University of Houston Athletics
UH Athletics and ISP Sports Announce Expanded Coverage
8/25/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 25, 2005
HOUSTON, Texas - The University of Houston Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, in conjunction with its multi-media rights holder, ISP Sports, Inc., today announced the Houston ISP Sports Network has expanded its broadcast coverage, now reaching into the East Texas communities of Beaumont and Lufkin for the 2005 football season.
UH Director of Athletics Dave Maggard believes this expansion shows that Cougar Athletics is returning to national prominence.
"Three years ago we established the goal of receiving more expanded coverage around the state of Texas," commented Maggard. "We have made great progress in this area in terms of our radio coverage. This will pay dividends for years to come not only for our athletic program, but also for the entire university. This coverage creates an awareness (of Cougar Athletics) and tells the story regarding the progress being made in our athletic program as well as so many other aspects of University of Houston.
"It is a real positive for our program."
The flagship for Cougar broadcasts again will be ESPN 790, and KIKR-AM (1450) in Beaumont and KYBI-FM (100.1)/KRBA-AM (1340) out of Lufkin joining the network this season. Last season, Stephenville's KSTV-AM (93.1), KBW-AM (1010) in Waco and KCCT-AM (1150)/KSIX-AM (1230) in Corpus Christi were added to the network.
The Houston/ISP Sports, Inc., partnership also announced the new dates and times for "Cougar Talk with Art Briles" presented by Perry Homes, moving from Monday nights to a Tuesday-Thursday set up this fall.
Broadcasting UH head coach Art Briles' coach's show from Irma's Southwest Grill in downtown Houston, Cougar Talk will move from 7-8 pm to 8-9 pm and will be hosted on Tuesdays (August 30, September 6, September 13, September 27 and November 22) and Thursdays (September 22, October 6, October 13, October 20, November 3 and November 22). The "Voice of the Cougars," ESPN 790's Tom Franklin, will serve as the host of the call-in talk show.
Dr. Stacy Hall, Vice President and General Manager of the Houston/ISP Sports, Inc., property, concurs with Maggard's statements.
"ISP Sports is committed to providing Cougar fans with quality programming and expanded network coverage," said Hall. "Now in our fourth year as the exclusive multi-media rights holder for University of Houston Athletics, we are more excited than ever to be a part of the Cougar Family."
Both the expanded network and the upgraded Cougar Talk with Art Briles make their respective debuts next week. The first edition of Cougar Talk will broadcast on Tuesday, August 30, and the Cougars kick off the 2005 season by playing host to the University of Oregon on Thursday, September 1, at 6 pm at Reliant Stadium. The pre-game show for the UH-Oregon broadcasts begins 30 minutes before kickoff.
All but two of the Cougar Football broadcasts will have a 60-minute pre-game and a 30-minute post-game. Due to being weekday games, the Oregon and UTEP games will feature a 30-minute pre-game and 60-minute post game.
The Cougar football broadcast team will remain the same for the second straight year, with veteran Houston announcer Franklin handling the play-by-play chores with Tony Fitzpatrick as the color analyst and Chuck Brown on the sidelines.
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