The IH Sports Network will officially launch on Friday, Aug. 20, when Oneida takes the field against Williamsburg in the Cumberland Falls Bowl in Corbin, Ky.
The next week, Aug. 27, the IH Sports Network will be in Coalfield, where Scott High will open its season against the Yellow Jackets, and at Jim May Stadium in Oneida as the Indians host their home opener against Greenback.
Every Oneida and Scott High football game this fall will be broadcast live by the IH Sports Network. Long-time play-by-play broadcasters Tim Smith and Rick Keeton will be bringing coverage from the games. Between them, they have more than 60 years of experience as the voices of the Indians and the Highlanders, respectively.
Joining Smith and Keeton on Friday nights will be their long-standing broadcast teams — Mark Matthews, John L. Strunk and Kevin Acres with Smith, and Harris Keeton and Woody Keeton with Rick Keeton.
The season promises to be an exciting one. Oneida will debut a brand-new head coach — but a very familiar one — in Jimmy May, as the Indians look to win a region championship. Scott High will be making a move to a brand-new classification, moving from Class 3A to Class 4A with teams such as Fulton, Anderson County, South Doyle, Gibbs and Carter.
Each game will be broadcast on a variety of platforms, including Facebook and YouTube. One game will be live on the Independent Herald Facebook Page and YouTube channel. The other game will be live on the IH Varsity Facebook Page and YouTube channel. The IHSN will announce on Monday which game will be streamed on which set of platforms that week. Both games will also be broadcast on ihsports.net. (More on how to watch/listen.)
In situations where live video is not available due to contractual obligations, the video will be blacked out and only audio will be available. In those situations, video will be available for streaming on-demand later in the weekend.
The audio from each game will also be broadcast on radio station WBNT 105.5 FM in Oneida. The station will follow its traditional format, carrying one game live each week and playing the other game back at the conclusion of the live game. The decision on which radio game will be live and which will be tape-delay will be the discretion of WBNT.
Pregame of the Oneida-Williamsburg game on Aug. 20 will begin at 4:30 p.m. from Corbin, Ky. Tim Smith and his broadcast team invite listeners to be a part of the broadcast. You can submit questions or comments online through Twitter (either the IHSN account, @ihvarsity, or the OHS Indian Radio account, @ohsradio) or on Facebook by visiting the OHS Indian Radio Facebook Page.
The 2021 football season is just the start of the the IHSN. The network will also be broadcasting both Oneida and Scott High basketball this winter.
The IH Sports Network is a division of Liberty Press Inc., which publishes the Independent Herald.
