The Ken Collums Show will air on KTAB-TV for the 2015 Wildcat football season. After the first week, the show will air at 11:00 am Saturday mornings
The show is produced by the JMC Network student media, and is hosted by the “Voice of the Wildcats,” Grant Boone, as well as senior Shera Niemirowski, is a weekly talk show with the head coach of the ACU football team, Ken Collums, about upcoming match-ups and recapping previous games.
At the end of last season, KTXS wanted to begin charging ACU to run the program on its channel. In past years, the only revenue that KTXS made from the show was through advertisements, which caused those in charge of the telecast, to begin shopping the show to other local stations in the Abilene area, which led them to Television Abilene.
“KTAB was very interested,” Boone said. “I met with their general manager, Albert Gutierrez, and he was very eager to bring the Ken Collums Show over to KTAB. KTAB was the first place we went and they expressed an interest and we jumped on it.
This really came down to which station wanted it the most and which station would give ACU the best deal. Being Div. I, we wanted the most advantageous deal for us and we think it’s a win-win for both the station and for ACU. “
Boone said that the choice to go with KTAB was an easy decision, considering the station’s track record with the university and the opportunities the new timeslot and network presents for the show’s viewership.
“KTAB has a great history in Abilene of hiring ACU alums and it just seems like a great fit,” Boone said. “The SEC is on KTAB and so for or us to be at 11:00 am, right as people are beginning to watch college football on Saturdays, we think it will be a perfect timeslot and we think KTAB will be the perfect station.”
Despite only hearing the news of the change last week, Niemirowski said she and the rest of staff are excited to see the show succeed on a new network.
“Throughout the sum
mer, there were a lot of unknowns and I think we’re all in a place now where we’re happy with where [the show] is at,” Niemirowski said “KTAB has been great in the past and I think we’re all really excited to see where this goes.”
Regardless of the way the show’s tenure ended with KTXS, Boone said he knows business is business and there are no hard feelings toward the station that gave the Ken Collums Show a home.
“ACU athletics is really grateful for the years we were at KTXS,” Boone said. “It’s a great station, I worked there when I was right out of college, [I have] great friends over there and it was real blessing because it gave our students the chance to get real broadcast industry experience and so we will always be really grateful for the five years we had at KTXS.”
