WRAL-TV is in Indianapolis, ready to bring the latest on Duke in the NCAA Final Four back home to Triangle viewers.
The Duke Blue Devils are heading to the Final Four, and CBC will be there to bring all the action back to Triangle viewers. WRAL-TV crews are already on-site in Indianapolis, working on a half-hour special for Friday night, and CBC Sports Radio’s Adam Gold & Joe Ovies are getting ready for their live court-side broadcast as well.
Big Games, Big Ratings
The NCAA Tourney ratings are continuing to be a winner for WRAL-TV. WRAL-TV Research Directory/Media Buyer Jeff Suss reports that the Duke/Gonzaga game on Sunday, March 29, 2015, did a 23.8 HH rating for WRAL. That’s the highest for a Sunday regional finals since 2012 when the UNC-Kansas game did a 25.8.
Hoops Headquarters on TV
A WRAL-TV team including Renee Chou, Ed Wilson, Jamie Munden, Jeff Gravley, Mandy Mitchell, Ken Medlin, Brad Simmons, and Erin Summers headed to Indianapolis on Wednesday morning to cover the Blue Devils in the Final Four. WRAL-TV Studio Broadcast Engineer Tony Gupton awaited their arrival; he headed straight to Indy from Syracuse in the WRAL live truck.
WRAL-TV Engineer Tony Gupton arrived in Indianapolis with the WRAL Live Truck on Monday to get ready for the Final Four coverage.
WRAL-TV Studio Broadcast Engineer Tony Gupton has been on the road this spring bringing basketball coverage to the Big 5. As the engineer on-site, he handles everything technical inside and out including satellite transmissions for live shots on WRAL.
“This is my 20th Final 4, 18 men’s & 2 women’s,” said Gupton. “I have been on the road a month, ACC in Greensboro, Covered UNC in Jacksonville, Florida, NCSU in Syracuse and now Duke at the Final 4 in Indy. This is what we do – especially this time of year.”
WRAL-TV’s live reports from Indianapolis began Wednesday evening. WRAL-TV is putting together a half-hour special to air Friday, which will be anchored on-site from the Lucas Oil Stadium. And Saturday night, WRAL-TV will expand their 11pm newscast to 45 minutes.
Hoops Headquarters: Final Four Special
Friday at 7:00 pm on WRAL-TV
The Duke v. Michigan State Final Four game will air live on TBS at 6:09pm on Saturday, April 4.
On CBC Radio
CBC Sports Radio will be on hand for both Final Four games and the Championship. Adam Gold & Joe Ovies will do their afternoon shows live from Indianapolis on Friday, Saturday and Monday. They’ll be broadcasting live from radio row on Friday, April 3rd from 3-7p, Saturday, April 4th from 10a-12p – and Monday, April 5th from 3-6:30p. They’ll also be providing exclusive content throughout their trip for WRALSportsFan.com.
Triangle listeners can tune in to both 99.9 The Fan and 620 The Buzz Sports Radio all week for in-depth analysis and this weekend for play by play of the Final Four games.
In addition to providing on-air television coverage, CBC is also keeping the latest scores, brackets, press conferences and more online on WRALSportsFan.com.
The Final Game
The NCAA Basketball Tournament Championship will broadcast live on WRAL-TV on Monday, April 6th at 9:00pm. Everyone at the Big 5 has their fingers crossed the Duke will be playing in that game.
Thanks to WRAL-TV’s Leesa Moore & Jeff Suss for contributions to this capcom story. Thanks to WRAL-TV’s Tony Gupton for these capcom photos.
