Digital Media Cafe Blog – Featuring Arsenal, Google Chromecast & Danny MacAskill – David Granger
April 23, 2014
Live Sport: The Chromecast Comes To Town
The humble Google Chromecast may just be about to start changing the way you watch sport on television. The £30 device plugs into your telly and beam what you can get on your phone, tablet or laptop in to your living room. So what you get on your mobile you can no watch on your TV. The first player to take the plunge has been BT Sport which is still taking on the might of Sky in the live broadcasting stakes. They’ve formed a partnership with Google to promote the Chromecast and, when used in conjunction with the free BT Sport app, means you get big screen sport for the price of the dongle. All good for home entertainment, but if this begins to be used in pubs or clubs, then the rights-holders are going to have to once again find a balance between access, technology and their bottom line. Like to know more? Check out the article by Ben Warren on the UK Sports Network.
New Signing: Arsenal FC launch YouTube Channel
Arsenal football club’s latest signing is with YouTube as the club launches its official video channel. It’s not their first foray on to the video sharing platform, for two weeks last summer the channel was live and showed more than 20 years of footage to supporters… including the clip of a Gunners fan chasing after the team coach in Vietnam, which went viral gaining more than three million views through the official page. So clearly while we can expect the usual content expected from a Premiership club, Arsenal aren’t afraid to do things a bit differently editorially.
Athletes Getting It Right: Danny MacAskill
Danny MacAskill does things on a bicycle which defy both belief and gravity – it’s like parkour on two wheels. He also does social media really well. As well as being a showcase for his amazing videos, he also links to other clips, stunts and films of people doing incredible things on bikes. Check out Danny’s Facebook Page and Twitter feed for more. But give yourself half an hour free. It’s quietly addictive.
Compete Against The World: Wings for Life World Run
A week on Sunday one of the most innovative sporting events ever conceived or held will be staged. But none of this would have been possible in a pre-digital age. The Wings for Life World Run joins more than 35 countries in one race held simultaneously. So, while it will be 11am in London, it’s going to be very early morning on the West Coast of the US, evening in the far East and very late at night in Australia. At the same time runners will leave the starting point and half an hour afterwards Catcher Cars will pick off the slower runners one by one. And all simultaneously across the planet. So where does digital come into all this? Well, through social media you can race your friends, family and sporting heroes who may be taking part in a different timezone on a different continent. All the runners are tagged and tracked, so you can see if you’re faster than your cousin in New Zealand or Mark Webber in Silverstone. And the best bit? All the money raised from runners signing up goes to the Wings for Life foundation which is dedicated to finding a cure for spinal cord injury; something which can affect our athletes and sportsmen and women.
Check out www.wingforslifeworldrun.com for details.
Don’t forget if there’s something in the digital arena you’d like us to take a look at, please get in touch either via the comments below or my iSportconnect profile.
