It's Football Season!

I'm not at all what you would call a rabid sports fan, but as a videographer, there's something magical about covering high school football.

I vividly remember the very first football game I ever covered: September, 1997, in Hamlin.  At the ripe old age of 22, I was a rookie photog for KRBC, and I remember driving up to Pied Piper Stadium in my Jeep Cherokee news vehicle, with the Backstreet Boys blaring on the radio.  Standing along the sidelines, carrying 50 pounds of 1970s-era Sony U-Matic 3/4" video gear, my sole focus was to attempt to follow the ball through the old-school black and white viewfinder.  I wasn't very good at it.  At all.  Luckily, Steve Strain and Mike Miller, the "9 NewsChannel" sports team, were able to pull a couple of highlights from my video.  But those first couple of years of shooting football were awesome. After moving to Florida in 1999, I had the opportunity to cover two seasons of HS football in the Sunshine State; and though football there is on a smaller scale, it was still fun.

2010 is my sixth season covering Big Country HS football since returning to KTAB/KRBC, and my tenth season overall as a videographer.  And though the equipment has changed....my new tapeless HD camcorder features a color HD viewfinder that's like watching a movie in your eye....the experience is still the same.  This Friday night will be typical.  I'll start the evening at Shotwell Stadium, doing 6pm live shots for both KTAB and KRBC previewing Cooper's Homecoming game.  At 6:30, I'll head to Haskell to get a couple of highlights.  Then I'll stop in Hamlin for a little while....I'm still sentimental about that place!  The goal is to be back at the studio by 9:15 or so....edit the highlights....then get back out to Shotwell by 10pm, and meet up with David Bacon so we can interview Coach Spradlin after the game is over.

It may sound like a lot of work, but it's fun.  And most of my time is spent driving, so that's my relaxation time.  And thanks to our team of videographers, we'll have highlights from more than a dozen Big Country games!

Here are some pictures of games I've covered so far this year....



Week 1:  The Early Longhorns visit the Cisco Loboes at Chesley Field.





After missing Week 2 due to illness, Week 3 finds us doing live coverage from Wylie as the Bulldogs host the Graham Steers.  One of our live vans, ENG-9, stands ready to broadcast our live reports back to the tv station.



Between the 6 and 10pm live shots at Wylie, I made the short drive to Tuscola as the Indians hosted the Munday Moguls.

Week 4 featured Abilene High hosting Tampa (FL) Plant HS in a Thursday night game that was aired live nationwide on ESPNU.  It was a rare opportunity for me to stay and watch an entire game...I was in charge of the KRBC 5, 6, and 10 live shots, while Goose took care of KTAB.  And though Shotwell Stadium has awesome new lights, ESPN brought in a set of mobile stadium lights that lit up the entire stadium like daylight.

On Friday night of Week 4, I traveled to Early as the Longhorns hosted the Sweetwater Mustangs.  This is one of those instances where you spend 1.5 hours driving there, spend 15-20 minutes at the game, then drive 1.5 hours back!

98x changes to sports

Last week KTLT 98.1 made the switch from alternative to sports. If you're like me, you're glad to have ESPN back but ANGRY to lose what I (and many others) thought was the best non-country radio station in Abilene.



The station is owned by Cumulus, which also operates Power 103, 102 The Bear and KBCY. Why did they chose to make the change? Your guess is as good as mine. KTAB/KRBC attempted to contact the station but got no return phone calls. Corporate probably decided there was more of a market for sports talk than alternative rock music. I don't have access to the ratings, but if I had to guess, 98x probably had the lowest ratings of the stations I listed above.



Here's the sad part...the station probably had a much larger following than the ratings showed. In my job, I am always driving all over town. I would constantly come across other cars tuned to 98x. Sometimes I'd overhear it at a gas station. Other times, the driver in the lane next to me would be blasting it loud enough for me to hear in my car. (and I knew what station it was because it was almost always tuned in on my radio). I also heard the station playing in local businesses like the barber shop and some clothing stores.



Why weren't the ratings better? One possibility is 98x's listeners just didn't participate in the ratings process. Arbitron, the ratings company, sends out diaries to random people. Those people log the time they spend listening to the radio. It's kind of a pain. So lots of people never send the diary back. There are many other ways the ratings system is flawed. The bottom line is, it isn't perfect but it's the only system available, and like I said, I think it underestimated 98x's audience. Let me also say this. Since I don't have access to the ratings, I don't know for sure that 98x was in the hole. As I said before, even if 98x had good ratings, ESPN radio will probably draw a larger audience (in the eyes of the radio executive). That's just what research shows across the nation.



So why not listen to Rock 108? I guess we have no choice now. It's not a bad station. In fact, it's much better than rock stations in other cities. The thing I don't like about it is it's too hard. What I liked about 98x is that it was the lighter side of rock music. It also had no DJs...just music. Now that it's gone I really notice how much hard rock is played on 108. I guess that's why their slogan is "Real Rock Radio". Don't expect them to pick up any of the lighter music 98x played. That doesn't fit the "real rock radio" format, and it could drive away the people that like Rock 108. That station has been successful for years, and "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".



The bottom line it this...nothing is forever in the media business, so enjoy what you have while it's there because someday it will change.