Families watching Prime TV this afternoon got a shock when the Grass Roots Rugby show they were watching was suddenly replaced by hardcore porn.
Parents were outraged at the programming blunder, one father told 3 News his eight-year-old son's innocence had been ruined.
Within minutes of the images going on air, 3 News was flooded with calls from distressed viewers.
A Whangarei 12-year-old was horrified, running around with her hands over her eyes saying "eww" and "gross".
An Auckland woman watched in disbelief as the rugby turned to Desperate Black Wives 2. She said it left little to the imagination.
A Port Waikato viewer said it was not something he wanted to see as he was watching Grass Roots Rugby.
Prime would not comment when contacted by 3 News.
The company did later release a statement admitting that at 2:58pm, three minutes and 50 seconds of "inappropriate material" from one of Sky's adult channels went to air.
Prime said the problem was caused by a distribution fault and that the company had taken steps to ensure it did not happen again. Prime also apologised for any offence the mistake may have caused.
3 News