Published: June 29, 2011
Cellular South Announces Plans for Third Season of Award-Winning High School Football Rivalry Program and Regional Television Broadcast Partner
RIDGELAND, Miss. - (BUSINESS WIRE) - Cellular South, the nation's largest privately owned wireless
communications provider, today announced plans to once again partner
with FOX Sports South (FSSO) to televise three of the South's biggest
high school football rivalry games in prime time this fall.
The games and the high-profile broadcast plans are part of Cellular
South's original sports programming that showcases the drama, passion,
community pride and human interest stories around some of the most
famous high school football programs in the South.
The award-winning program, which is coming off its second highly
successful season in 2010, will feature live, professional-caliber
prime-time television broadcasts in high definition of three of the
oldest and biggest high school football rivalries in Mississippi and
Alabama on FSSO, reaching up to 12.9 million cable and satellite
households in seven Southeastern states for select game broadcasts. New
York advertising agency Young & Rubicam, which developed the program in
partnership with Cellular South, will continue as executive producer.
Match Ups Feature Some of the Oldest, Biggest Gridiron Rivalries
in South
High school football rivalry games to be featured in the program this
fall include:
-
Daphne Trojans at Fairhope Pirates - Oct. 13 in Fairhope, Ala.
- 7 p.m. CT
-
Louisville Wildcats at Noxubee County Tigers – Oct. 20 in
Macon, Miss. - 7 p.m. CT
-
Madison Central Jaguars at Northwest Rankin Cougars – Oct. 27
in Flowood, Miss. - 7 p.m. CT
Schedule subject to change
As one of the single largest and most comprehensive sports programming
and customer engagement initiatives undertaken by a company, the program
also will feature a wide variety of user-generated content, contests,
games, new sports-related game applications and interaction with social
networking sites. All of the program content will be housed in the
company's website, including back stories, video highlights of the
rivalry games, user-generated videos, photos, blogs and more.
"From marching bands, intense coaches and dedicated young players to
cheerleaders, dance teams and pep squads, this program will continue to
explore the drama, passion and community pride associated with these
rivalries and capture the compelling content and human interest stories
that emerge from this competition," said Kevin Hankins, chief operating
officer for Cellular South.
To bring the action to the most high school football fans, games will be
aired on FOX Sports South in selected markets reaching up to 12.9
million cable and satellite households across the Southeast.
"FOX Sports South strives to serve the interests of local sports fans,"
said Jeff Genthner, senior vice president and general manager of FOX
Sports South and SportSouth. "Our commitment to local coverage is
reflected in our partnership with Cellular South to televise these
exciting high school gridiron rivalries."
Games Will Showcase Latest Professional Sports Production
Technology
"All three games will be televised in high-definition in primetime with
FOX Sports Network caliber talent and production facilities," Genthner
said. The games also will feature NFL-caliber pyrotechnics, aerial video
and the world's largest mobile Jumbotron video messaging and display
board.
Young & Rubicam (Y&R), Cellular South's New York-based advertising
agency since 2008, will be the executive producer of the 2011 program
while FOX Sports South will produce and televise the high school
football rivalry games.
"We're looking forward to building on the success of our first two years
of programming as Cellular South engages consumers in new and exciting
ways," said John Morris, managing partner for Y&R. "We've assembled an
outstanding broadcast, film and production team to showcase this dynamic
content and give football fans an opportunity to enjoy some of the most
spirited high school football rivalries around."
Part of that success has been some international recognition for the
program with Cellular South and Y&R winning a Bronze Cannes Lion at the
57th annual Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival
last year in the media category for best use of media.
During the program's inaugural year, in addition to broadcasting the
five rivalry games, Cellular South sponsored a 12-episode television
reality series that followed two rival Mississippi high school football
coaching staffs and their teams through the 2009 season and playoffs.
The series was picked up in April 2010 by FOX Sports Network and was
telecast nationwide reaching more than 83 million households.
"Y'all vs. Us" Book Inspiration for High School Football Rivalry
Program
Cellular South got its inspiration for the program from Jackson attorney
Mike Frascogna, Jr., who along with his sons, Mike Frascogna, III and
Marty, published a book in 2008 called "Y'all vs. Us" about 15 of the
biggest high school football rivalries.
The company has partnered with officials from public and private high
school athletic associations in Mississippi and Alabama to identify and
recruit the six high school football teams that will be featured in the
2011 rivalries program. "All the coaches and schools involved are very
excited and enthusiastic about the opportunity to showcase their
student-athletes, their schools and their communities," Hankins said.
"We've received a tremendous amount of cooperation from the schools, the
teams and officials in the high school athletic associations and we
appreciate their willingness to get involved and support this program."
"We're excited to partner with Cellular South to bring this rich,
compelling content to high school football fans," said Don Hinton,
executive director of the Mississippi High School Activities
Association. "The South has a long, rich tradition of being a hotbed for
more than its fair share of gridiron rivalries."
Dr. Steve Savarese, executive director of the Alabama High School
Athletic Association, said the high school football rivalry program
makes a lot of sense because some of the biggest grudge matches aren't
always played on Saturday or Sunday in college and professional football
games. "They're played in high school football games and pit the
collective community pride of entire towns and cities against one
another for regional bragging rights," he noted.
For more information and details about Cellular South's 2011 high school
football rivalry program, please visit www.cellularsouth.com/football.
About Cellular South
Cellular South is a privately-owned diversified mobile communications
company passionately committed to helping customers get the most out of
their wireless devices and services. The nation's largest privately
owned wireless communications provider accomplishes this goal by
providing the most reliable and advanced high-speed nationwide wireless
voice and data network, offering industry-leading family and unlimited
flat rate voice, text and mobile web plans, and through its online and
in-store Discover Centers, which give customers easy, simple and
convenient tools, tips, advice and information on how to get the most
out of their mobile phone. For more information about Cellular South and
its products and services, visit www.cellularsouth.com.
About FOX Sports South
The FOX Sports regional networks serving the Southeast - FOX Sports
South, FOX Sports Carolinas, FOX Sports Tennessee and SportSouth -
collectively reach more than 12.9 million cable and satellite television
households in seven states across the Southeast and are the television
home of the Atlanta Braves, Atlanta Hawks, Carolina Hurricanes,
Charlotte Bobcats, Memphis Grizzlies and the Nashville Predators, as
well as the Atlantic Coast Conference, Conference USA, Southeastern
Conference, Big 12 Conference and Pac-12 Conference, and offer expanded
coverage of the University of Kentucky, University of South Carolina and
University of Tennessee. Combined, the four networks produce more than
800 live local events each year. For more information, visit FOXSportsSouth.com,
FOXSportsCarolinas.com
and FOXSportsTennessee.com.
About Young & Rubicam Brands
If you've ever felt the need to "Be a Pepper," you can thank Young &
Rubicam Brands (Y&R). As the advertising and media services unit of
UK-based WPP Group, Y&R has developed memorable commercial spots for
many clients, including the well-known tag line of Dr Pepper. Y&R
operates primarily through its flagship creative ad agency, Y&R
Advertising, but it also offers consulting and marketing services
through Wunderman, public relations through Burson-Marsteller and Cohn &
Wolfe, and digital expertise through a partnership with VML. Its Landor
unit is a brand building shop while The Bravo Group is a multicultural
advertising agency. Y&R, which has about 540 offices in 80 countries,
was acquired by WPP in 2000. For more information, visit www.yrbrands.com.
About MHSAA
The Mississippi High School Activities Association is a non-profit,
nondiscriminatory association operated by the state's secondary schools.
The Association is responsible for academic and athletic competition
among the 530,000 students in the state's public and private schools,
including debate, drama, speech, writing, music and 14 different types
of sports. The MHSAA also is responsible for 4,000 officials and
referees, who are registered and certified through association clinics.
For more information, visit www.misshsaa.com.
About AHSAA
The Alabama High School Athletic Association, founded in 1921, is a
private agency organized by its 688 senior and junior high and middle
school members to coordinate and promote their interscholastic athletic
programs. Currently, more than 75,000 students participate in the
program, which strives to help member schools conduct their
interscholastic athletic programs and reach each systems' educational
objectives. For more information, visit www.ahsaa.com.
Cellular South
Dave Miller, 601-974-7725
dnmiller@cellularsouth.com
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