Wazoo Sports Network

Wazoo Sports Network
Launched 2009
Closed December 31, 2011
Owned by Wazoo Sports, Inc.
Picture format 480i SD
Slogan Your Game is Always On
Broadcast area Louisville & Lexington, Kentucky, Kentuckiana and Southern Indiana
Headquarters London, Kentucky
Website http://www.wazoosports.com

Wazoo Sports Network was a regional sports network which specialized in airing local high school, college, and minor league sports mainly in the Kentuckiana and Bluegrass regions of Kentucky and southern Indiana, The network, which started out as online-only in December 2007, became a digital subchannel network in November 2009, but ended service at the end of 2011 due to Wazoo's parent company filing for bankruptcy.

On September 28, 2009, Wazoo Sports announced a partnership with Louisville ABC affiliate WHAS-TV to air the network on digital subchannel 11.3 starting on November 1;[1] that November, an identical deal was reached with Lexington NBC affiliate WLEX-TV, which ran Wazoo Sports on subchannel 18.2.[2][3] On August 1, 2010 the network added a third affiliate in Evansville, Indiana (near Henderson, Kentucky), as ABC affiliate WEHT added the network over subchannel 25.2 (replacing the Retro Television Network), though WEHT also incorporated some locally produced programming (primarily focused on the Indiana portion of the market), and thus branded the service as the News 25 Sports Channel (though Wazoo Sports branding was retained on programming provided by the network).[4]

Wazoo Sports Network lost its three digital subchannel affiliations in December 2011. WEHT ended their affiliation (and subchannel 25.2 altogether) the evening of December 1, 2011 after that station's sale to Nexstar Broadcasting Group; Nexstar, by corporate edict, rarely maintains any subchannels.[5] WHAS-TV announced its disaffiliation from Wazoo Sports on December 18;[6] the station's general manager later elaborated that the network "seems to have run its course for us."[7] By December 27, WLEX-TV had also left Wazoo Sports and temporarily began carrying a local weather channel on 18.2 before joining Me-TV on December 31;[5] the station felt that the network had not met WLEX's expectations.[7] Wazoo Sports filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy two days later.[7] The network's website remains up, however it has not been updated since December 2011, along with their social media channels, and their streaming provider has ended their streaming services.

Variously Wazoo also offered other Kentucky High School Athletic Association-sanctioned high school sports broadcasts pertaining to local teams and state tourneys over a network of affiliates spread throughout Kentucky via syndication, and offered almost all of their high school programming via video on demand through the network's website.

Besides high school sports, programming of interest produced, aired in archive form, or part of a network Wazoo Sports was associated with included the following sports and teams;

References

  1. ↑ "WHAS11 partners with Wazoo Sports to carry 24/7 local sports channel on WHAS11.3" (Press release). Belo Corp. and Wazoo Sports. September 28, 2009. Retrieved January 9, 2012.
  2. ↑ http://www.kentucky.com/kentuckysports/mensbasketball/story/1027207.html
  3. ↑ http://www.tvnewscheck.com/articles/2009/11/25/daily.8
  4. ↑ "WEHT To Debut Local Sports Channel". TVNewsCheck. July 19, 2010. Retrieved January 9, 2012.
  5. 1 2 Newkirk, Jacob (December 22, 2011). "WHAS11 joins WEHT in dumping Wazoo Sports". Jake's DTV Blog. Retrieved January 9, 2012. The article was updated on December 27.
  6. ↑ "Wazoo no longer available on 11.3 or digital channels". WHAS11.com. December 18, 2011. Retrieved January 9, 2012.
  7. 1 2 3 Sloan, Scott (January 9, 2012). "Kentucky broadcaster Wazoo Sports files for bankruptcy". Lexington Herald-Leader. Retrieved January 9, 2012.
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