Cape Cod, Mass. (June 11, 2004) - The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) and CN8, The Comcast Network have agreed on terms for broadcasting arrangements for the 2004 Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) National Championships. The Championships are held June 3-5 on the Cooper River and Camden, New Jersey. The broadcast will air on CN8 network nationwide to 6.2 million homes on Friday, June 11, 8:00-10:00 p.m./ET. It will re-air on Saturday, June 12, 5:00-7:00 p.m./ET. Outside the Comcast viewing area access the broadcast live at the following web site: http://ne.cn8.tv/channel/article.asp?lArticleID=4665&lChannelID=644&subhead=cn8live Empire Sports Network will air the IRA Championships production on Sunday, June 13th at 3 p.m. In its 12th year of providing the best national and regional coverage, Empire Sports Network is available to a total universe of over five million households via cable systems throughout Upstate New York and Northern Pennsylvania, and through Direct TV (ch. 626) and Echo Star (ch. 432) home satellite systems.
This is the 102nd running of the IRA. The first was staged in 1895. There were seven cancellations due to World War I, the Great Depression, and World War II. The announcing team for the IRA Championships includes Gregg Murphy, U.S. Rowing Hall of Fame member Dan Lyons and Jeff Shurilla.
"The ECAC is proud to join with CN8 to televise this special event," said ECAC Commissioner Phil Buttafuoco. "We are pleased to give CN8's 6.2 million viewers from Maine to Maryland the opportunity to see collegiate rowing at its best."
The ECAC's membership includes 321 Divisions I, II, and III colleges and universities from Maine to North Carolina. The conference provides services to its constituents that include: administration of 113 championships and events in 35 men's and women's sports; assigning officials in 15 sports; coordinating awards; administration of affiliate organizations, conventions, meetings, marketing, officiating, playing leagues, public relations and special events. The ECAC serves as the primary conference for selected members in the sports of men's and women's ice hockey, men's lacrosse, men's gymnastics, wrestling, fencing and rowing.
The IRA National Championships are one of five regattas that make up the ECAC Collegiate Rowing Series. The others are New England Rowing Championships (NERC), ECAC National Invitational Rowing Championships (NIRC), Eastern Association of Women's Rowing Colleges (EAWRC) Championships and the Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges (EARC) Championships.
Empire Sports Network will air the IRA Championships production on Sunday, June 13th at 3 p.m. In its 12th year of providing the best national and regional coverage, Empire Sports Network is available to a total universe of over five million households via cable systems throughout Upstate New York and Northern Pennsylvania, and through Direct TV (ch. 626) and EchoStar (ch. 432) home satellite systems.