The high school basketball video stream started by WEGP 1390 AM in 2013 will be continued by a new Easton business.
Bryan Lawrence, former operations manager at WEGP and owner of Aroostook Online Media Services, will produce the online broadcasts. Lawrence launched the new business after the station was sold to the Presence Radio Network earlier this year.
“When WEGP was sold, I was able to acquire the station’s video stream equipment,” Lawrence explained. “After seeing the popularity of the video streamed games over the two seasons I produced them for the station, I decided to continue the online broadcasts if the right opportunity presented itself.
“Before I could move forward with plans to continue the stream, however, I had to have an announcer. I met with Jim Carter, who I had worked with for three seasons and had been announcing for WEGP since 2010. I am pleased to announce that he will be back to call the games this year,” Lawrence added.
Carter was inducted into the Presque Isle High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2012 and the Maine Sports Legends Hall of Honors in 2014.
“His informative and entertaining approach to announcing the games has made him a favorite of many County basketball fans,” Lawrence said.
According to Lawrence, the popularity of watching basketball online has been demonstrated by the numbers.
“An analysis of last season’s online traffic shows that more than 5,000 viewers watched on their computers, tablets and smartphones. Over the season, those same viewers returned more than 10,000 times to watch multiple live and archived games,” Lawrence said.
New and returning viewers can find a broadcast schedule and links to the video stream for this season’s games at www.aroostookonline.com. The first broadcast will be held Friday, Dec. 4 at 7 p.m. when the Ashland Lady Hornets travel to Easton to take on the Lady Bears.
This season, fans will have an opportunity to participate in a new County Sports Trivia promotion and enter to win a $500 cash prize. More details of the promotion can be found on the website.
