Officials are adamant live TV coverage of New Zealand's flagship golf tournament "is part of its future, but in the meantime fans must settle for a highlights package and live online streaming," according to Fred Woodcock of FAIRFAX NZ NEWS. Prohibitive costs mean the New Zealand Open in Queenstown this week, like the women's open, "will not be screened live" on TV. There will, however, "be highlights and some live coverage streamed online" by Ian Taylor's Dunedin-based sports graphics company, Animation Research Ltd., which is "offering its services and technology." Tournament Dir Michael Glading was "excited" by the recent development, but they "did not see online streaming as a substitute for live television, which 'is still very much part of our future.'" Glading: "We realize TV is important and it's part of the future, but we can't do this year and achieve sustainability. We hope it will over time and we certainly explored costings this year." The "commercial reality" of TV in a country of 4 million people "meant achieving financial viability was always going to be tough for most sports, particularly golf which is expensive to cover." Glading said Taylor's company was "doing it for peanuts" (FAIRFAX NZ NEWS, 2/25).
