In this modern world of technology and social media, listening to the local high school game on the radio or rooting for your favorite scholastic team while riding in a car might seem a bit old-school, maybe even a little old-fashioned. But some things – like supporting kids and community pride – rarely grow old and never go out of style.
Seven Mountains Media’s Lebanon Valley radio stations’ live game coverage of scholastic athletic events is more than a Lebanon County sports tradition and one of the longest continuously running forms of local event coverage. It’s a way for the Lebanon radio stations to engage the local community, bring people together, and enrich lives.
“To me, it’s about the community’s recognition of these kids,” said Tim Ritchie, Seven Mountains Media Lebanon Valley’s marketing manager, who’s been employed at the Lebanon radio station for 12 years. “I do feel like it’s a way to stay connected to the local community. I think it’s important for counties to have that sense of community. Sports is one way to connect those dots.”
The Lebanon radio stations that are now owned by Seven Mountains Media have been covering local sports in the county for more than 50 years, dating back to the early 1970s. The coverage harkens back to a time when seemingly every small community in central Pennsylvania supported a hometown radio station that broadcasted local sporting events over its airwaves.
Just about every Lebanon County resident who’s old enough to hold a football or pick up a basketball has either been exposed to the Lebanon radio stations’ sports coverage directly or been touched by it indirectly.
“The radio stations that Seven Mountains Media own do some sort of high school sports coverage because we are in these small communities,” said Ritchie. “The goal is local and hyper-local coverage, and local sports is a tradition they’ve kept. I believe when you’re in a local community, there are limited media sources, and you get used to it. It’s what your parents or grandparents did. When you found out your team was playing a game and couldn’t get there, you could listen and still be a part of it.”
This fall, Seven Mountains Media’s Lebanon Valley radio stations covered 14 local high school football games involving all six of Lebanon County’s teams, during both the regular and post seasons, mainly on WLBR 1270 AM and simulcasted on Wilbur 99.7 FM. During the current winter season, the local radio stations’ coverage of scholastic boys’ and girls’ basketball includes regular-season and playoff contests involving Lebanon County’s six public schools, as well as New Covenant Christian Academy and Our Lady of the Cross Catholic school.
The games can also be heard on Seven Mountains Media’s Lebanon Valley website, wilburradio.com, by downloading the station’s app on smartphones, or by accessing it through a smart device.
“I really do believe that students need that additional social interaction, exercise, and that sense of team that comes from high school sports,” said Ritchie. “Learning teamwork bodes well for future employment. Things like work ethics and time management, those athletic teams are a way to learn those pieces. I really believe that student-athletes have a different mentality.”
With announcers Mike Givler, Phil Soto-Ortiz, Jacob Hitz, and Noah White manning the microphones, Seven Mountains Media’s Lebanon Valley radio stations cover the Lebanon County sports scene from August through March with play-by-play description, game analysis, personal perspective, and coach and player interviews.
“We’re a local radio station,” said Ritchie. “The whole point is to have community events, conventional news, and sports events. We just want to recognize the student-athletes of all the local schools. We’re also a resource for somebody who wouldn’t be able to come to a local high school but has a relative or knows someone who is playing.”
“I feel like that’s our connections to the school districts,” he added. “It also connects us with the kids who may not be looking at the traditional media outlets.”
WLBR’s coverage of local scholastic basketball and football games also provides like-minded advertisers avenues for showcasing their services, connecting with student-athletes and their families, and interacting with the community.
“The sponsors enable us to spend the money to do these games,” said Ritchie. “The sponsors are important because they enable us to continue our tradition of local sports coverage. Our community loves high school sports because it’s about having fun and athletes doing the best they can.
“We are dedicated to high school sports because it’s a way to connect to the community that no one else can. For us, this is unique to the whole county. We want to be part of the community through every generation we can.”
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