Ferris Sports Update Show Begins 10th Season With Major Television Visibility

Big Rapids, Mich. - Despite the fall sports season being cancelled, Ferris Sports Update, a popular Ferris State University television program, will continue to air each week during the 2020-21 season with broadcast coverage throughout most of Michigan starting this week.

A half-hour interview show profiling Ferris State Athletics, the Ferris Sports Update program will air across most of Northern Michigan on Fox 32 each Wednesday night at 10:30 p.m. (ET) throughout the year. The show is produced by Ferris State University's Television and Digital Media Production (TDMP) students in partnership with the Bulldog Athletics Department. The first of 28 weekly episodes airs this week as yet another season unfolds.

This fall marks the 10th season of the show and nearly 250 episodes and more than 750 total interview segments have been produced since the series' debut back in 2011.

The host of the show is FSU Assistant Athletics Director for Communications Rob Bentley, who also serves as the radio voice for the Bulldogs and is in his 21st year working for Ferris State Athletics. FSU Athletics Communications Associate Harrison Watt, who is the voice of Bulldog Hockey, is the alternate host.

"It's exciting to be part of the show again this year and it provides us with an excellent platform to showcase our coaches, student-athletes and teams," said Bentley. "It's hard to believe this will be the 10th season of the show, which offers tremendous visibility for Bulldog Athletics and is an important part of our multimedia and broadcasting efforts.

"Having the show continue to air this fall will be even more important as we try to keep our fans engaged and informed during this unique period," he added.

In addition, for the ninth-straight year, it will be offered on Comcast Channel 900 at various times throughout the week, including typically on Wednesday (5:30 pm), Thursday (2 & 8 pm) and Friday (3 pm). The airings begin this week on Comcast Channel 900, which is available to Comcast subscribers in the state of Michigan, including the metro Detroit and Grand Rapids areas.

The 30-minute program is taped and produced in a studio within the Interdisciplinary Resource Center (IRC) Building on the FSU campus. In addition to airing on Fox 32 and Comcast, the show is also accessible via the Grand Rapids Community College cable channel in the greater Grand Rapids market on Comcast 903 (digital) along with AT&T Uverse Channel 99. Additionally, it will also be aired locally on Ferris' Cable Television Channel at selected times throughout the week.

Along with the broadcast coverage, free live on-demand streaming of the show is available over the internet on a continuous basis at www.ferrisstate.tv. Segments of the show will also utilized via the official FSU Athletics website and multimedia portal at FerrisStateBulldogs.com along with various university social networking platforms, including YouTube.

Ferris Sports Update affords a unique opportunity for Bulldog fans to get information pertaining to Ferris State athletics while also providing insight from the respective FSU varsity athletic programs from its coaches, student-athletes and support staff. The show will include features on Ferris State student-athletes along with selected highlights from Bulldog Athletics events.

"I believe the collaboration we have with this program is a "win" for all areas in benefiting current students, attracting new students and representing student athletes and programs across many parts of Michigan and the Upper Peninsula," said faculty advisor and department chair Glen Okonoski. "Our students function as a team in the studio, fulfilling each role necessary to create the show, and there is added importance placed on their learning when they know their product will be seen by a wide audience.

"We hope fans will tune in and see the professional production and engaging stories that are told on a weekly basis," he added.

The students in the class producing the show are under the direction of Okonoski with assistance from engineer Bill Jung.

Funding for the show is made possible thru a joint effort between FSU Athletics, the Ferris State Admissions Department, University Advancement and Marketing along with the College of Business.