Wairarapa Bush is claiming victory in its first attempt to provide live broadcast of club rugby.<\/p>\n
Coverage of the recent premier one club grand final was streamed live by Wairarapa TV.<\/p>\n
It was the fledging broadcaster\u2019s first assignment and together with Wairarapa-Bush they are heralding the initiative as a huge success with more than 3000 online users logging into the match.<\/p>\n
Wairarapa-Bush Rugby Union chief executive Tony Hargood says the number of viewers demonstrates the level of interest in the competition.<\/p>\n
It also re-affirms with WBRU that they are on the right track trying to connect with their wider audience.<\/p>\n
While the bulk of viewers were in New Zealand there was interest from overseas with nearly 300 in Australia and around 100 in the USA.<\/p>\n
Analysis of the data shows that just over half of the viewers were watching the game on a computer and nearly a quarter on mobile phones.<\/p>\n
Hargood says attendance to the Club Finals, of which there were four matches played on the main ground at Trust House Memorial Park, was estimated at about 3000.<\/p>\n
Given the weather and other factors this was \u201cpretty pleasing\u201d, Hargood says.<\/p>\n
One factor that could have kept rugby fans away was the Super Rugby semi-final in Wellington between the Hurricanes and Chiefs, a fixture WBRU administrators weren\u2019t to know when drawing up the club rugby programme.<\/p>\n
Wairarapa TV founder Toby Mills says the size of the audience exceeded his initial expectations.<\/p>\n
Mills says he has received a lot of positive feedback.<\/p>\n
\u201cGenerally people were surprised at the quality of the footage,\u201d Mills says.<\/p>\n
The broadcast included commentary from Goff Moorcock and sideline interviews by Brent Gare of MoreFM.<\/p>\n
Mills says for a first time effort he is thrilled with the outcome with plans to stream other sports codes such as netball.<\/p>\n
Hargood says he is looking forward to working with Wairarapa TV on future projects.<\/p>\n
Wairarapa-Bush kicks off its Heartland Championship campaign at home against King Country on Saturday 27 August.<\/p>\n
Other home games include Thames Valley (Septemeber 17), Buller (October 1) and East Coast (October 15).<\/p>\n
The Tui Cup Grand Final is posted on the Wairarapa-Bush Facebook page.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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