BCSN Erie locks in football plans for first four weeks

BCSN Erie plans to broadcast 18 Sandusky-area high school football games this season, the cable outlet announced this week. The Toledo-based station intends to maintain a foothold in the Sandusky area after announcing last month that it is downsizing, which is expected to affect the number of events it televises. "I can't say enough about the professionalism of the area's high school athletic directors as we jointly formulated a broadcast plan that makes sense for both BCSN and each of the schools," BCSN program director Justin Feltkamp said. BCSN Erie's lineup through Week 4 of the high school football season is set. Its lone Week 1 area game features Oak Harbor at Huron. That game features teams located in the Toledo and Sandusky markets. The lineup for weeks 5-10 is subject to change. "BCSN tries to avoid lopsided matchups," Feldkamp said. "When we finalize the list, we can't predict deep into October. For the most part, traditionally year after year, we don't have to make large amounts of changes." Huron, Sandusky and St. Mary Central Catholic will be featured twice on BCSN Erie in the first four weeks of the 2025 season. Three area Week 2 games will be handled by BCSN Erie: Fremont Ross at Sandusky, Wauseon at Bellevue (both on Friday, Aug. 29) and and Sebring McKinley at SMCC on Saturday, Aug. 30. If the current schedule holds, five Huron games will be televised on BCSN Erie this season. Bellevue could be showcased in four regular-season games. Feldkamp said BCSN Erie also will broadcast some volleyball and soccer games this fall, but would not commit to a firm number. Feldkamp would not say how many games BCSN Erie broadcast last year. In mid-July, Buckeye Broadband president Geoff Shook told the Register that his station was "reorganizing" and that events in the Sandusky area would be covered by the BCSN team in Toledo. Some area announcers, who work as independent contractors, said they were unsure about their status with the company. Feldkamp said a social media dustup that followed that July announcement was a case of messaging being "lost in translation." "We have production staff and talent in Toledo and Sandusky," he said. "We have our cable and internet infrastructure in the Sandusky area and longstanding partnerships that extend more than a decade. "We do our best to showcase the best of area sports in our communities." He said some familiar faces will return to the air and be paid on a game-by-game basis, as is customary with freelance employees. "They're still on board," Feldkamp said. "Anybody who wants to be back will be back." Most of the area football games will be shown live on cable television. Some will be available on the BCSN+ app. BCSN Erie is a subsidiary of BCSN, which focuses on sports in the Toledo area. Both channels are housed on Buckeye Broadband Cable. Cable television subscriptions have declined significantly in recent years, part of trend that led to BCSN's decision to downsize. Buckeye Broadband dropped ESPN — an expensive channel to carry for cable and satellite providers — from its lineup last week. One popular feature that is expected to return to BCSN Erie's lineup is the Pancake Player of the Game. Sandusky Bay Pancake House owner Steve Schuster said Thursday that he had talked to Feldkamp about continuing the popular postgame tradition. "It looks like we will continue," Schuster said. "I'm guessing about 30 games (this fall) between football, soccer and volleyball. Getting to about 30 games is good for me." Schuster, who provides color commentary for BCSN Erie's soccer coverage, expects to work next Friday's Perkins-Maumee soccer doubleheader at Firelands Health Stadium. He wanted to keep the postgame feature alive, even if that meant going it alone. "The Pancake Player of the Game truly captures the excitement and celebration of a big game," Schuster said. "It's become one of the best things we do to cover high school sports and Sandusky Bay Pancake House is happy to be a part of it." Feldkamp said he's interested in maintaining as many sponsors as possible. "We are doing our absolute best to maintain the longstanding sponsorships," he said. ----- BCSN Erie's area football lineup (Weeks 5-10 are subject to change) Week 1 Oak Harbor at Huron Week 2 Fremont Ross at Sandusky Wauseon at Bellevue Sebring McKinley at St. Mary CC Week 3 Genoa at Huron Lorain at Sandusky Week 4 Norwalk at Bellevue Stryker at St. Mary CC Week 5 Norwalk at Edison Bellevue at Perkins Week 6 Clyde at Perkins Week 7 Huron at Bellevue Week 8 Vermilion at Huron Week 9 Lakota at Margaretta Week 10 Gibsonburg at Margaretta Huron at Edison