EC Schools Extends Edmonson Voice's Sports Broadcast Agreement For Two More Years

Edmonson Voice Sports Report
This week, the Edmonson County Board of Education approved a two year contract between ECHS and the Edmonson Voice to continue the local media outlet's exclusive broadcast coverage of ECHS football and boys and girls basketball for the upcoming seasons.

While the school and The Voice look to build around the same familiar local broadcasters with Scott Lindsey, Bryan Thompson, Jamie Carnes, and others, the school is also making an effort to include more sports in this year's broadcast in addition to basketball and football.

Last year, "WildcatsLive" made it's debut on the Edmonson Voice network, broadcasting live games while nearly tripling the amount of listeners from the previous year. While listening to a game via the internet might still be a new concept to some, the Edmonson Voice continues to bring new and creative ideas to those looking to keep up with current events in Edmonson County.

Sports Director Jamie Carnes, a veteran of ECHS sports broadcasting, said he expects this year's broadcast to attract the most listeners yet.

"There's a reason the Edmonson Voice is the local news and information leader in our county," he said. "The sports coverage is no exception. The WildcatsLive broadcast teams have made some big upgrades to make the upcoming seasons the best ever."

ECHS Athletic Director Kyle Pierce said that the athletic department wanted to show their appreciation toward the Edmonson Voice staff by signing a multi-year agreement, due to a huge increase in listeners and the positive results the broadcast has brought to the school.

"The fact that the Edmonson Voice is run locally, by life-long Edmonson County residents really adds to it," he said. "They have strong ties to our county. They have a vested interest in our success. They are happy when we win and they hurt when we lose."

The show production is the first of it's kind for a local county broadcast, taken care of behind the scenes by Edmonson Voice owner Darren Doyle.

"WildcatsLive is as good as any local sports show anywhere," Doyle said. "Take a listen to other local games and you'll quickly hear the difference. Our broadcast team is as good as you'll find and these guys are a huge reason people log on to listen. And with a full service recording studio where we take care of production, The Edmonson Voice is very fortunate to have these resources available."

Doyle said the EV's working relationship with the Edmonson County School System has been nothing but excellent since the company began in 2014. "We're extremely grateful that our schools have embraced the idea of an online news network and have worked so well with us," he added.

This year, in addition to football and basketball, the school system is also adding game broadcasts for other sports like volleyball, baseball, and softball, in the event that these teams advance in post season play, such as district finals and regional tournaments. Possibilities for even more sports might happen, too.

Pierce also said that he feels like internet broadcasts are better than a traditional radio broadcast for the majority.

"The ability to listen to the games from anywhere is really beneficial. There are some long road trips and some of our fans cannot travel to every game. But with WildcatsLive, you can listen from your cell phone, tablet, home computer, from your own home, while you are in the car, or even if you are in another country. As long as you have internet service, you can listen to the game live."

ECHS Football will host a scrimmage game against Allen County Scottsville Thursday, August 11 at 6pm. You can listen to the first broadcast of the season with Scott and Bryan with the pregame show starting at 5:45pm.

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