Gary Burchett: Sky New Zealand Head of Sport Content on the gambling ad shown during Jai Arrow's walkout

Sky is blaming a scheduling error for a gambling ad being played instead of Jai Arrow’s emotional walkout for his 100th game for the South Sydney Rabbitohs. 

Arrow announced his retirement from rugby league earlier this year as he battles motor neurone disease, but the NRL approved a special rule change to allow him to reach 100 games for South Sydney. 

Those in New Zealand hoping to watch the moment he stepped on to the pitch were unable to as Sky Sport cut to a Betcha betting ad for one minute and 20 seconds, returning to live coverage when Arrow was already on the field. 

Sky New Zealand’s head of sport content Gary Burchett told Newstalk ZB’s Jason Pine the broadcaster made the wrong decision and apologised. 

“We knew the significance of Jai’s walkout and we knew what that moment was to Jai and his family and his teammates and fans of the NRL and simply, we should have shown that moment in full, live,” Burchett said. 

“That’s the obligation that we have to our customers and to fans of rugby league and I’m also very conscious that for those people and their families who face the daily realities and challenges of motor neurone disease, because that story resonates and goes well beyond the game itself, right? So we let them down too. 

Sky Sport has apologised for showing a gambling ad during Jai Arrow's walkout for his 100th and final game for the South Sydney Rabbitohs. Photo / Photosport 

“In terms of what happened, as those who watched would have seen that the Titans and the Dolphins match ran over, which led to the host broadcaster Fox at the time switching to the tunnel of the Rabbitohs and the Roosters and that led to a scheduling error, which meant that an advertisement played out during Jai’s walkout. 

“So, that’s the straightforward explanation, not hiding behind it. We missed an incredibly important moment and that simply just was not good enough.” 

Burchett said a team of people, rather than something automated, chose to play the ad and Sky will review how those decisions are made. 

A scheduling error has been identified as the reason viewers in New Zealand missed the emotional moment. Photo / Photosport 

“Commercial commitments are part of broadcasting sport. They help finance our productions, they help Sky to acquire the sports [rights], but they can’t exist in isolation from what’s actually unfolding because ultimately good sports broadcast requires good judgment,” he said. 

“Sometimes the most important thing you can do is to stay with the pictures. Own the moment, let that moment breathe and allow the audience to experience it and Jai’s walkout was exactly that sort of moment.” 

When the ad ended, Arrow was already on the field with his teammates, before he was substituted just after the match started. Photo / Photosport 

Viewers vented their frustration on social media and Burchett said Sky had received strong feedback from customers. 

“They expected us to recognise and preserve and to shine a light on a moment that truly transcended rugby league and we didn’t. 

“Our customers trust us to bring the moments that matter in sport and we just fell short of that standard last night.” 

Sky had earlier released a statement apologising for the decision and posted the full walkout video online. 

“We know we missed a big moment, and we’re really sorry you didn’t get to see it live. Here’s Jai Arrow’s celebration in full,” the video was captioned with comments turned off. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Weekend Sport Podcast with Jason Pine
from Newstalk ZB.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Sky TV facing criticism today after it interrupted one of
the most poignant sporting moments of the year with commercials
last night. Coverage of the NRL game between the Rabbitohs
and the Roosters cut to commercials just as Jai Arrow,
whose battle with motor neuron disease has made global headlines,

(00:33):
walked out for his 100th and final game for the Rabbitohs.
When coverage returned, Arrow was already out on the field.
So what happened? Gary Burchett is Head of Sport Content
at Sky TV and joins us. Gary, thanks for fronting up.
How did this happen?

Speaker 3 (00:54):
Jason, good afternoon.

Speaker 4 (00:56):
Thanks for the invitation and thank you for asking that question.
I guess before I explain how it happened, I think
it's probably important to start with the apology. We got
this badly wrong last night and we're deeply sorry. You know,
we knew the significance behind of Jai's walkout, and we
knew what that moment was to Jai and his family
and his teammates and fans of the NRL.

Speaker 3 (01:19):
And simply, we should have shown that moment in full, live.

Speaker 4 (01:23):
Like, that's the obligation that we have to our customers
and to fans of rugby league.

Speaker 3 (01:30):
You know, and I'm also.

Speaker 4 (01:31):
Very conscious that for those people and their families who
face the daily realities and challenges of motor neurone disease,
Because that story resonates and goes well beyond Detroit itself, right?

Speaker 3 (01:44):
So we let them down too.

Speaker 4 (01:46):
In terms of what happened, as those who watched would
have seen that the Titans and the Dolphins match ran over,
which led to the host broadcaster Fox at the time
switching to the tunnel of the Rabbitohs and the Roosters.

Speaker 3 (02:02):
And that led.

Speaker 4 (02:03):
To a scheduling error, which meant that an advertisement played
out during Jai's walkout. So, I mean, that's the straightforward explanation,
not hiding behind it. We, yeah, we missed an incredibly
important moment and that simply just was not good enough.

Speaker 2 (02:20):
So is there a person there making that decision, Gary?
Is this an automated thing that happens that ads play,
you know, in the few minutes before kickoff or is
a person sitting there making the physical decision to go
to an ad break at that time?

Speaker 3 (02:36):
No, there's a human being and set of human beings
that make these decisions.

Speaker 4 (02:40):
We have an incredibly experienced crew, and they do make
a raft of live editorial and programming decisions every day.
And inevitably, given the volume of sport that Sky has,
sport moves pretty quickly. So what we are doing is reviewing,
I guess, how those decisions and those safeguards worked or
did not work in this instance, and what needs to change. But,

(03:04):
you know, we do, and I know that our job
is to recognise the moments that matter. And this was
unquestionably one of those moments, and we missed it, and
it hurts.

Speaker 2 (03:16):
Should there be greater editorial discretion around advertising when something
significant like this is happening?

Speaker 3 (03:25):
Yes.

Speaker 4 (03:26):
And that's something that absolutely it will be part of
what we look at. Commercial commitments are part of broadcasting sport.
They help finance our productions. They help, you know, Sky
to acquire the sports. But they can't exist in isolation
from what's actually unfolding because ultimately good sports broadcast requires judgment,

(03:47):
good judgment. You know, I tell my team all the
time on air, you know, talk to your pitchers, stay
with the pitchers. And sometimes the most important thing you
can do is to stay with the pitches.

Speaker 3 (04:00):
Own the moment.

Speaker 4 (04:01):
Let that moment breathe and allow the audience to experience it.
And Jai's walkout was exactly that sort of moment.

Speaker 2 (04:10):
As you say, there are commercial imperatives here as well. Look,
would a person, that human being, be thinking, I need
to play these ads, otherwise I'm going to get in trouble? Because,
you know, you've got to, as you say, fulfil your
commercial commitments. Would that have been what was going through
that person's mind, that they thought, I've got to get
these ads out before kick-off in this game?

Speaker 3 (04:30):
That is a consideration, yeah.

Speaker 4 (04:31):
And we can completely understand why the betting advertisement, you.

Speaker 3 (04:36):
Know, was jarring to a nation.

Speaker 4 (04:39):
But I think that failure is more fundamental than the
type of advertisement. No advertisement should have interrupted that moment,
regardless of the category. Jaya's walkout, Jason, should have been
shown in full. That's what we got wrong. Simple as that.

Speaker 2 (04:57):
How robust has the reaction from your customers been?

Speaker 4 (05:03):
Well, I think you can imagine how colourful and upset and,
you know, points downright disgusted some people have been. And
when you look at, you know, you look what happened
on that screen and what unfolded, we can completely understand
why someone would feel that way. But there was no
conscious decision from Sky to put an advertisement ahead of

(05:23):
Jai Arrow. That was not our intention. That resulted from
a scheduling error, from a match overrunning. I don't know,
somehow that distinction doesn't, it doesn't make it better for
the customer sitting at home. You know, they expected us
to recognise and preserve and to shine a light, you know,
on a moment that truly transcended rugby league and we didn't. So,

(05:47):
you know, yeah, our customers trust us to bring the
moments that matter in sport and we just fell short
of that standard last night.

Speaker 2 (05:56):
Are you confident you can put measures in place to
avoid this happening again?

Speaker 4 (06:03):
Yeah, first thing we have to do is to properly
establish what happened and we need to take that seriously.
And then we have to look at the editorial decision
making and then those processes around advertising, when schedules move
and whether our people have everything they need to protect
significant live moments. You know, I'm now sparing a thought

(06:24):
for that individual and I'm hoping that they're okay. because
there is a human being involved, and they probably feel
pretty sore right now.

Speaker 3 (06:33):
And human beings make mistakes. I've made mistakes. We'll all
make mistakes. Sky will make mistakes in the future.

Speaker 4 (06:39):
I've worked in this game long enough to know that
the perfect broadcast and perfect program doesn't exist. So I
have to feel for my fellow human beings and have
compassion that someone's hurting right now.

Speaker 3 (06:50):
It was a deeply emotional moment.

Speaker 4 (06:52):
You know, you've got a guy who's shown extraordinary courage,
you know, since his whole MND diagnosis, and people wanted
to experience that moment with Jai. You know, his family,
the rugby league community, New Zealanders. We at Sky, well,
we had that privilege of bringing it to them, and
we didn't show up properly. So, yeah, sure, we understand

(07:14):
why people have let us know very clearly how they feel,
and that's fair.

Speaker 2 (07:19):
Last week, viewers on Sky Sport Now were unable to
watch an All Blacks game in South Africa and were
shown cycling instead. This is a different issue, I know.
But what happened there?

Speaker 4 (07:29):
Look, that was a separate technical issue affecting the Sky
Sport Now customers.

Speaker 3 (07:37):
And again, yeah, that experience for those customers wasn't good enough.
We apologise. We treated it very, very seriously.

Speaker 4 (07:45):
There's been a monumental effort by our teams here and
abroad with our partners and vendors to ensure that is
not repeated. I'm not going to give you a technical
explanation today. But the simple point is that, you know,
people who expected to watch the All Blacks were unable
to do so properly.

Speaker 3 (08:03):
We appreciate how frustrating that was.

Speaker 4 (08:05):
You know, credibility matters enormously to me.

Speaker 3 (08:09):
It matters importantly to Sky. Ultimately, we've got to earn it.

Speaker 4 (08:14):
Through what people experience when they turn our products on.

Speaker 3 (08:18):
And it's something that we take incredibly seriously.

Speaker 2 (08:22):
Well, you've certainly come on air today and owned the problem, Gary.
What is your message to your subscriber base, sports fans
who rely on you for moments like this?

Speaker 4 (08:35):
I believe in a broadcaster that is truly passionate about sport.
recognise that mistakes are made. We're owning this mistake. But
we're also very proud of the sport and the stories
and the characters that we tell. You know, like, I

(08:55):
want our customers this afternoon at 2.15 to tune on and,
you know, to watch, you know, Laura McGoldrick and Sean Johnson,
Roger Toulvas-Achec as we bring coverage of the NRL women.
and the NRL men since it's an important time for
the Waz as they look to secure the minor premiership

(09:16):
this weekend and then dare to dream big.

Speaker 3 (09:21):
You know, and get up early at two o'clock. Come
with us on the journey for the All Blacks.

Speaker 4 (09:24):
You know, come to Soweto as the All Blacks look
to do something historic and take a lead in a
really defining rivalry in rugby.

Speaker 3 (09:33):
You know, it's a big 24 hours for New.

Speaker 4 (09:36):
Zealand sports fans and we really hope plenty of people
join us and trust us for it.

Speaker 2 (09:40):
Well, I'm sure that they will. Again, Gary, thank you
for front-footing this on ZB this afternoon. Appreciate your time.
Here's to an exciting 24 hours or so ahead and
a trouble-free 24 hours ahead. Thanks again for coming on
the show this afternoon.

Speaker 3 (09:54):
It's my pleasure, Jason. Thank you.

Speaker 2 (09:56):
Thank you, Gary. That's Gary Burchett. He is Head of
Sport Content at Sky Sport. Here's what I heard there
from Gary Burchett. A very full and frank apology. He
didn't try to justify anything that had happened, didn't try
to brush it under the carpet. A large part of

(10:17):
that interview with Gary was Gary Burchett owning what happened.
He kept on coming back to it. It wasn't good enough.
We're not happy. We apologise for what happened. He didn't
try to deflect at all. A mistake was made last night,
a really bad mistake. And he didn't say it, but

(10:41):
I am almost certain that Gary Burchett has given the
message to some of his senior leaders in no uncertain terms.
There will be some robust discussions that would have happened
in the time since last night, and they will continue,
I'm sure, for the front part of the week ahead.

(11:04):
It's only a disaster if you don't learn from it.
It's a mistake, a bad mistake, but that was a
senior executive owning a mistake that he wasn't to blame for,
but is responsible for.

Speaker 1 (11:19):
For more from Weekend Sport with Jason Pine, listen live
to News Talk ZB, weekends from midday, or follow the
podcast on iHeartRadio.