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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE-Aug. 23, 2002
Contact: John Johnson or Randy Allen
517.332.5046 or www.mhsaa.com

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Aug. 23 - Year-long statewide coverage of all high school sports in 2002-03 will be featured in a package crafted between the Michigan High School Athletic Association and the Michigan Talk Radio Network.

Under the arrangement, MTRN will provide live coverage of four MHSAA Tournament Finals, and expanded coverage of the Selection Sunday announcement of the qualifiers for the 2002 Football Playoffs.

But the key element of the package is the weekly coverage all sports will receive through two editions of MHSAA Instant Replay.

The full edition of Instant Replay will air Saturday mornings from 11 until Noon (Eastern Time) as part of MTRN's regularly-scheduled programming. The Saturday morning show will present scores, reports and interviews from the past week in high school sports, and take a brief look at the remainder of the weekend's sporting scene. The Saturday show debuts Sept. 7.

Instant Replay will also be packaged as a five-minute feature program which will air at various times during the week on approximately 40 stations across the state. The first half of each program will generally be a feature pertaining to a geographic region of the state, while the second half of the program will be a statewide feature. Individual stations are expected to air the feature edition of Instant Replay as part of the general daily sports programming or as a pre-game or halftime feature on their broadcast of a local high school game. The five-minute feature show debuts the week of Sept. 1.

MTRN also assumes the day-to-day operations of the MHSAA Championship Network, which was launched in 1988. Under the agreement, MTRN will produce four championship events for statewide radio audiences and worldwide audiences on the Internet.

The championship games of the MHSAA Football Playoffs at the Pontiac Silverdome on Nov. 29-30, and the Girls Volleyball Finals in Kalamazoo on March 22, will be produced by MTRN for Internet listeners, and for those radio stations wishing to carry those games.

For the MHSAA Girls and Boys Basketball Finals, MTRN will replace its regular programming on those days to provide wall-to-wall, day-long coverage of those championship games, with continuous coverage beginning at 9 a.m. and concluding at approximately 10 p.m. Featured on those broadcasts will the insights and interviews with high school sports personalities from around the state, telling the story of the rich history of high school basketball in Michigan. In addition, MTRN will produce the semifinal games of both tournaments for Internet listeners, those radio stations wishing to carry those contests, and a local station in the market of each tournament. The Girls Basketball Semifinals and Finals will take place in Mt. Pleasant, Dec. 5-6-7; and the Boys Basketball Semifinals and Finals will be in East Lansing, March 20-21-22.

On Selection Sunday, October 27, MTRN's Michigan Sports Weekend program from 4-7 p.m. will originate from the MHSAA Office in East Lansing, providing expanded coverage of the announcement of the qualifiers for the 2002 Football Playoffs. The announcement of the pairings will begin at approximately 5:45 p.m.

Year-long promotion of MHSAA post-season tournaments and messages on sportsmanship, official recruitment and other topics will also be included in MTRN's regular programming as part of the package.

"We have always said that the essence of high school sports is that it is local in nature, and nothing captures that element better than radio," said MHSAA Executive Director John E. "Jack" Roberts. "In working with the Michigan Talk Radio Network, we get the opportunity to capture that local flavor and capitalize on the ever-growing statewide interest in high school sports. The Instant Replay programs provide exposure for sports and stories that many people have not been able to hear about in the past; and the Finals coverage is the best we've ever received."

"An important part of the mission of the Michigan Talk Radio Network is to be a part of everything that is happening in our state, and there's nothing that involves more people than high school sports," said Dave Scott, president of the MTRN. "Many of our affiliate stations include high school sports as a staple of their local programming, and our package with the MHSAA of championship events and the weekly Instant Replay program capitalizes on that interest. The MHSAA has been an important part of the growth of our young network, and we are pleased to help the Association expand that package as our presence in the state grows."

A complete list of stations carrying MHSAA Instant Replay and championship event broadcasts will be posted to the MHSAA Web site (mhsaa.com) by Sept. 1, and the list will be continually updated as new stations become involved.

Stations which are full-time affiliates of MTRN are: Ann Arbor - WSDS; Hastings-WBCH;; Lapeer-WLSP; Petoskey-WWKK; Rogers City-WHAK; and Traverse City-WLDR-AM. Other stations which carry portions of MTRN programming are: Adrian-WABJ; Benton Harbor-WSJM; Big Rapids-WBRN; Charlotte-WLCM; Coldwater-WTVB; Grand Rapids-WNWZ Grand Rapids-WMFN; Ionia-WION; Iron Mountain-WMIQ; Ispheming-WIAN; Kalamazoo-WKLZ; Ludington-WKLA; Manistee-WMTE; Mt. Pleasant-WMMI; Marquette-WDMJ; Petoskey-WJML; Port Huron-WPHM; Saginaw-WSGW; Sandusky-WMIC and St. Ignace-WIDG.

Providing the Internet coverage for this package is Michigan Live, the Ann Arbor based Web site which carries content from eight regional newspapers around the state. MLive has streamed the broadcasts of MHSAA Finals for the past three years.

The Michigan Talk Radio Network, headquartered in Charlevoix, is a rapidly-growing source of Michigan-focused talk radio programs available on 30 radio stations across Michigan. MTRN also provides a complete Michigan news and sports audio service called MTRNNews, as well as radio production and satellite uplink services.

The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by over 1,300 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract approximately 1.6 million spectators each year.

NOTE - For more information about the Michigan Talk Radio Network, contact Marty Scott at 231.237.9316. Radio stations interested in carrying MHSAA Instant Replay and championship event broadcasts should contact MTRN directly.