HighSchoolOT Live Mock-Up
This is an example of what “HighSchoolOT Live” will look like online each Friday night during the fall. Fans will be able to pick what show or live stream they want to watch and toggle between games.
The way high school football fans in the HighSchoolOT.com coverage area follow the sport is about to change.
HighSchoolOT.com and its parent company, Capitol Broadcasting Company, announced Friday the launch of a new “HighSchoolOT Live” feature – a live, weekly show that will provide live in-game updates at a handful of games across the region.
“HighSchoolOT Live” is presented by Taco Bell.
Nick Stevens will serve as the in-studio host of “HighSchoolOT Live” each week. Stevens has covered high school football in North Carolina for ten years and is the senior editor of HighSchoolOT.com. He will be joined each week by former football coach Wayne Bragg, who will serve as a color commentator. Bragg has been a head football coach at Panther Creek High School and Holly Springs High School, and served as an assistant football coach at Northern Durham High School.
“It is very exciting to be on the ground level of something like this,” Stevens said. “Nothing like this is being done anywhere else – unless you go look at the NFL Network. We will have the ability to really change the way fans follow high school football.”
Stevens said the addition of Bragg to the studio staff will make the product even better.
“Coach Bragg has a wealth of knowledge about the sport and he knows our local teams very well. He will be able to provide insight and analysis that you simply can’t get anywhere else,” he said.
The show will begin at 6:55 p.m. each Friday night and run until at least 10 p.m. It can be seen live on HighSchoolOT.com, the free HighSchoolOT.com mobile application, and on the WRAL application for Roku and Amazon Fire. The audio from the show will be streamed live each Friday night on 99.9 The Fan beginning at 7 p.m.
“HighSchoolOT Live” will feature a Game of the Week each week during the regular season. The Game of the Week will be a multi-camera production, complete with graphics, play-by-play and color commentary. Fans will have the option to watch the full broadcast of the Game of the Week instead of the in-studio “HighSchoolOT Live” show if they choose to do so.
In addition to the Game of the Week, HighSchoolOT.com will have live streams from an additional five games each week. These streams will be utilized by Stevens & Bragg on “HighSchoolOT Live” to provide live, in-game updates from across the region. These streams will also be available to watch as standalone streams.
A partnership with Middle Creek High School will provide live coverage of all home games at Middle Creek as well. “The Sports Block” – a student-run digital media program at Middle Creek – broadcasts all home football games for the Mustangs. The broadcast includes multi-camera shoots, talent and graphics. The production will be used by “HighSchoolOT Live” and will also be available for streaming on HighSchoolOT.com.
“Capitol Broadcasting is always pushing the envelope of what’s possible,” said John Conway, general manager of CBC New Media’s digital platforms. “This is another example of that. I am not aware of any other media company trying to offer as much live video coverage of high school football.”
It is believed that HighSchoolOT.com is the first media organization to attempt to cover high school football in such a manner. The hope is that high school football fans across the area will have the ability to follow more games in real-time, giving the sport and the players more exposure than ever.
“Data suggests video consumption will only continue to accelerate, so we are going to offer an unprecedented amount of live video for fans of high school football,” Conway said.
You can follow “HighSchoolOT Live” on Twitter @HSOTLive and engage on all social media platforms with the hashtag #HSOTLive.
“HighSchoolOT Live” is not replacing any other coverage fans have come to expect from HighSchoolOT.com or WRAL-TV.
The 36th season of “Football Friday” will begin on Friday, Aug. 26, at 11:35 p.m. on WRAL-TV. WRAL sports anchor Jeff Gravley will host the show this season, taking over for Tom Suiter, who retired in June after 35 years of hosting the show. High school football highlights on Aug. 19 will be included in the 11 o’clock news due to the Olympics on NBC.
WRAL-TV will continue the Tom Suiter Extra Effort Award in September as well. The Extra Effort Award is a weekly feature where the television station recognizes a local high school senior who excels in athletics, in the classroom, and in the community.
HighSchoolOT.com’s unparalleled coverage will also continue with a live scoreboard on Friday nights, game stories, highlights and slideshows. Additional coverage during the week will also be announced in the future.
Thanks to WRALSportsFan.com for this capcom story & for these capcom graphics.
