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This year’s high school football season has marked the end of an era.
For the first time in more than 50 years, Altoona Area High School games are not carried by a local radio station.
For years upon years – dating back into the 1960s – Mountain Lions fans could sit by their radio and listen to broadcasts.
In recent years Altoona games were broadcast on WFBG-AM, and Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic games were broadcast on WVAM-AM, both owned by Forever Media, Inc.
That came to an end after last season, and they are missed, according to officials from both schools.
Halfway through this season, with the airwaves silent, Altoona Area High School Athletic Director Phil Riccio considers the decision disappointing.
“We have such strong support of our athletics and a history of games being on the radio,” Riccio said. “It has been part of the tradition here.”
Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic Athletic Director Mike Cacciotti said Marauder fans miss the broadcasts, too.
“A lot of people in the community like it if they can’t get out and see the games,” he said. “There are people who sit in the stands and listen to the game at the same time. We would support them (radio stations) in anything they needed. We would certainly welcome them back. It is unfortunate we don’t have it. The local community enjoyed it.”
As one door closed, another opened some other possibilities. A number of schools, particularly in the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL), have their games carried on the Internet, often with students doing play-by-play duties and gaining experience.
Hollidaysburg Area is one such school.
The Golden Tiger Football Association paid for the equipment to enable the student broadcasts.
“Our student-delivered broadcasts are going quite well,” Kevin Sensenig, GTFA president, said. “They draw an audience of around 500 watchers (as both audio and video are streamed). It is a nice opportunity for students interested in a journalism, broadcast or sports broadcasting career.”
Hollidaysburg students Sam Sky and Bronson Woodring have been handling the Tiger broadcasts.
“I am loving the opportunity to broadcast games online,” Sky, a senior, said. “I love the thrill of being live, but I also love the experience of analyzing the game and what I see to the viewers. Having the opportunity to show my personality is great for me as a high school student and hopefully future broadcasting student.”
Sky said he uses “my iPad, earbuds with a mic and a tripod” and spends advance preparation time.
“I have rosters of both teams printed and stats so I can comment on the players,” he said.
Sensenig said he is surprised local football games are not carried on the radio.
“Football is such a popular sport in this area that you would think local team games would be a draw, particularly when teams play local rivals,” he said.
However, he added, “The streaming audio and video has been well received by our fans. It is nice to see the game as well as listen to the game. It is also a nice opportunity for our students. It builds their skills and creates positive school spirit as the announcers interact with fans via social media during the broadcasts.”
A two-year-old company called “Only in the Cove” streams video of Central High School, Northern Bedford County High School and Williamsburg High School home games on www.onlyinthecove.com, said website manager Mike Miller.
“We’ve talked about streaming games on the Internet,” Riccio said, “but our demographics here would rather have them on the radio.”
Meanwhile, just down Interstate 99, WTRN-AM is broadcasting Tyrone Area High School games for the 60th year.
“It is vital to the people here, and it is a good source of revenue,” owner Cary Simpson said. “The businesses love to be on it and support it. The community support is overwhelming.”
WOKW-FM and WLAK-FM have carried a couple of Central High School games, and CHS Athletic Director Stephanie Thompson said she welcomes the exposure.
The decision to discontinue the traditional radio broadcasts of Altoona and BG games was a matter of economics, said Dave Davies, Forever general manager.
“We lost money on high school sports,” he said. “It is unfortunate, but there is a lot of time, energy and effort involved, and we lost money on it. We have put our efforts into other opportunities for the radio station. We feel the energy and effort to broadcast the games versus the return for our ad revenue did not make it worth our efforts to continue the broadcasts.”
Charlie Weston, who had broadcast Altoona games for 33 years, had hoped to find a way to continue the broadcasts – he even talked about setting up his own website – but he suddenly passed away May 1.
“Charlie’s passing had no impact on the decision,” Davies said. “Charlie’s passing was an absolute tragedy for his family, friends and the people who loved him.”
Riccio said he had talked to Weston and officials of WRTA-AM, which once was home to Altoona sports, after last season but nothing developed.
“Business owners are being more selective on how they spend their money,” Ken Maguda, WRTA-AM operations manager, said. “They would rather buy traditional advertising.”
Mirror Staff Writer Walt Frank is at 946-7467.