MHSAA News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - March 10, 2005
Contact: John Johnson or Andy Frushour
517.332.5046 or www.mhsaa.com

Radio, Television, Internet Broadcast Plans Set For Winter Championships

EAST LANSING , Mich. - March 10 - Broadcast coverage of Michigan High School Athletic Association winter tournaments expands again in 2004-05 to include its Ice Hockey Finals, in addition to coverage of Finals in girls competitive cheer, girls volleyball and boys basketball.

Leading off the package will be the return to the airwaves of the MHSAA Ice Hockey Finals. The three championship games on Saturday (March 12) at Compuware Arena in Plymouth will be shown live on Comcast Local, servicing Comcast Cable subscribers in the Metropolitan Detroit, Flint, Lansing and Grand Rapids markets. Plans will also be made to show these games on cable systems of the finalists in the tournament not serviced by Comcast on a live or tape-delayed basis.

Here is the telecast schedule for the Ice Hockey Finals on Comcast Local:

Division 3, March 12, 11 a.m. – LIVE – Replays on March 17 at 7 p.m. and March 18 at 4 p.m.
Division 2, March 12, 3 p.m. – LIVE (Following Mid-American Conference Women’s Basketball Championship Game) – Replays on March 16 at 7 p.m. and March 18 at 7 p.m.
Division 1, March 12, 7 p.m. – LIVE – Replays on March 15 at 7 p.m. and March 18 at 9 p.m.

Three championships will again be shown FSN Detroit. The MHSAA will produce the final round of action in the Girls Competitive Cheer Finals, and full match coverage of the Girls Volleyball Finals for tape-delayed airing on FSN Detroit in April. FSN Detroit will produce and air the final games of the Boys Basketball Tournament on March 19 for the eighth straight year as part of its contract with the MHSAA. In addition, FSN Detroit has again been running promotional messages throughout the months of February and March in advance of all MHSAA Winter championships.

Here is the telecast schedule for Winter MHSAA Championships on FSN Detroit:

Boys Basketball – Class D, March 19, LIVE; Class C, March 19, LIVE; Class A, March 19, LIVE;
Class B, March 20, Tape-Delayed, 1 a.m. and 9 a.m.
Girls Competitive Cheer – Class B, April 2, 1 p.m.; Class C-D, April 2, 4 p.m.; Class A, April 7, 6 p.m.
Girls Volleyball – Class D, April 2, 2 p.m.; Class C, April 2, 5 p.m.; Class A, April 9, 5:30 p.m.;
Class B, April 16, 5 p.m.

In addition, each telecast will reair at later dates, with the schedule to be announced on the MHSAA Web site.

The MHSAA-Michigan Association of Broadcasters Foundation Championship Radio Network, presented by Farm Bureau Insurance, will produce audio broadcasts of the Girls Volleyball Finals on Saturday and the Boys Basketball Semifinals and Finals, March 17-18-19. This is the third year of audio coverage for the Girls Volleyball Finals, with the broadcast available to stations wishing to pick up the feed, and to the public via the Internet through the MHSAA Web site and the preps page of the Michigan Live Web site.

Stations on the Boys Basketball Finals network are: WABJ-Adrian; WQBX-Alma; WBCK/WRCC-Battle Creek; WKAD-Cadillac; WKYO-WIDL – Caro; WBCY-Cheboygan; WTVB-Coldwater; WDOW-Dowagiac; WVFN-East Lansing; WCHT-Escanaba; WDBC-Escanaba; WTRX-Flint; WBBL-Grand Rapids; WMPL-Hancock; WCSR-Hillsdale; WHTC-Holland; WMIQ/WZNL-FM-Iron Mountain; WIKB-Iron River; WJMS-Ironwood; WIBM-Jackson; WKLA-Ludington; WMTE-Manistee; WTIQ-Manistique; WHCH-Marquette; WMPX-Midland; WMMI-Mt. Pleasant; WNBY-Newberry; WMBN/WMKT-Petoskey; WKNW-Sault Ste. Marie; WIDG-St. Ignace; WMSH-Sturgis; WKJC-Tawas City; and WPNW-Zeeland. WVFN in East Lansing will again serve as the flagship station of the network, and carry all Semifinal and Final games in both sports.

In addition, the MHSAA, in cooperation with the Michigan Association of Broadcasters Foundation, will stream a second audio broadcast of the Boys Basketball Finals on Michigan Live on March 19, with high school student announcers who competed for honors in statewide competition conducted by the MAB Foundation handling the call of the games. The MHSAA and MAB Foundation will also conduct a sportscasting seminar for high school students in conjunction with the Semifinal round of the Boys Basketball Tournament on March 18.

The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by over 1,800 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.

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