Watch it again on UND Sports.TV

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

5-1-2012

Abstract

Watch it again on UND Sports.TV

The 2011-2012 seasons are in the books for most of UND’s athletic teams. And for UND’s weekly show dedicated to digging into the wide world of UND Sports and its fans, the second season successfully wrapped last month. [The summer schedule of monthly broadcasts began Thursday night, May 3rd]

But if you missed Season 2's finale of UND Sports TV, there’s a solution for that: UNDSports.TV, a new site designed to showcase the singular UND experience.

The UND Sports TV show began in August of 2011 as a cooperative effort between UND Athletics and UND Marketing. With executive producer and UND Athletics Director, Brian Faison, the show is co-produced by Senior Associate Athletics Director, Sean Johnson and Director of eMarketing, Tim DeBolt.

According to Johnson, "One of the things we really like about this show is the partnership with students here at UND--getting students on camera, having them involved in production -- we think it’s a great experience that we're able to provide through our product."

“People have been asking where they can see certain episodes, particular athletes or segments,” says DeBolt, “so we built a site making the total content available to fans everywhere.”

And there are fans "everywhere." The show is viewed online by all 50 states in the Union, and dozens of countries around the globe. DeBolt built and programmed the site utilizing YouTube’s api (application programming interface), and various RSS feeds.

The show originally broadcasts on MidContinent cable throughout North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota. The management of MidCo Sports is among the fans of the show and have chosen to rebroadcast episodes throughout each week. Although the show enjoys great popularity on television and online, there are those who question whether YouTube is the right outlet for a university.

“I understand there are still some people with that opinion. We were tasked by President Kelley to help expand the footprint of UND. Efficient use of the popular ‘social spaces’ is just one of the ways we chose to do that. And we are doing that with considerable success,” says DeBolt.

UND alum and former walk-on quarterback, Josh Morton, Executive Director of the North Dakota Champions Club, anchors UND Sports. He gets an assist from UND student anchors, Danny Luetzen, Sean Lee, and Miranda Hilgers, and fellow UND alum, Lacey Erickson. When asked about the show’s popularity, DeBolt spread the credit around.

“The show’s secret sauce is "collaboration" and has many ingredients,” says DeBolt. “Josh is a natural. And we're fortunate that Tim O'Keefe and the UND Alumni Association support his participation. Danny and the rest of the cast bring a freshness that I think is unique. Watch and see for yourself. And the show would not happen without the expertise of Jayson Hajdu and his team. Of course, pulling it all together is our ace, Jordan Simon (assistant director/editor) and crew.”

And with eight minutes of UND-centric advertising in each episode, there's no secret about it. Producing the show in-house has meant academic units and other organizations across the UND community have benefitted from thousands of dollars in free television and online advertising within UND's core recruiting states, as well as much broader world-wide brand exposure online.

The UND Sports show began its monthly broadcast on Thursday night, May 3rd. And will air the first Thursday (@ 6 p.m.) of each month during the summer, until the fall semester when it will resume weekly programming on MidCo Sports.

Craig Garaas-Johnson News & Features Editor

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS