Weigel Broadcasting, the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) and its digital broadcast partner the NFHS Network have joined together on a new multi-year partnership for IHSA State Final Football and Basketball broadcasts.
Weigel Broadcasting Co. is a Chicago-based media company. Broadcasts will air on Weigel’s Chicago flagship station WCIU CW26 along with WMEU The U in Chicago and on the company’s St. Louis station, KNLC Decades 24.5, along with other affiliates statewide in Illinois. Weigel is a long-time supporter and broadcaster of high school sports.
"We welcome the opportunity to highlight the best of high school football and basketball in Illinois on statewide broadcast television," said Steven Farber, Weigel Broadcasting Senior Vice President of Operations.
“We are beyond excited to partner with Weigel Broadcasting to continue the tradition of televising the IHSA Football, Girls Basketball, and Boys Basketball State Finals,” said IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson. “Weigel has deep roots in covering IHSA sports and clearly values the community aspects surrounding high school sports that make them so special. I am confident that Weigel’s vision will serve our viewers well and we are eager to kick off the partnership with the IHSA Football Playoff Pairing Show in October.”
"The NFHS Network and the IHSA have had a wonderful partnership over the last many years, and we're really excited to be adding Weigel Broadcasting to that mix. The NFHS Network's OTT platform for digital viewing combined with the Weigel Broadcasting powered IHSA TV Network, will blanket the state of Illinois in Football and Basketball Championship coverage," added Michael White, EVP, Content and Production for the NFHS Network.
The network debuts Saturday, October 22 with the Football Playoff Pairing Show live at 7 p.m. listing matchups of all statewide playoff games. Coverage continues Friday, November 25 with the Class 1A-4A Football Championship games, followed by the Class 5A-8A Football Championship games on Saturday, November 26, all live from Memorial Stadium at the University of Illinois in Champaign. Live coverage of the Girls and Boys Basketball Championships will air later in the school year.
IHSA Network affiliates in addition to the Weigel stations in Chicago and St. Louis include Gray stations WEEK NBC 25.1 and WEEK CW 25.3 Peoria-Bloomington, The Stateline CW WIFR 23.5 in Rockford, and WGEM Quincy CW 10.2 FOX 10.3, along with Nexstar stations WCIX 49 Springfield-Champaign-Decatur and The Quad Cities CW, channel 26.1. Paxton Media WPSD NBC 6.1/Local Classic 6.2 (Paducah, KY) is the network affiliate serving southern Illinois including Harrisburg/Carbondale.