Buckeye CableSystem and WTOL-TV in Toledo, Ohio, have formed an unusual alliance that teams up the broadcaster’s sports operations with BCSN, the Buckeye CableSystem Sports Network, according to officials.
The T Sports Report, also to be known as The T, debuted on the local cable sports network BCSN at 10:30 p.m. last Friday. From 10:30 p.m. to 11:15 p.m. WTOL sports director Dan Cummins and BCSN anchors Jordan Strack and Jim Heller will be discussing top sports stories and results, with field reporting by Natalie Grise.
At 11:15 p.m., both the sports channel and the CBS affiliate are televising WT0L’s Big Board Friday from the new T Sports set until 11:35 p.m., when WTOL returns to regular programming and BCSN continues sports programming with Cummins, Strack, and Heller delivering coaches reports, live guests, roundtable discussions, highlights, and interviews.
The T, to be produced at WT0L studios, will air each Friday throughout the high school and college football and basketball seasons. The partners are looking to expand the programming in various ways in the future.
The new branding incorporates both the Buckeye CableSystem and WTOL logos and brings together two recognized sports broadcast brands to enhance and create a greater recognition in the sports community.
A Web site and more joint programming are planned in the fall and winter.
“We are excited about teaming up with WTOL sports and look forward to even more innovative in-depth coverage on the web and on video,” W.H. "Chip" Carstensen, Buckeye’s president and general manager, said in a prepared statement.
BCSN launched on Buckeye in January 2004, and covers sports at all levels – youth, high school, college, semi-pro and professional, and professional. BCSN crews cover about 20 events each week, and at least one live event is shown each day
“This unique collaboration combines two great brands WTOL and BCSN,” WTOL general manager Bob Chirdon said in a prepared statement. “We will deliver the most expansive, hyper-local sports coverage in the market. Together, we now have more than 30 people dedicated to providing unmatched coverage of the local sports scene.”
