JMU Athletics retains VerStandig Broadcasting as radio flagship

James Madison University Athletics has announced its continued partnership with VerStandig Broadcasting (WSVA-AM550 and WHBG-AM1360 Radio) in Harrisonburg as the flagship stations for its football as well as men’s and women’s basketball broadcasts.  The 2014-15 year will mark the 39th year that wsva will be the radio home of the Dukes.  As part of a complete realignment of its broadcast programming, JMU will discontinue the use of additional radio affiliates and focus on mobile access to all its broadcasts, both radio simulcasts from as well as on MadiZONE HD SportsNet Presented by the JMU Alumni Association.

“With the ever-changing landscape of mobile technology and the ability to access our broadcasts on all computer and mobile platforms, we decided it was time to make that our focus for the future of our programs,” Deputy Director of Athletics Geoff Polglase said. “The reach of JMU Athletics has expanded immensely in recent years due to the improved technology, giving us not just a local or regional platform but a way to reach the JMU Nation across the country and internationally. We want to continue to increase access to JMU Athletics and we believe that mobile platforms give us that more effectively, while allowing us to reallocate funds to further enhance other areas of the department.”

Fans in the Harrisonburg area will still be able to listen on their radio to WSVA, with Mike Schikman again the “Voice of the Dukes” for the 2014 football and men’s basketball seasons. Likewise, David Taylor will host women’s basketball broadcasts on WHBG. Those audio broadcasts will also be part of the streaming efforts via JMUSports.com and Stretch Internet.

JMU is now partnering with Stretch Internet to stream all of its live audio and video broadcasts, providing many new features for JMU fans. The free audio and video streaming is a responsive design, allowing fans to access streams, stats and more on any device – computer, tablet and smartphones – with a customized format for their specific device and without having to download or pay for an app. The MadiZONE HD SportsNet video streaming effort will continue to grow with 1080p HD steams and multiple screen layouts that even allow fans to watch multiple games at the same time with the service’s picture-in-picture and multi-view features. As part of the new Gamecenter 2.0, there will also be highlights available throughout the game and the ability to share all features via Facebook and Twitter.