Covering the Catamounts
Seven radio station affiliates across North Carolina and streaming audio online at CatamountSports.com are set to carry football broadcasts of the Catamount Sports Network (CSN) during Western Carolina’s 2019 season. The Catamounts have a strong presence on the air across the mountains of Western North Carolina including WISE Sports Radio 1310 AM and 102.9FM out of Asheville; 540 AM and 105.7 FM WRGC “The River” in Sylva; 1050 AM and 104.9 FM in Franklin and north Georgia; and WWCU-FM, Power 90dot5, which originates on-campus in Cullowhee. CSN has also again partnered with Stretch Internet (www.stretchinternet.com) to provide unlimited free streaming audio through the athletics web site, CatamountSports. com, giving WCU a worldwide reach. Longtime play-by-play voice of the Catamounts, Gary Ayers, returns to the microphone this football season, and will be flanked by returning crew members in producer Jeff Bryson and WCU alum, Greg McLamb, who will both patrol the sidelines on road games and provide color commentary for home broadcasts. Another WCU alum will again join the broadcast during the 2019 season as Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations – and WCU football contact – Daniel Hooker will join Ayers and Bryson in the broadcast booth during games played away from Cullowhee for color commentary. Ayers has been behind microphone for 33 of the past 34 years at WCU, and has been a familiar voice to the region’s sports fans for over four decades. In addition to serving as the “Voice of the Catamounts,” on football and men’s basketball broadcasts, the Swain County native has done play-by-play for Pisgah, Tuscola, Franklin, Cherokee and Swain high school football and basketball. Ayers, who retired from Allison Outdoor Advertising in Sylva, also spent several seasons as the public address announcer for WCU Athletics. Bryson serves as the program’s producer, as well as the in-booth host of the pregame, halftime and post-game shows. His radio experience dates back over 30 years. During that time, he has worked at a variety of stations including WZZU-FM in Raleigh; WCHL-AM in Chapel Hill; WKSF-FM in Asheville; and served as the program director at WRGC-AM in Sylva. Bryson is no stranger to the Catamount Sports Network as he previously worked with CSN providing color analysis for football and men’s basketball for the 1995 and ‘96 seasons. Additionally, he has provided various play-by-play football and basketball broadcasts for Smoky Mountain, Franklin, Cherokee and Pisgah high schools. Bryson, too,
CSN Crew (l-r): Jeff Bryson, Greg McLamb, Gary Ayers, and Daniel Hooker
has served as a Public Address voice for WCU Athletics, while also working with WCU’s basketball crew for in-house ESPN television productions. McLamb – a 2000 graduate of WCU – will roam and report from the sidelines for a 13th-straight season after joining the CSN crew on-the-air in 2007. His radio experience also includes stints on the weekly sports talk shows, “Sports Talk Live” and “In the Litterbox,” both produced on WWCU-FM, Power 90dot5. McLamb also works on-campus as an Academic Advisor at Western Carolina. Aiding with pre-production work and as on-air talent as the color commentary on road games is WCU Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations, Daniel Hooker, who is also a part of Catamount men’s basketball and baseball broadcasts. A 2001 Western Carolina graduate, his sportscasting experience began in 1997 as a student announcer at WWCUFM in Cullowhee and includes both play-by-play and color analyst roles in broadcasting Catamount women’s basketball, Thomasville Hi-Toms baseball in the Coastal Plain League, and two seasons on broadcasts of the Charleston Swamp Foxes in the arenafootball2 league. He also spent one season on the sidelines during CSN’s 2001 football coverage. Hooker also provides play-by-play during home ESPN broadcasts for football, volleyball, basketball, and baseball. Each week, the pregame tailgate show starts 60 minutes prior to the scheduled kickoff time and includes comments from WCU eighth-year head coach Mark Speir, highly-anticipated in-game scoreboard updates, as well as other special features including the loveable “Two-Minute Drill” with Greg McLamb for a lighter-side look at Catamount football. The Catamount Sports Network broadcasts using the Tie-Line i-Mix G3 unit, with network breaks transmitted on-location. Also in use are a six-channel Shure M367 mixer and a Shure PGX2/SM58 Handheld Transmitter and PGX4 Diversity Receiver.
• COVERING THE CATAMOUNTS – MEDIA OUTLETS •
PRINT MEDIA
ASSOCIATED PRESS Joedy McCreary, Sports Editor 4020 W. Chase Blvd., Suite 300 Raleigh, NC 27606-3933 (919) 510-8937 - phone ASHEVILLE CITIZEN-TIMES 14 O’Henry Avenue Asheville, NC 28802 (828) 232-5866 - phone www.citizen-times.com FRANKLIN PRESS Andy Scheidler, Sports Editor PO Box 350 Franklin, NC 28734 (828) 524-2010 - phone www.thefranklinpress.com THE GRAHAM STAR PO Box 69 Robbinsville, NC 28771 (828) 479-3383 - phone www.grahamstar.com
CATAMOUNTSPORTS.COM
HENDERSONVILLE TIMES-NEWS Dean Hensley, Sports Editor PO Box 490 Hendersonville, NC 28739 (828) 692-0505 - phone www.blueridenow.com
WAYNESVILLE MOUNTAINEER Mike Schoeffel, Sports Editor Drawer 19 Waynesville, NC 28786 (828) 452-0661, ext. 126 www.themountaineer.com
WWNC RADIO (570 AM) Brian Hall, Jessica Lee 13 Summerlin Road Asheville, NC 28806 (828) 257-2700 - phone www.wwnc.com
MORGANTON NEWS HERALD Paul Schenkel, Sports Editor PO Box 280 Morganton, NC 28680 (828) 432-8950 - phone www.morganton.com
ELECTRONIC MEDIA
WPTL RADIO (920 AM) Bill Reck PO Box 909 Canton, NC 28716 (828) 648-3576 - phone www.wptlradio.net
SMOKY MOUNTAIN TIMES Jessica Webb, Teddy Greene (photo) PO Box 730 Bryson City, NC 28713 (828) 488-2189 - phone www.thesmokymountaintimes.com SYLVA HERALD & RULARITE Carey Phillips, Sports Editor Box 307 – Sylva, NC 28779 (828) 586-2611 - phone www.thesylvaherald.com
CAROLINASPORTSNUT.COM Chris Kelly, Caleb Peek (828) 989-0500
WLOS-TV (ABC) Stan Pamfilis, Sports Director Chris Womack, Sports Reporter 110 Technology Drive Asheville, NC 28803 (828) 651-4563 - phone www.wlos.com WRGC RADIO (540 AM) Roy Burnette, GM Box 1044 Sylva, NC 28779 (828) 586-2221 - phone www.wrgc.com
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WFSC RADIO (104.9, 1050 AM) Sean Gibson, General Manager Dustin Short, News Director PO Box 470 Franklin, NC 28744 (828) 524-4418 - phone www.1050wfsc.com
WISE SPORTS RADIO (94.4, 1310 AM) Neal Sharpe, Pat Ryan The WISE Guys 1190 Patton Ave. Asheville, NC 28806 (828) 259-9695 – phone www.WISESportsRadio.com WTZQ (1600 AM) Mark Warwick, GM PO Box 462 Hendersonville, NC 28793 (828) 692-1600 - phone www.wtzq.com WWCU RADIO (90dot5 FM) Western Carolina University Old Student Union Cullowhee, NC 28723 (828) 227-7173 - phone www.wwcufm.com
WESTERN CAROLINA HOME GAMES & SOCON ROAD GAMES WILL BE BROADCAST ON ESPN3 OR ESPN+
2019 CATAMOUNT FOOTBALL