MACON, Ga. –Mercer University Athletics and Georgia Eagle Media, Inc., have unveiled a live broadcast package for all of the Bears’ home men’s basketball games for the 2010-11 season, it was announced today in a joint press release. The coverage will allow Mercer University’s men’s basketball games from the University Center to be seen by a potential audience approaching a half-million middle Georgia residents.

In all, 15 games will be televised by the agreement. Additionally, a total of 26 half-hour Coach’s Shows (13 for Mercer men’s head coach Bob Hoffman, as well as 13 for MU women’s head coach Susie Gardner) will also be aired. The Coach’s Shows will air monthly until January, when they will go to a weekly format for the duration of the season.

WRWR-TV 38 television out of Warner Robins is the flagship station for the broadcasts that will reach portions of 14 counties (and more than 400,000 potential viewers) covered by its signal. Additionally, the games can be seen by more than 60,000 households on the following cable systems (and the counties they cover): COX (Bibb and Houston); ComSouth (Houston, Peach, Pulaski, Bleckley and Dooly); Watson (Houston); Suburban (Bibb); and Flint (Bibb, Crawford and Taylor) cable systems.

“WRWR-TV 38 is enormously proud to partner with Mercer University in bringing to television Mercer Bears Basketball,” said Georgia Eagle Media, Inc., owner Cecil Staton. “WRWR-TV 38 is middle-Georgia’s first fully digital high-def television station. We broadcast more hours of local programming each week than any other television station and we are proud to add Mercer basketball to that line up. We are excited about the season and the 15 home games that we will broadcast this year.”

WRWR-TV 38 is owned and operated by Georgia Eagle Media, Inc., the only locally owned and operated multi-media company in middle-Georgia operating television, radio stations, a local newspaper, and website serving the Robins region from Warner Robins. The company owns 14 radio stations in middle and southeastern Georgia.

“This is an important opportunity for our basketball teams and Mercer University Athletics, in general, to expose even more people to our program,” said MU director of athletics Jim Cole. “This commitment by WRWR shows that they are truly a community-minded organization and support the good work we are trying to accomplish here.

“I know a lot of people had a hand in making this come to fruition, but I would personally like to thank Cecil Staton and his staff for being the driving force to make this happen.”

The first telecast is scheduled for Friday, November 12 when Mercer hosts Oglethorpe University in a non-conference contest. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. in Macon.