University of Houston Athletics
UH Network Agrees To New Deal With KBME 790
8/5/2004 12:00:00 AM | General
Aug. 5, 2004
HOUSTON, Texas - The Houston ISP Sports Network has reached a new agreement with Clear Channel Radio that will make KMBE 790 the flagship home of Cougar football and men's basketball for the next five years. The partnership was announced here today by ISP Sports, the multimedia rights holder for UH Athletics, the university athletic department and officials of Clear Channel. "Our new contract with Clear Channel gives us expanded coverage in the Houston region and is extremely important in terms of exciting our alums and attracting new fans," UH Director of Athletics Dave Maggard says. "This extended relationship is very beneficial to our program in a very competitive marketplace. "Keeping our fans informed and marketing our football and basketball programs in this area are key to generating new resources for our programs, while also exposing the great benefits of attending the University of Houston to high school coaches and student-athletes here locally." Programming to be carried by KBME includes all football and men's basketball broadcasts as well as "Cougar Talk Presented by Perry Homes," a one-hour weekly call-in show featuring head football coach Art Briles and head basketball coach Tom Penders during their respective seasons. All game broadcasts will also involve pregame and postgame shows in both football (45-minute pregame, 30-minute postgame) and basketball (15-minute pregame and postgame). "We are proud to continue our partnership with the University of Houston, Dave Maggard and his awesome team, as well as the folks at ISP Sports," Ken Charles, regional vice president of programming for Clear Channel Houston, says. "Having UH in our stable of teams and working with two class coaches like Art Briles and Tom Penders has been a great experience for us and one we are excited to extend for many years to come." In addition to KBME serving as the flagship for Cougar broadcasts, the Houston ISP Sports Network this fall will also include KSTV-FM (93.1 in Stephenville), which will carry a full schedule, and KBW-AM (1010 in Waco), which will air selected contests. "We are delighted to have this new agreement in place with KBME and Clear Channel," Stacy Hall, general manager of the ISP Sports Houston operation, says, "and we are excited with the opportunities to expand our network to other markets throughout southeast Texas. We hope to be adding additional affiliates to the network soon." UH opens its 2004 football season on September 5 against Rice at Reliant Stadium. The first network broadcast this fall will be the initial "Cougar Talk" show with Briles and the new "Voice of the Cougars," Tom Franklin, on August 30 at 7 p.m. ISP Sports, the exclusive multimedia rights holder for UH Athletics, is based in Winston-Salem, NC. The company manages radio networks for a number of other major college programs such as Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, Syracuse and Vanderbilt, covering 13 states and listing more than 300 affiliates among its total network membership. ---www.UHcougars.com---
