Orcon is taking a leaf out of the ‘Politician’s Handbook’ by attempting to mobilise the Kiwi masses through a petition, which aims to break Sky’s hold on the broadcasting rights for live rugby games. The petition is hosted at a microsite called FreeMyRugby.co.nz and draws attention to the fact that only New Zealanders with a Sky subscription—available for $74.75 a month on a Sky basic and sport package—are in a position to watch the All Blacks play live. And while sharing this common knowledge is unlikely to cause a riot, it does draw attention to how the media landscape is changing and how this might continue to impact Sky’s hold sports broadcasts.

Last night, the launch of the third season of The Block NZ kicked off a ratings war that will see the DIY-themed show take on TVNZ’s My Kitchen Rules over the next few months. And the overnight figures seem to indicate the first battle has gone to the side of DIY porn, with The Block NZ winning the lion’s share of the audience in the key demographic categories.

There’s been plenty of discussion about the rise of subscription video ondemand services recently, with Spark’s Lightbox getting set to launch, Sky announcing it is planning a new Netflix-type service and Slingshot offering a controversial workaround allowing Kiwis to access overseas providers. But sitting relatively quietly in the background is Freeview, which is now being used in 67 percent of New Zealand homes and is hoping to launch an ondemand service later in the year that will cater to the increasing number of New Zealanders with connected TVs. General manager Sam Irvine says it will offer “the seamless integration of linear broadcast TV and TV over the internet”, so what does it mean for the gogglebox scene?

Since the World Cup kicked off on 13 June, TVNZ has clocked up over 230,000 streams of the content available via its online hub dedicated to the event. And, according to Jason Foden, the broadcaster’s general manager of on-demand, this level of engagement matches that which TVNZ had during the preliminary rounds of the America’s Cup.

Telecom has revealed its new online TV serviceLightbox, offering a 30 day trial followed by a $15 per 30-day charge on signup.

After 11 years with Mr Smith, Ron Sneddon has cut the ribbon on his own independent media agency, Super, which has a heavy focus on digital media and branded content. And, after a small experiment involving GoPro cameras and a few Kiwi families showed him that traditional thinking around media consumption wasn’t keeping up with the reality, he says it was time for a different approach.

The wait for mobile viewing is over for Sky subscribers who don’t own iPads, as the broadcaster has just announced the launch of a new version of the Sky Go app that’s compatible on certain versions of Samsung Galaxy smartphones and tablets. Since launching in December last year, the Sky Go app has only been available to subscribers via Apple’s products—and the popularity of this initial release has led Sky to increase the inclusivity of its offering. Updated with statistics from Nielsen and with comments from TVNZ’s general manager of on-demand Jason Foden.