Five more reasons to watch the SEA Games

SINGAPORE — Five digital platforms, including the first-ever use of a multi-camera coverage application for a multi-sport event, will be used by the Singapore South-east Asian (SEA) Games Organising Committee (SINGSOC) to enable those from Singapore and the region to watch the upcoming SEA Games from wherever they are.

At an announcement at the Singapore Sports Institute today (May 18), SINGSOC unveiled the SEA Games TV mobile application, a first in the biennial event’s history. The application will provide livestreams of more than 600 hours of competition from 17 sporting events, and of the opening and closing ceremonies on June 5 and 16, respectively.

Users can also watch events from multiple angles under the multi-camera option for eight sports including football, table tennis and swimming.

Up to 16 cameras will support this function, which has been used in major events including the 2014 World Cup but never in a multi-sport event, said SINGSOC’s head of information operations centre Thomas Lim.

“As fans get more and more demanding in terms of their digital experience, this (SEA Games TV) application will allow people to have not just a streamlined experience, but with the multi-camera angle, it will allow them to navigate and consume the content as they like it,” said Mr Lim.

“This is a trailblazing initiative, and it is important we keep up with expectations of digital consumers.”

The SEA Games TV application can be accessed from any smart mobile device or tablet running iOS and Android, and will be available for free download next Monday (May 25). Android users can access a beta version of the app from tomorrow (May 19).

SINGSOC will also use four other digital platforms to make the Games more accessible to the public. These include the Games’ official YouTube channel, website and Social Wall, mobile and web application for results (available on May 25) and a gaming application called NILA’s quest.

The platforms will require more than 100 volunteers gathering content from all 402 events across 31 venues, and a team of over 30 operations staff providing around-the-clock technical support.

With just more than two weeks to the start of the SEA Games, SINGSOC’s digital strategy to reach out to the public has so far proved encouraging.

As of 8pm today, the official SEA Games Facebook Page had more than 310,000 likes, their official Twitter account had just under 40,000 followers, while their Instagram account had more than 2,000 followers.