CLEVELAND—Rock Entertainment Group (REG) and Gray Media, owner of WOIO and WUAB in Cleveland and WXIX in Cincinnati, have reached an agreement to launch “Rock Entertainment Sports Network.” 

The parties plan for the new network to start over-the-air broadcasts on Gray’s television stations in Cleveland and Cincinnati this August, with future over-the-air, multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs), and streaming components to be announced as the network grows.

As part of their plans, the two companies said that the partnership will bring free, 24/7 access of local Ohio sports and entertainment programming to millions in Ohio. Gray and Rock Entertainment Group will also use the network to create, produce and air sports programming across the state, offering a wealth of sports content to viewers and fans.

REG is the umbrella entity that houses Dan Gilbert’s sports and entertainment properties under the ROCK Family of Companies. 

Rock Entertainment Sports Network will serve as the home for the American Hockey League 2015-2016 Calder Cup Champion Cleveland Monsters, the NBA G League Cleveland Charge, St. Edward High School Varsity Sports, starting with football this fall, and programming from the Frontier League Lake Erie Crushers. The network will be available on channel 22.1 through free over-the-air broadcasts and the parties intend for it to be available through major cable, satellite and virtual pay-TV platforms throughout Ohio.

“Our fans are the lifeblood of Rock Entertainment Group. We are constantly looking for ways to evolve the opportunities our fans have to engage with all sports across our region and state. From our dynamic college and professional teams to our semi-professional and high school sports, passion, pride and our commitment to delivering world class experiences via these sports is deeply ingrained in our culture,” said Nic Barlage, Rock Entertainment Group and Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse CEO. “The establishment of Rock Entertainment Sports Network will offer fans in Ohio unparalleled access to all levels of competitive sports and provide our diverse array of sports teams an unprecedented platform to connect with fans of all interests.”

In addition to airing live coverage of the Cleveland Monsters, Cleveland Charge, St. Edward High School Varsity Football and Lake Erie Crushers programming, Rock Entertainment Sports Network plans to air live broadcasts of additional local college, high school and other professional teams.

“Gray is thrilled to partner with Rock Entertainment Group to bring live sports free over-the-air to viewers across Ohio,” said Matt Moran, senior managing vice president for Gray Media and Avon, Ohio resident. “This joint venture is a game changer for Ohio sports fans and will usher in a new era of free televised live sports in Ohio.”

“We are looking forward to working with Rock Entertainment Group to bring free, over-the-air sports to Ohio’s great fans,” said Sandy Breland, Gray’s Chief Operating Officer. “Our strong Ohio television stations and corporate teams are ready to bring this new sports television model to Ohio.”

Rock Entertainment Sports Network is scheduled to begin airing games in Cleveland and Cincinnati in August 2024 with plans to grow to additional markets in the following months.

Calling Buckeye broadcasters! The Ohio Broadcast & Multimedia Conference is approaching fast. Scheduled for Nov. 8 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center, the show features sessions for TV and radio engineers.

On the TV side Jim Seccia of GatesAir offers “TV Breakout #1: Recent Experiences With ATSC 3.0 from Seoul to Phoenix.” Following that is “TV Breakout #2: Repack, Reimbursement and the Rush for Our Spectrum,” led by Robert Weller of the NAB. 

Later, Jeff Cohen of IMT Vislink has “TV Breakout #3: Next Generation IP News Gathering: The Advent of High-Speed Multi-User IP ENG Solutions.”In addition there will be IT and multimedia sessions such as WorldCast’s Tony Peterle leading “IT Breakout #1: Basic Exploration of SNMP:” Chris Crump of Comrex with “Multimedia Breakout #2: 5G Technology and the Future of Remote Broadcasts;” and a panel, “Closing Session: Practical Cybersecurity for Broadcasters 5 Things to Know.”

Radio broadcasters can catch the NAB’s David Layer leading “Radio Breakout #1: Radio Broadcasters and the Digital Dashboard.” Kirk Harnack of The Telos Alliance helms “Radio Breakout #2: Private or Public Cloud, Your Rack Room Is Going There.” The last dedicated radio session is “Radio Breakout #3: Monitoring and Compliance in an Evolving Regulatory Landscape,” with Paul Stewart of the Summit Technology Group.

In addition there will be IT and multimedia sessions such as WorldCast’s Tony Peterle leading “IT Breakout #1: Basic Exploration of SNMP:” Chris Crump of Comrex with “Multimedia Breakout #2: 5G Technology and the Future of Remote Broadcasts;” and a panel, “Closing Session: Practical Cybersecurity for Broadcasters, 5 Things to Know.”

PRINCETON, N.J.—The triumvirate of Triveni Digital, Digital Alert Systems and Ohio Educational Television Stations, Inc., recently collaborated on the creation of Ohio Digital EAS (OEAS). This IP-based delivery system distributes emergency information to the public and first responders using datacast technology from Triveni and a software-based emergency messaging delivery platform from DAS. The alerts and government communications are distributed through Ohio’s 12 public television stations.

WOSU-TV Chief Engineer Tim Kelly (right) Shows OETS Project Manager Dave Carwile the Testing Setup for the OEAS System

The OEAS uses DAS’ DASEOC emergency operations center to aggregate all emergency messaging originating from the federal government, state or county authorities, into a single data stream compatible with ATSC broadcasts.

Triveni’s SkyScraper datacast technology is then used as the final step to insert the stream into stations’ digital broadcast signal. SkyScraper allows the stations to organize and target content to receivers, allocate bandwidth and insert content into broadcast streams, and extract content from broadcast streams and have it available for users. The state’s EMA headquarters features SykScraper’s DataFab and DataHub components to create an EAS message stream that is distributed to all Ohio PTV stations by secure fiber into over-the-air broadcast signals.

A digital TV data receiver and an integrated DASLC emergency content management server make messaging content available to any EAS equipment in its native format on the user end.

In addition, the OEAS system features a content-agnostic architecture that can transport digital content, including non-public messaging like data and live video. Any properly formatted digital signal can be delivered using the OEAS system, which will allow it to still be utilized when broadcasters transition to an ATSC 3.0 infrastructure.

The Ohio project was funded by the Corporation of Public Broadcasting.