September
    • Quarterfinal 2 (Winner Pool B v Runner-Up Pool A): From 7:30am, Sunday 15 October
    • Quarterfinal 4 (Winner Pool A v Runner-Up Pool B): From 7:30am, Monday 16 October
    • Semi-Final 1 (Winner QF1 v Winner QF2): From 7:30am, Saturday 21 October
    • Bronze Final: From 7:30am, Saturday 28 October
    • Final: From 7:30am, Sunday 29 October
       
  • Six delayed matches, 90 mins after kick-off:
    • All Blacks v Namibia: From 8:30am, Saturday 16 September
    • All Blacks v Italy: From 9:30am, Saturday 30 September
    • All Blacks v Uruguay: From 9:30am, Friday 6 October
    • Quarterfinal 1 (Winner Pool C v Runner-Up Pool D): From 5:30am, Sunday 15 October
    • Quarterfinal 3 (Winner Pool D v Runner-Up Pool C): From 5:30am, Monday 16 October
    • Semi-Final 2 (Winner QF3 v Winner QF4): From 9:30am, Sunday 22 October