We are 36 hours away from the start of the Rugby World Cup and TV3 have unveiled the studio we will be watching in the background to most if not all of the matches as they play out over the next six weeks.
Matt Cooper, Keith Wood, Matt Williams and Hugo MacNeill were out in Ballymount yesterday trying out the seats for size and comfort.
They will be on hand for Friday’s opening game between England and Fiji and again on Saturday as Ireland step out at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff for their first game in the group phase against Canada.
“It’s an immensely exciting time for TV3,” said Group Head of Sport Kieran Holden.
“We have invested in the biggest sports studio set that we have ever had for the biggest television event of 2015.”
“The TV3 panellists have been in training and rehearsing with our new analysis software, they all offer different and complementary perspectives so that our analysis with be in-depth, informative and entertaining. We cannot wait to get started on Friday”.
Virtual Arena’s
That software will allow analysts to highlight players and ‘extract’ them into a virtual stadium where individual moves can be highlighted. It will utilise the latest in tracking technology from the cameras around the pitches and is expected to provide a brand new perspective on watching the games.
This is TV3’s bow into the world of HD broadcast and has seen major investment from the new ownership to present the station and its capacity for sports broadcast at a new level.
This Rugby World Cup became the Sports team’s primary focus after losing out on the GAA TV rights last year. The GAA contract is renewed on a three year basis and we are now coming to the end of season two with the current deal involving RTÉ, Sky and GAAGo.
Social
Social media ‘broadcasters’ have also been out unveiling their latest tricks for viewing and sharing the content from the Rugby.
The Facebook Rugby World Cup Page is approaching 3 million likes and will escalate as the tournament progresses. It has embedded video content and a new line in its structured updates area so you can tell friends that you are watching a particular game.
Each country has it’s own page with exclusive content and there are ‘stickers involving rugby balls, national flags and even Shaun the Sheep shouting out key moments in the game.
What George Hook would make of it all is perhaps beyond thought but it will be interesting to watch as fans engage in different ways through social media and provide extra connection to sponsors.
Tomorrow we will take a look at who those sponsors are and how they are looking to connect to the fans throughout the tournament.
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