Kapa haka radio broadcast shuts down site

The pressure of people listening to live broadcasts of the kapa haka festival being held in Gisborne sent the server hosting internet sites for 22 iwi radio stations crashing this morning.

Te Matatini o Te Ra executive director Darrin Apanui said Streamcom, the Auckland-based company providing the service, had never experienced an overload of traffic for live streaming.

"The demand from listeners to the live festival internet stream was so high it brought the server down, cutting off thousands of listeners," Mr Apanui said.

Te Mangai Paho chief executive John Bishara said it showed the popularity of kapa haka and the importance of iwi radio for Maori.

"For many of our people who cannot make the event, access to a live broadcast is their only means of getting their kapa haka fix," he said.

The fault was later fixed.