I have a soft spot in my soul for high school football games. In Wisconsin, I’m not alone.
Thousands of families head out each week to support their local schools for a football game. I’ve been in parts of Wisconsin where community members, with no children attending, who still go to games each week to root on the teenagers in pads.
The staff at WCGV-TV My 24 in Milwaukee has been producing "Thursday Night Lights" for the past four seasons. They worked with area schools to move the game a day earlier to get a special time in the spotlight.
Tomorrow night, the show presented by Wendy’s, and supported by First Bank Financial Centre, The Wisconsin Department of Transportation, and Kaplan University, will present No. 7 ranked Waukesha West against No. 3 Mukwonago at 7 p.m., live from Mukwonago High School.
"We are very excited to be in our fourth season of bringing communities together to put a spotlight on the talent and support present in our local high schools," said WCGV GM Terry Gaughan.
"We have been very pleased with the overwhelming support and encouragement we have received from all of the participating schools and our sponsors. We’re looking forward to another exciting game this week, in a season of marquee match-ups."
The Classic Eight Division rivals both enter the game with a 2-0-0 record, and Thursday’s meeting will be their first conference game of the 2013-14 season, the "Thursday Night Lights" crew reported. Waukesha West is coming off a 39-12 win against New Berlin West while Mukwonago squeaked by Badger High School, 9-7.
WJRN-AM 1400’s John Weiser, who’s known for his coverage of Carthage College, provides play-by-play and longtime Marquette High School head coach Dick Basham does game analysis. My 24 host Kara Volpintesta and WSSP-AM 1250’s Mike McGivern cover the game from the sidelines.
You can find a schedule of the season’s broadcasts here.
STATION ON TOUR: This fall, WTMJ-AM 620 is taking the morning broadcast on the road. The All American Window & Door "We Love Wisconsin Tour" will bring the live broadcast with Gene Mueller and Greg Matzek to various communities throughout Wisconsin.
"As ‘Wisconsin’s Radio Station,’ WTMJ is excited to celebrate individual communities that make our region so special as a whole," said Journal Broadcast Group vice president of news and talk programming Tom Langmyer.
"Gene Mueller and his team will explore the history of each town, introduce listeners to special people and discover fun things to do along the way," he said in a release.
The first spot on the tour was the Museum of Wisconsin Art in West Bend last month. There, Terri Lodwick, owner of All American Window & Door, presented a $1,000 donation to a local charity and the station featured stories about the city.
WTMJ plans to stop at other area communities including the likes of Madison, Kenosha and Sheboygan. You can find out more about the tour here.
SATELLITE DEAL: SiriusXM Radio and Fox News signed a deal today that would bring Fox News and Fox Business Network to the satellite service through August of 2019.
"This is a much broader deal with a lot more stuff in it than we’ve ever had with SiriusXM before," Kevin Magee, the executive vice president of the Fox Business Network told the Radio & TV Business Report.
"They’ve also gotten the internet rights to the audio of the Fox News Channel, which they were happy about – and Fox Business Network and the internet rights to the audio there, too. It’s a big basket of stuff that they didn’t have before."
Fox News Talk, which offers news, analysis, listener call-ins -- and commentary from Brian Kilmeade, John Gibson, Tom Sullivan and Alan Colmes -- will be available online at SiriusXM Internet Radio and through the SiriusXM Internet Radio App on smart phones and other connected devices, Fox News reported.
Media is bombarding us everywhere.
Instead of sheltering his brain from the onslaught, Steve embraces the news stories, entertainment, billboards, blogs, talk shows and everything in between.
The former writer, editor and producer in TV, radio, Web and newspapers, will be talking about what media does in our community and how it shapes who we are and what we do.