In May, my pastor and his wife were ministering in Texas when someone broke into their vehicle. Nothing was stolen but the incident delayed their trip home. They were still many hours away in Oklahoma when the kindergarten class of 5- and 6-year olds, including their grandson, pranced around as dogs, clowns, seals and other cute costumes inside Hiett Gymnasium for the Kindergarten Circus.
They were crushed to be gone. But thanks to our newspaper, they didn’t miss it.
The Villapianos – Pastor Bill and June – pulled into a Pizza Hut, connected to the wifi and watched the entire event through the Herald’s live video coverage.
Stories like this one might by the exception. But connecting families, friends, alumni and the community to what is happening in Houston in real time over the Internet is a tale I’ve heard many times.
Of the many great things the Houston Herald has done in the eight years since I returned to Houston – and I’m pretty proud of the award-winning work my co-workers and I have produced – nothing has been more well received than our live video coverage. Nothing. It’s not even close.
So it’s with excitement that we prepare to enter our third year with Houston Herald Live! through a partnership with CityLinkTV. We will again be broadcasting every Houston High School football game along with select games from other sports. There are also school board meetings (which we covered Tuesday night and you can watch the replay at www.houstonherald.com/live), homecoming and many more activities.
While all the events are important – what’s more heartwarming than connecting grandparents with their grandson dressed as a monkey hundreds of miles away?! – football season is our biggest endeavor. And it’s a lot of fun.
We have assembled a talent trio of men who tag along with me every Friday night – sometimes more than one hour each way – for free because they love our community. My dad, Jim McNiell, has been alongside me since we were pecking updates on our iPhones to send back to our website four years ago. It’s so great to spend time with him. My good friend, Ryan Munson, joined us two years ago and has faithfully called football and basketball games alongside my dad ever since. They are loyal and do an incredible job. Our newspaper couldn’t compensate them for the hours and quality of work they provide.
Last year, we added Boulder McKinney, a former Houston football coach, to our team. With sharpie and whiteboard in hand, he provides great insight during our pregame, halftime and postgame shows. His addition has taken us up several notches.
I constantly field questions from other communities asking for insight into the way we do our broadcasts. I can tell them where to purchase the soundboard, headsets, video camera, laptop and microphones. But a team like we have assembled isn’t available anywhere.
I asked Cliff Hancock, the owner of CityLink TV who has also become a friend and great help with our live broadcasts, to share about the impact the Herald has made. When we joined CityLink, there were 84 channels and the Herald was one of the few newspapers. Today, there are more than 400 channels.
“The staff at CityLink TV would like to congratulate the Houston Herald for being a huge part of our growth,” Hancock text me. “The City of Houston can be extremely proud to have a newspaper that cares about the kids and the community like no other.”
Our third year of coverage begins next Friday with the season opener for the football Tigers. I would say to tune in and enjoy the broadcast, but it’s clear that many of you already do.