COMETS ANNOUNCE FIRST EVER LIVE TELEVISION PARTNERSHIP WITH NEXSTAR INC.
Feb 3, 2021Utica, NY – Comets President Robert Esche announced today that the Comets have partnered with local broadcaster Nexstar Inc, for their first live television broadcast contract. All 16 of the Comets home games, as well as any home postseason games, will be broadcast live on WPNY channel 12 (Spectrum Cable), in both standard and high definition, and will be available over the air on channel 20.2. WPNY is the Mynetwork TV affiliate for the Mohawk Valley. WPNY is also available via the Spectrum streaming app. The station is owned and operated by Nexstar Inc. and is a sister station to WUTR and WFXV.
This marquee partnership comes during a unique season for the Utica Comets who open up at home on Wednesday, February 17 against the Syracuse Crunch. In order to provide fans with a look into the Adirondack Bank Center, the Comets worked in tandem with Nexstar Inc to develop a high caliber pregame show, hosted by Comets Broadcaster Jason Shaya, that will air just before each game. The pregame show will feature hockey analysis from Shaya, as well as support from local hockey figures.
The partnership with Nexstar Inc rounds out several options for fans to tune into Comets games until they are able to be here live. In addition to WPNY, fans can watch all Comets home and away contests on AHLTV, which can be streamed on any PC/Mac, iOS/Android, Apple TV, Roku, Android TV or Amazon Fire TV. Fans can also tune in to Galaxy’s KROCK 94.9, the official radio station of the Comets, where Michael Lehr will call Comets home games and select road games in tandem with Shaya. Finally, fans can tune in via the Comets live Twitter game day feed for up-to-the-minute game day statistics.
“Unique situations create unique opportunities,” expressed Steve Ventura, General Manager of WFXV/WPNY. “The pandemic has put us all in an unusual place and as our community strives to get back to normal, we see this partnership with the Comets as a step in that direction.”
“It’s very exciting to have a television broadcast partner for the first time in team history and to expand the Comets brand into the homes of our fans, youth hockey families and locals,” said Comets President Robert Esche. “Our goal is to provide our community with a number of avenues to enjoy the Comets, and this partnership makes it increasingly easy for them to do so.”
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