Prime TV sorry about porn slip

Clip interrupts rugby show

By PAUL CHAI

Execs at New Zealand's Prime TV were looking a little sheepish last week after hardcore porn interrupted a Sunday-afternoon family rugby skein.

"Grassroots Rugby" switched suddenly to "Desperate Black Wives 2," from the adult Spice Channel, on July 6. The clip ran for nearly four minutes before being changed back; the net blamed a "distribution error" in its routing equipment.

After rival webs took a flurry of outraged phone calls -- giving them ample excuse to repeatedly show the offending scene with censored areas -- Prime issued an apology. The matter now lies with the Kiwi Broadcasting Authority, which will decide whether to penalize the net.

But the historically low-rated net may be keeping an eye on upcoming episodes to see if there is a boost in eyeballs hoping for another Spice glimpse.