Courtney Pledger, AETN executive director
The Arkansas Educational Television Network, focusing on more local content under Executive Director Courtney Pledger, announced this morning that it will be kicking off high school football championship coverage in the state this fall.
In coordination with the Arkansas Activities Association, the sanctioning body for high school sports in the state, AETN will broadcast the 2018 high school football state finals live from War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock starting Friday, Nov. 30.
Broadcasts of the championships, in divisions from 2A to 7A, will be available online after the games at aetn.org/sports. The public network will also broadcast state basketball championships early next year in classifications 1A-7A.
“We’re the only statewide public broadcaster, and we’re meeting our audience where they are, and, more often these days, that’s on their phones,” Pledger told Arkansas Business in an interview last week. “We’re telling Arkansas’ story to the world.”
Pledger said the goal in broadcasting state championship football is to reinforce ties with its audience and showcase the sportsmanship of “student athletes, parents and fans” across the state.
“We hope to further connect Arkansans statewide by featuring hometown athletes competing in the biggest games of the season — possibly the biggest games of their lives,” Pledger said in a statement. “Anyone who might otherwise be unable to attend can watch and cheer… We believe showcasing student athletes — and celebrating the value of extracurricular activities for athletes — is an excellent fit for our audiences.” The network also hopes the broadcasts and online presentations will help talented Arkansas athletes “connect with college recruiters” for scholarship offers, AETN said.
“We are extremely excited to partner with AETN in broadcasting our state championship games,” AAA Assistant Executive Director Derek Walter said in a news release. “For athletes in Arkansas, playing in a state championship is one of the biggest events in their lives. Being able to broadcast these events on statewide television will help make the championship stage even bigger.”
The 5A football final will be Friday, Nov. 30, at 7 p.m.; the 6A at noon on Saturday, Dec. 1, followed by the 7A at 6:30 p.m. The 2A will be at 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 7, with the 3A at noon Saturday, Dec. 8, and the 4A at 6:30 that evening.
AETN, a Public Broadcasting Service affiliate with an annual budget of $13.4 million, offers programing through channels AETN PBS, AETN Create, AETN PBS Kids, AETN World and AETN AIRS on SAP. It broadcasts on KETS in Little Rock, KEMV in Mountain View, KETG in Arkadelphia, KAFT in Fayetteville, KTEJ in Jonesboro and KETZ in El Dorado.
“Public media is needed now more than ever,” Pledger told Arkansas Business, describing public TV as an important uniter in an age of division. “It’s our role to be a convener, a place for conversations to start and for everybody’s viewpoint to be heard. It’s poised to help us have conversations instead of firing back at each other.”
And bonding over statewide sporting contests couldn’t hurt, she added.
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