By Abby Bagby and Ruijia Yang, Staff Reporters
With pandemic protocol in effect this school year, TETV has expanded sports broadcasting into online streams that can be accessed anywhere. The result? Nearly 300 people watching the games at once.
While the club has been recording games since 2013 for the local cable news channel, they began streaming online this year to further accommodate virtual viewers and reach a wider audience. The expansion, which uses the web streaming program VieBit, has led to a surge in viewership and been well received by the community.
“One of the limitations that we’ve always had with the cable channel is you have to generally live in the district or very close to the school district to have that channel on your cable box.” said Mike Baskin, a video production contractor for TESD. “So for teachers who may not live in the district or relatives that may not live in the district, they’ve never really had the opportunity to watch. This allows us to expand our viewing to really anywhere in the world.”
The live streaming services have also allowed TETV to access the view count of a game at any given time. While most games get 60 to 120 live viewers, those from sports such as football have gathered about 300 at once.
“It’ll vary depending on the interest, but it is nice because we can get some real-time feedback of at least who’s watching it on the livestream,” Baskin said.
Senior Jack Susanin, a commentator on TETV, is also glad that more people are interested in watching sports. This year in particular, he felt like he had a greater responsibility to broadcast sports.
“We’ve seen a steady increase in views because this was the first year we really pushed out our online live streaming,” Susanin said. “It’s been nice seeing more viewers and more people enjoying the broadcast that are thankful that we’re there.”
Susanin has four years of experience at TETV, and says that there haven’t been too many changes in the process of recording with the exception of COVID-19 protocols. All members are required to wear a mask, and their equipment is spaced out.
“The hardest part is being in the gym, having to sit six feet away, and social distancing with not much space. It’s kind of difficult to hear sometimes because the gym, even without any fans, gets pretty loud,” Susanin said.
Baskin is looking forward to the technological progression and advancements being made in broadcasting at TETV.
“Having the live stream is a nice way for us to sort of catch up with how a lot of people are watching things these days. People are moving away from having cable, and so it’s nice for us to be able to have a different ability for people to watch what we’re doing,” Baskin said. “I think that’s the nice thing for us right now.”
Freshman Marisa Francione, a player on the girls’ varsity basketball team, is thankful for the online streams and more easily accessible broadcasting.
“Conestoga’s doing a really good job live-streaming. It’s a great way for people who normally wouldn’t come to games (to watch), like my grandparents who live in another state,” Francione said. “I think it’s the best option available right now to keep everyone safe, but still be able to enjoy the game.”
