University of Connecticut Athletics
UConn, WFSB-TV Channel 3 Announce New Relationship
6/12/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
HARTFORD, CT (June 12, 2002) - The University of Connecticut Division of Athletics and WFSB-TV Channel 3, a CBS affiliate, have announced a new television partnership that will include the live broadcasts of at least five UConn football games per year over the next three seasons and the in-house production and airing of coach’s shows featuring head men’s basketball coach Jim Calhoun and football coach Randy Edsall during their seasons.
"We are thrilled to become a television partner with Channel 3," said UConn Director of Athletics Lew Perkins. "We believe the exposure the station provides us will be a great asset to the University. As our football program continues to grow as a Division I-A program, it is very important for us to maximize our television exposure. This partnership will do exactly that. In addition, our fans across the state will enjoy both the football and men’s basketball coaches’ shows on Channel 3."
WFSB will air UConn football games in the 2002, 2003 and 2004 seasons. When the Huskies begin play in the BIG EAST Conference in 2005, the league will retain the television rights for UConn football.
"We are excited to be a partner with UConn and be able to offer viewers in Southern New England the opportunity to see live football games as UConn enters a new era in its sports history," said Al Bova, Vice President and General Manager of WFSB-TV. "On behalf of the entire Channel 3 family, we are proud to be working with UConn to present live football games as well as ‘The Coach’s Show’ with Jim Calhoun during the basketball season and Randy Edsall during the football season. This partnership will allow our viewers an exclusive insight into the men’s basketball and football teams on Channel 3."
Channel 3 sports reporter Eric Clemons will serve as play-by-play announcer for the football games, while former Syracuse and Philadelphia Eagle quarterback Don McPherson will provide analysis. WFSB sports director Joe Tessitore will host the broadcasts. Paul Karlsson, a nationally-known television veteran, will coordinate the production of the telecasts for the University of Connecticut.
WFSB will televise the following five football games this year: Sept. 21 vs. Ohio University; Oct. 19 vs. Temple; Oct. 26 at Vanderbilt; Nov. 2 vs. Florida Atlantic; and Nov. 16 at Navy.
A coach’s show with Jim Calhoun will air four times each season at times to be announced; the first show will air in January each year. The coach’s show with Randy Edsall will air each Sunday night during the football season from 11:45 p.m. to midnight.
In addition, WFSB will air a half-hour UConn football preview show before each season. The 2003 preseason special will be a special look at Rentschler Field in East Hartford -- the new home of Husky football that will open on August 30, 2003, with a game against Big Ten opponent Indiana.
Channel 3 produces more than 35 and one-half hours of live news each week and provides information 24 hours-a-day on its website, WFSB.com. The station is owned by Meredith Corporation, which is one of the nation’s leading media and marketing companies with business centering on magazine and book publishing, television broadcasting, integrated marketing and interactive media. Meredith publishes more than 20 magazine brands, including Better Homes and Gardens and Ladies’ Home Journal and more than 100 special interest publications. Meredith owns 12 television stations -- including properties in top 25 markets such as Atlanta, Phoenix, Orlando and Portland, Ore. Meredith’s consumer database, which contains more than 60 million names, is the largest domestic database among media companies and enables magazine and television advertisers to precisely target marketing campaigns. Additionally, Meredith has an extensive internet presence, which includes 26 web sites, strategic alliances with leading internet destinations and branded anchor positions on America Online.
The following is a biography of each member of the UConn football television team:
ERIC CLEMONS (Play-by-play): Joined the WFSB sports staff in August of 1998...has annually been a part of WFSB’s team coverage of the Greater Hartford Open PGA golf tournament and the Pilot Pen tennis tournament...served as a play-by-play and sideline announcer for Fox Sports Los Angeles for National Football League telecasts ...was also a SportsCenter anchor at ESPN, starting there in August 1987....also provided feature reports from the field for ESPN’s studio shows....covered the pre-and post-fight activities of three heavyweight championship fights: Tyson-Spinks in June 1988, Douglas-Tyson in February 1990 and Douglas-Holyfield in October 1990 ...also did special features for the National Basketball Association....prior to joining ESPN, was a sports reporter and weekend anchor at WALA-TV in Mobile, Ala. from 1984-87....a Chicago native who received a bachelor of arts degree in broadcast communications from Columbia College in Chicago in 1981.
DON McPHERSON (Analysis): A star quarterback at Syracuse who went on to play in the NFL and Canadian Football League...joined ESPN in 1999 as a college football sideline reporter, primarily working ESPN2’s weekly Big Ten game....co-hosted Sports Sunday on WBZ-AM in Boston 1996-1998...has been especially active in causes helping young people and athletes...in November 1995, he joined Northeastem University’s Center for the Study of Sport in Society as Co-Director for the Center’s new program "Athletes in Service to America"...this program, at select colleges and universities nationally, addresses violence prevention issues and provides academic tutoring to young people from the elementary level through high school...had become active in community issues during his seven-year professional football career – he was program coordinator for Athletes Helping Athletes, coordinated all training activities and presentations for Student-Athlete Leadership Program and founded Athletes Helping Athletes in Canada, for which he remains International Chairman ...drafted in 1988 by the Philadelphia Eagles, McPherson was traded to the Houston Oilers in 1990...later played for the Hamilton Tiger Cats (1991-1993) and the Ottawa Rough-Riders (1994) in the Canadian Football League...a consensus All-America selection at Syracuse University, he set 22 school records and was the runner-up for the 1987 Heisman Trophy....graduated from Syracuse’s School of Arts and Sciences in 1987 with a degree in Psychology.
JOE TESSITORE (Host): Has served as the sports director of WFSB since 1995...aside from his duties as the nightly Eyewitness News sportscaster, is the host of all special sports programs for the station....has served as host for coach’s show with UConn men’s basketball coach Jim Calhoun as well as all UConn men’s and women’s basketball special broadcasts...has been honored for his special programs covering the Canon Greater Hartford Open....is also a play-by-play announcer for ESPN and is currently is the voice of ESPN’s Tuesday Night Fights, and has worked the blow-by blow for their Friday Night Fights series...prior to his remote production work with ESPN, had worked as the host/reporter for Hartford Whalers game broadcasts, and play-by-play on New England Blizzard basketball....sits on the board of directors for the Cystic Fibrosis foundation...was a sports anchor at WRGB-TV in Albany and worked at KXAS-TV in Dallas...a native of Schenectady, NY, and a Boston College graduate.
PAUL KARLSSON (Coordinating producer): A nationally-known veteran of the sports television industry....produced the BIG EAST Conference football game-of-the-week from 1991-99 on a syndicated broadcast network...awarded a New England Regional Emmy in 1993 for outstanding sports play-by-play coverage for his work on BIG EAST football...other football experience includes serving as producer of the Notre Dame tape-delayed package from 1979-82 and 1984-85...also has produced games in the Pac-10 and Liberty Conference and for ESPN Regional in the BIG EAST, Big Ten and Mountain West since 1999...has produced three Liberty Bowls and three Aloha Bowls...has extensive experience in other collegiate sports including production of NCAA Championships in softball, women’s volleyball, men’s and women’s soccer and men’s and women’s ice hockey.
