Answers to your Reitz/Jasper TV Questions and a Preview
Tuesday, November 3, 2009 at 7:46PM 
With the first TV broadcast of a high school football game in the Home Team Friday era, there are a lot of questions. These past two days I have spent a lot of time organizing this telecast with all of the great people at the station.
So let me update you on some items, and then I’ll answer some of your questions.
First off, many have asked exactly where to find our digital channel RTV 25. If you are a cable subscriber, you have to have the digital package to be able to see the channel. Here is a list of what channel RTV 25 is on every cable provider:
Over the Air: NEWS 25-2
Insight: Channel 189
WOW!: Channel 111
Time Warner: Channels 184 and 311
Avenue Broadband: Channel 135
More good news, we will stream the television broadcast online at www.news25.us . A link will be on our home page, and on our sports page that will launch you into the webcast. That means fans from anywhere in the world can watch the game. Alumni of both teams anywhere can tune in. I hope the stream looks good. I know our computer tech people are working hard to get things setup for Friday.
The kickoff will be at 7:05pm, and our broadcast will go on at 7:00pm. Reitz Athletic Director Beth Hagan and EVSC Athletic Director Paul Neidig have been great in helping out with this telecast. The hardest part was figuring out where to put the two upper cameras. Reitz is having a lift brought in from Doug Waterman at VANDCO on the right of the press box. That will give us an angle up and over the fans and near midfield. Thanks so much to Doug and VANDCO for their help on that. The only hiccup is that our two cameramen up in the lift will be right next to the PA speakers. So to avoid any hearing damage, we have picked up two professional headphones from a gun range for the guys to wear. Hopefully that will work.
Keep in mind since this is our first football broadcast we are trying to keep things simple so things will go smoothly. It is my belief that we will get to do more and more games if the demand is there. That is when we can expand some of the production quality and spruce things up, but for now, it is all about mainstreaming things and making sure you the viewer get what you need.
We will have instant replay. We are bringing in deck to record the game and cue up replays. My buddy from Wabash Valley Junior College in Mt. Carmel Kyle Peach will run the replay machine. The angle of the replay will be the exact same as what just aired, but at least it will be a replay.
We will also have an on screen scoreboard up the entire time. There will not be a clock on the scoreboard, so I will try to say the time on air as much as possible so everyone knows. I am sure we will also have a camera shoot the scoreboard in between plays from time to time.
I talked with both head coaches the last two days. Both Tony Lewis and Tony Ahrens were really nice and complimentary about the broadcast. They are also both excited about being a part of such an enormous game. Ahrens told me that Jasper has played in the rain and mud 9 out of its 11 games. He said he is looking forward to playing in good weather and on the turf. Coach Lewis is focused on the running game of Jasper. He said that the Cats have been pointing to this year for awhile as a special season.
The one thing that should not get lost in this entire night is how special it is for everyone involved. I was talking with Matt McIntosh, and I asked him how he would describe this kind of game to some random high school football player in say New Hampshire. Matt told me he doesn’t ever take the support and atmosphere for granted. He said he gets chills every time he runs out onto the Reitz Bowl. He went on and on how great the Reitz fans are, and how lucky the team is to have the support.
I also talked to Panthers safety Erik Bryant about Jasper quarterback Austin Ahrens. Even though Ahrens and McIntosh are not identical players, they have a lot in common. They are dual threats that make great decisions. Bryant talked about how good Ahrens is, and how difficult it is to defend him.
I appreciated how much that both Jasper and Reitz respected each other. There were absolutely no derogatory remarks by either team. That is refreshing.
I joked with Coach Lewis that I wasn’t rooting for either team, but I would like it to go to overtime with one of the teams going for 2 and the win. He laughed and said that just may happen.
I want to emphasize that I really like and respect both teams. I will do my very best to do the broadcast as neutral as possible. It is very difficult. I remember when I did the KWC/USI basketball game in 2000; I had eight emails from KWC fans claiming I was biased for USI, and six emails from USI fans claiming I was biased towards KWC. It was kind of funny. I will keep the broadcast positive, and try to paint the best picture as possible of what is going on. I will also make sure to wait for a referee’s signal on a play! I will never live down that Reitz/Cathedral ending!!
I will say though, whoever wins…I will be rooting for that team to win State. That goes for all of our teams left in the Tri-State!! I love it when our teams win State Championships. There is nothing better than that!
Ok, let me answer your questions:
Somehow can you get this on the internet also, through the stations internet site or maybe through ustream.com or another site...tons of Reitz alum in Indianapolis that would love to watch it
-Scott
That would be great if they could somehow stream the game online for people outside of the area!
-Panther Man 98
Yep! Go to www.news25.us and go to the sports page on Friday
Ill be at the game and still would like to record it at home for later playback. I get the over-the-air signal and can't record onto my dvd recorder. What are my options for getting this game recorded?
-Griffco76
My best advice for that is to go Old School and hook up a VHS VCR to your over the air box and record it on tape. I know that is not the greatest of answers, but I am not sure what the other options are. Hopefully a Reitz or Jasper fan will be able to capture the webcast and upload it for the fans to download and save it to their computer. I will look into the possibility of being able to save the webcast here at the station for online for downloading purposes.
How many camera's are you going to use at the game? Would be nice if it was broadcast on the web also. How many people will actually have access with the game being on the digital channel? It is great what you do to help promote high school football. Hopefully this turns out well and you can do more games in the future!!!
-Kevin
We are going to have 4 cameras at the game. Like I said earlier, we are keeping things simple on our first telecast. Anyone with a digital antennae can get the broadcast free over the air, but on cable you do have to purchase the digital package. I do think if things go well, we will do a lot more of these for not only football, but for other sports. (crossing my fingers)
That's great! I hope your ratings are really good might help for future broadcast......
-Pings59
Just as important as ratings and sponsorships is feedback! Emails and calls to the station on how much you enjoy the broadcast go a long way!! Just the feedback we have gotten in two days has not gone unnoticed by my bosses.
Lance, thanks for all the wonderful coverage you do for HS football, and especially all you did for our 07 team.
Is there a way to get this broadcast if I'm on DirectTV?
-PDaddy
Unfortunately no. DirecTV does not carry the digital channel. Hopefully that will change, but I am sure it will take awhile. You can watch it online, or better yet, go to a buddy’s house that has RTV25 bring a pizza and have a great night!
If you have any other questions, let me know. Also thanks for all of the other kind posts that didn’t have questions, but just thanks us for doing the game. That is very much appreciated.
Three days till kickoff! I can’t wait. We have a lot of interviews from both teams that we will be running preview stories all week in my sportscasts on NEWS 25.
Best wishes to both Reitz and Jasper!
Reader Comments (9)
Excited about being able to watch this game in Pa. As a Jasper alum living 12 hours away, it stinks not being able to see the boys play. All my news comes from News 25.
Great news about the webcast Lance. I know several people that live out of the area that wanted to see this game. Hope everything goes smoothly for you Friday night. Hope that it is a great injury free game. GO CATS!!!!!!!
If there was a game that needs to be televised for all to see, it would be this one. Two very strong teams and it is almost a shame that someone's season will have to come to an end Friday. This is going to be a KILLER sectional championship.
Thanks to everyone at Tv25. This should be a great event for the tri-state area.
Just wanted you to know that I always watched 14news but have switched to 25. thanks for all you are doing. Go Panthers
Thank you for doing this! It would be awesome if we could download the game to save and keep forever! Thank you Lance for all you do for High School sports!
Thanks for streaming the Reitz game online, I will be watching from Hong Kong.
Sincerely,
Graham McDowell
Reitz High School 07’
Thank you for doing this Lance. I cannot wait to see how this turns out, and I hope that this takes off for future games.
Broadcast is Great. Great picture on the tube. You guys are doing an entertaining job. Clear and Clean on the play by play.
Reitz Speed and Passing formations have really surprised and confused the Cats. The turf was a definite advantage in the early going.