For the first time in many years, SuperSport will not be live broadcasting a day of Wildeklawer rugby. DigiTV have been offered that opportunity to fill this void. The online streaming company will livestream both match days of 02 and 04 May 2019. However if the current Kingswood Jubilee Festival is anything to go by, then some serious work is needed to improve reliability.
The Kingswood 125th Festival may not be classified as a mainstream event with a big following but it’s an important to the school and to those who were led to believe it would be available to them in other parts of the country and around the world. All that DigiTV was able to provide was 35-seconds of footage from four matches on the first day being Saturday, 06 April 2019.
It was a let down of note!
Possibly more upsetting to the Kingswood community was that Grey High School in nearby PE hosted another ordinary festival with no special occasion attached a couple of weeks back and their streaming was top notch as a result of SchoolSportLive’s Youtube based platform. The broadcasts even contained a constant thread of messages from pleased supporters watching matches from abroad.
DigiTV wins in the market where it offers viewers the opportunity to see something they might otherwise not have had access to but a mainstream festival like Wildeklawer is a whole new kettle of fish. There is a substantial investment. For viewers it attracts some of the most passionate schoolboy rugby fans around and as a result of SuperSport’s world class coverage over the years, there are high expectations of quality.
Certainly the fallout will be huge if there was to be a reoccurrence of what’s just happened at Kingswood and particularly since DigiTV are marketing the event to promote their product.
Wildeklawer which is heading into its eleventh edition, was set up to present an opportunity for top non-traditional rivals to play each other. As the premier schoolboy rugby festival in South Africa, it has stood the test of time so far. Other festivals such as Kearsney and St John’s have briefly risen up over the years to rival it in terms of the attractiveness of the highly ranked list of schools but neither have been able to sustain that VIP invitation list for more than a few years. However the new kid on the block, Noord-Suid Toernooi in Pretoria, which has grown so quickly in stature is such a short space of time, has upped their game once again in 2019. Based on how far Noord-Suid has come in such a short space of time coupled with the numerous advantages its able to offer schools over rival festivals, it not far off dethroning Wildeklawer as number one.
Noord-Suid’s value has also been enhanced by their decision to partner with SchoolSportLive.
In terms of accessibility, reliability and ease of use, SchoolSportLive proving to be a winner all-round. DigiTV needs to find a way to at the very least mimic this success even if its only for two days in May 2019 out of 365 for the year.
Wildeklawer, thanks to the generosity of business owner Louis de Kock has brought much joy to the school rugby community and his efforts probably do not get the recognition they deserve. With yet another top line-up ready to battle it out on the field in 2019, hopefully everything works out well for all parties involved including DigiTV.
| SLOT | SCHOOL | SCHOOL | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PROLOGUE : Wed 01-May-2019 | ||||||
| 19h00 | Diamantveld | – | – | Stellenberg | ||
| DAY 1 : Thu 02-May-2019 | ||||||
| 08h00 | Framesby | – | – | Menlopark | ||
| 09h20 | Welkom Gim | – | – | Waterkloof | ||
| 10h40 | Oakdale | – | – | Garsfontein | ||
| 12h00 | Transvalia | – | – | Paarl Gim | ||
| 13h20 | Monument | – | – | Boland Landbou | ||
| 14h40 | Grey College | – | – | Outeniqua | ||
| 16h00 | HJS Paarl BH | – | – | Glenwood | ||
| 17h20 | Affies | – | – | Drostdy | ||
| 18h40 | Noord-Kaap | – | – | Helpmekaar | ||
| DAY 2 : Sat 04-May-2019 | ||||||
| 08h00 | Boland Landbou | – | – | Transvalia | ||
| 09h10 | Monument | – | – | Drostdy | ||
| 10h20 | Framesby | – | – | Helpmekaar | ||
| 11h30 | Welkom Gim | – | – | Stellenberg | ||
| 12h40 | Menlopark | – | – | Oakdale | ||
| 13h50 | Garsfontein | – | – | Glenwood | ||
| 15h00 | HJS Paarl BH | – | – | Affies | ||
| 16h10 | Grey College | – | – | Paarl Gim | ||
| 17h20 | Noord-Kaap | – | – | Outeniqua | ||
| 18h30 | Diamantveld | – | – | Waterkloof | ||
@beet: I think that I might be one of Digitv’s most vocal critics,but this is a 100% improvement over what it was ….
@Wondermaar: Look it wasn’t a disaster but it’s also still a long way from being a good product.
I’m sure like myself a lot of people had to deal with bits of frustration during the day.
I would still have preferred SSL but under the circumstances I am definitely grateful to have been able to watch the rugby versus having to read articles and comments about the matches. So a big thank you to Wildeklawer and the organisers for this consideration. It’s a bonus to be able to follow both match days.
Waardeer regtig die moeite wat DigiTV doen om vir ons al die aksie te bring. As ek 1 ding kan kritiseer is dit die kwaliteit van die beeld!
I think a 99 out of a 100 for digi tv, we understand that being dependant on satelite or any signal cant be 100% in your control, WELDONE !!! i see your effort as UPUPUPUPUP YOUR GAME!!! CONGRATS!!!! ( comment only for A rugbyfield) didnt watch anything else.
@Lehe: Dankie Hannes vir jul produk.
@Lehe: Thanks,it does.So if BHP ranking system is good enough for you,it’s good enough for me.
@Grizzly: Sorry for the late reply – my rankings system is derived from the system of Boishaai Pa. In the early years of publishing rankings on School of Rugby, We’ve purely used the rankings as supplied by Boishaai Pa.
We then decided to give our own spin on the rankings (with the permission from Boshaai Pa) – as we believed we get more results in than most. Two seasons ago we changed the system from a Five Tier system to a Ten Tier system as we believe that there is a major difference between beating Nr 21 on the rankings and Nr 79.
In our Ten Tiers there are 350 schools whose strength are gauged through the first part of the season. Our first rankings come out on the Tuesday after the Easter Festivals, as then most teams would have played five games.
This year I’ve added another failsafe into the rankings by inviting a couple of coaches and avid school rugby followers to help with gauging, monitoring and adjusting the tiers throughout the season.
Hope this give some clarity.
@Lehe: Nice of you to drop in.Good luck with the platform.Im sure like myself, there’s many bloggers who’s also regular visitors to your site.
It’s that time again and apart from verwing the topic that’s generate the most debate is the rankings.BHP model is there for everyone to see,can you explain a little bit,if possible,your model and what calculations you use.
I for one was more in favour of your final rankings compared with the others available.Thank you.
@Lehe: Thanks a lot. Much appreciated.
@Cappie: You just need to create an account on DigiTV – access to all competition (Gemsbokke vs Kudus) are open to watch to all subscribers (no cost for a subscription)
@Lehe: Hannes, if you are not afiliated with any of the schools you mentioned above, how would you be able to watch the games?
@Lehe: Hi Hannes. Thank you for taking the time to place a detailed and informative answer here. I think most who read it will learn something from it and it stands a good chance of shifting the opinion of some about DigiTV to something more positive.
I have been the recipient of a few misdirected emails from people who mistakenly believed I was responsible for DigiTV and have had my challenges with the service too which includes accessing the site.
I don’t believe my blog above is misinformed.
Your product’s reliability will be put to the test.
Like everyone else who plans to watch Wildeklawer via stream, I hope that it passes that test with flying colours.
Obviously in all matters pertaining to using a free product there are grounds to argue about rights versus privileges and where that line of satisfaction / dissatisfaction should or can reasonably be drawn.
Thank you also for extending the offer to contact you directly.
@Lehe: And that’s what seperates DigiTV from SSL and Supersport. They stream all the games. Not just 1st team on the a field. Tx Hannes!!
Good morning Beet
It would’ve been nice if you contacted us to get a clearer picture of our streaming service and how our model works, before placing a misinformed article.
Our streaming at the schools Paul Roos Gimnasium, Grey College, HTS Middelburg, Paarl Boys’ High, Outeniqua, Diamantveld, Glenwood, Monument etc. is done by the school and its pupils for the school. This doesn’t cost these schools their parents, grandparents, kids or alumni a cent. The schools can also stream/record more than just rugby matches – we as rugby fans think there is only rugby in a school, but it is only a small part in a bigger picture.
Kingswood College is a newly signed on schools with a new producer with a newly trained team of kids from the school. We accept there will be hiccups when schools start out. Go and watch the content on our site, not just the rugby and see how the schools’ production teams got better since launching their own TV Channels.
For Wildeklawer we will be sending down our professional production team, like a SuperSport or School Sport Live. You must remember that both these companies get paid by event managers to stream and broadcast all the events where they rock up. Like a Noord-Suid/Premier Interschools/Virsekerbeker on Kyknet.
So when we as DigiTV also sign-up an event like Wildeklawer we do the same as them and sent down a professional production team. Wildeklawer had to pay SuperSport each year a huge amount to come in for the one day and not even broadcast all the matches on the main field. We will be streaming all the matches u13 – u19 as well as the netball.
Our aim with our TV Channels at the various schools is however much wider than just streaming rugby. We are busy training children in the various disciplines in production which we believe are skills for future jobs, the schools’ production teams are getting better as the training and experience evolves. Our production’s by the school for the school will therefore just get better over time if you bear with us.
The added benefit of this is that parents, grandparents and old-boys could even if they’re not able to attend their schools’ matches, functions etc. still watch their kids and schools interact and play.
This also gives us as schoolboy lovers an opportunity to watch more rugby (which includes even F-teams as well as junior teams). For this winter sports season thus far we have been running at least 21 live streams from around South Africa every Saturday. That is more live sport coming to you than what SuperSport and SSL have done combined on a Saturday.
Why are we not streaming to YouTube and Facebook? We are dealing with school kids here and we need to protect them within a regulated platform rather than an open to all platforms.
We looking forward to giving you a top-notch production during Wildeklawer.
If you have any queries, please feel free to contact me directly.
Regards
Hannes Nienaber (Director – DigiComms)
hannes@digicomms.co.za
@Wondermaar: Ek het laasjaar subskrubsie betaal en dit het wonderlik gewerk. Ek het vanjaar nadat ek wou registreer agtergekom die diens is gratis.
@Wondermaar: SSL is gratis, en afhangende van jou internet connection is hulle beeld beter as SuperSport
@Carl de Kock: die grey,hts game was ok gewees,ek dink dat dit maar n bandwydte en sever probleem is,ipv om die games is 1080 te stream kan hulle dit maar eerder in 480 doen ,boet eerder bietjie kwaliteit in en voorkom buffering as wat jy n 1080 produk probeer lewer wat die heeltyd hak,omdat SSl van youtube gebruikmaak het hulle nie die probleem nie ,al wat hulle hoef te sorg voor is n goeie upload spoed en youtube met sy G video stream doen die res,Digi moet dit oorweeg om die hosting gedeelte ook na Youtube te skuif ,dit sal hulle probleme oplos….
Dit sal nie net hartseer wees nie, indien dit n betalende diens is soos by wsf , sou die ondersteuners n geldterug waarborg verwag van ononderbroke uitsending of ten minste met minimum hakplekke?? ( PAY=GOOD VALUE).
Ek verneem is kwaliteit van die uitsending van die Boishaai/Kwagga wedstryd was onder gemiddeld.