The University of Manitoba and University of Winnipeg women's basketball teams squared off Thursday night at the Duckworth Centre and even though the game wasn't picked up by a single television station, you didn't need to be there in person to watch it.

All you had to do was visit www.uwinnipeg.tv to tap into a new service provided by Daemon Defense Systems...

U of W uses Internet to broadcast games
Local webcaster a partner with university

Fri Feb 15 2008 By Geoff Kirbyson

BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Funke captures the action at Thursday night’s basketball games for live airing on internet

IT'S the weekend, sports fans, time to cook burgers, crack a few cold ones, put your feet up and turn on the computer.

The University of Manitoba and University of Winnipeg women's basketball teams squared off Thursday night at the Duckworth Centre and even though the game wasn't picked up by a single television station, you didn't need to be there in person to watch it.

All you had to do was visit www.uwinnipeg.tv to tap into a new service provided by Daemon Defense Systems, a local Internet company specializing in webcasting and a new partner of the U of W.

Justin Funke, owner and director of Daemon, said it will also broadcast men's volleyball on Saturday and possibly both sports on Sunday. He said its game-day set up is virtually identical to that of a traditional television station. The difference is rather than parking a truck equipped with a satellite hook-up outside, Daemon's cameras simply plug into a laptop.

"Everything looks the same (as a television production). All we need is an Internet connection to broadcast to the world," he said, noting Daemon got its start broadcasting corporate events and conventions.

Funke said the main difference from a traditional television sports broadcast and the airing of U of W games via the Internet is lighting. Most university sporting venues don't have the same kind of lighting as their professional counterparts. The U of M's Investors Group Centre is an exception, he said, because television-friendly lights were installed there for the 1999 Pan Am Games.

Rick Broadhead, a Toronto-based technology consultant, said consumers are increasingly using their computers and televisions interchangeably. For example, he said it's now possible to program your computer to record a television program to watch at a later time.

"Computer monitors are big enough where you can sit back and watch the games in your office or wherever. Better yet, plug your computer into your flat-screen television. It's just like how people plug their PC into their stereo speakers and use it as a juke box," he said.

Broadhead said the challenge for Internet television is building up the audience. After all, surfing all broadcast options on the Internet would take infinitely longer than flipping through TV's 500-channel universe.

"It's not a matter of sticking the feeds out there and hoping the viewers will come. You've got to work to build the traffic," he said.

Shawn Coates, director of marketing and communications at the U of W, said it sees Internet television as a way of not only broadcasting important university events and games to interested stakeholders - including friends, family and fans of visiting teams - but also a means to increase the school's exposure to the broader community.

"We want the public to be aware of all the good things we're doing in terms of programs, education and academic excellence. (The Internet) is a good way to tell people about that," he said.

Coates said the U of W's goal is also to turn its website/television operations into a revenue generator through selling banner advertisements and broadcast sponsorships of games or other events.

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