Web TV delivers for car fans

CarTorque.Tv delivers fresh motorsport coverage rather than leaving fans to scour television and the internet for delayed highlight packages. Photo / Northern Advocate

Cartorque.Tv is New Zealand's dedicated automotive web-TV station that provides information and entertaining footage on everything to do with cars. Users are able to watch the content in full motion video without the constant buffering that can occur on other internet video platforms.

The company has identified a gap in the New Zealand automotive market where you will be able to access all the information you need via the net and be able to hear the car you might be looking for.

"We are very excited about bringing this high-quality video platform to New Zealand's automotive market," said co-owner Adam Nelson. "The appetite for online video content is enormous and the opportunities for distributors and motorsport with live streaming is the way of the future.

"The likes of Trade Me do a good job for used cars, but when it comes to new vehicles and motorsport action there is no comparison."

CarTorque.Tv enables folk to watch cars in action, driving around Kiwi streets and on a race circuit, showcasing the interior and exterior features. Brand switching occurs when researching a new vehicle purchase and the site lets distributors showcase video content of their new cars in its entirety, financially prohibitive on traditional television.

It also enables consumers to view numerous brands of new vehicles in the one place. It's not just about new cars though; hot rods, V8s, custom bikes, technology, famous drivers, race circuits, historical footage and interviews are all part of the package. There are over 100 view-on-demand videos available with new ones coming online every week.

One of the objectives is to provide the New Zealand automotive industry with quality exposure. The opportunities for new vehicle distributors, motorsport, car clubs and even car enthusiasts are endless. The investments organisations put into some of these events is quite astounding, yet the coverage in local media is often delayed, with just highlights or an article that lasts a day, and with online there are random videos all over the show. CarTorque.Tv wants to change this outlook and give this car-mad nation the full noise on these events.

The company will be able to live-stream a new vehicle release from the showroom so potential buyers can get involved in the excitement and feel they are a part of the hype. After the event the footage remains on the site so people can view on demand. The same goes for motorsport and car clubs, with a quality online format helping drive memberships, and the new car market and ticket sales to local events.

"With prime time a thing of the past, it is now time for internet TV," said co-owner Mark Courtney. "We have an informative, entertaining channel, specific to the automotive industry, were the viewer has the ability to watch what they want, when they want, in high definition, full-motion video, at no cost.

"And what's more, advertisers have a cost-effective and measurable medium in which they can demonstrate their products and brand 24/7.

"Now that's what I call a win-win situation."

Cartorque.TV is in its early stages of development with enhancements in functionality happening every week. A new comprehensive search engine is just around the corner. The CarTorque.Tv site features on Ziln. Ziln is New Zealand's first internet TV network which began in September and as of last month carries a mix of 23 live-streaming and view-on-demand TV/video channels.

"The Ziln model is a new way of doing television in that it is not just a replayer of content already created for real-time broadcast on legacy platforms," said director Paul Brennan.

"The vastly lower distribution cost of internet distributed television means the Ziln model can create an environment where a new category of content is generated specifically to reach new niche and ultra-niche TV audiences via internet-enabled screens - in other words, a revolution in television."

Harnessing the power of ever-improving broadband speeds Ziln has been created to offer a new television experience where viewers can watch what they want, when they want, on the device they want, where they want. The digitisation of television together with massively cheaper filming and editing technology and tools allows new streams of TV content to be produced and tightly targeted to niche viewing audiences.

The ability of Ziln to target very specific audiences gives advertisers new opportunities to focus TV advertising in a far more concentrated way.

The inevitable move to lounge screen TV sets will further cement internet TV as the delivery system of the future.