Welcome to RVA Sports Network's FAQ Page!
Welcome to our "Frequently Asked Questions" page! Here, we will take you behind the curtain to help you understand more about our operation, how we do what we do, and our purposes and motivation.
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1) Who owns the RVA Sports Network?
RVA Sports Network is a part of HCS Media, LLC, formed nearly a decade ago when our coverage consisted of sports in Hanover County and Henrico County, Virginia (thus the "HCS"). HCS Media, LLC is wholly owned by Bonnie Witham (that's Rob's wife, in case you wondered), making it woman-owned operation. We're very proud of that. Our total work was under the HCS Media banner until we rebranded as "The RVA Sports Network" in October, 2014.
2) What does the RVA Sports Network cover?
The vast majority of our area sports coverage is at the high school level. We do not limit our high school sports coverage to just the "big" sports (football, basketball), but we provide coverage for every high school sport all season long. RVA Sports Network also has a long-standing working relationship with Randolph-Macon College's athletic department, providing extensive coverage on our Hanover County centric social media and our other website, HanoverCountySports.net. Over the past four years, our Chief Operating Officer, Rob Witham, has added play-by-play duties for Yellow Jacket football, men's and women's lacrosse, field hockey, and men's and women's soccer. We also provide coverage of the other colleges and universities in the Metro RVA region, focusing on sports other than football and men's basketball, though we do have coverage of them.
3) Why does RVA Sports Network have so many Twitter feeds?
Well, first, it wasn't planned this way. How it came to be is completely organic. In May, 2012, while covering a high school softball game, Rob thought that a Twitter feed would be a great, real-time way to send out game scores, schedules, highlights and more. Thus, @hanoversports was born. As the success of that feed grew, we made the decision to move into Henrico County with @henricosports in May, 2013. We added Chesterfield-centric coverage with @cfieldsports later that year. In 2014, our corporate Twitter was rebranded as @TheRVASportsNet, and the rest is history. We continue to maintain all four feeds to underscore our commitment to truly local coverage of sports. People in Ashland may not care about a volleyball match between Clover Hill and Manchester. With our network, you can choose what to follow based on your interests. At @TheRVASportsNet, we do send out information, news and results from across Metro RVA.
4) So, what exactly is your high school coverage area?
RVA Sports Network covers public and private schools in the Cities of Richmond, Petersburg, Colonial Heights, and Hopewell, plus Amelia, Caroline, Charles City, Chesterfield, Cumberland, Dinwiddie, Essex, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, King & Queen, King William, Louisa, New Kent, Nottoway, Powhatan, Prince George, and Sussex counties.
5) And college? Other sports?
As earlier mentioned, we provide extensive Randolph-Macon College coverage, plus report on athletics at the University of Richmond, VCU, Virginia Union, Virginia State, and Richard Bland College of William & Mary. In the past, we have provided live coverage of NASCAR in Richmond, Washington Commanders training camp, and presented a special website for coverage of Atlantic 10 Women's College Basketball when their postseason tournament was held at the former Richmond Coliseum from 2014 to 2018.
6) Who is the network?
It's big, and changes as the years go by. We cover dozens upon dozens of athletic events live. For the ones we cannot attend live, we rely on a network of team coaches, assistant coaches, Directors of Student Activities, student-athletes, parents, grandparents, even faculty, who send us score information and other news. That's why we have said for years that "you are the network!".
*******
1) Who owns the RVA Sports Network?
RVA Sports Network is a part of HCS Media, LLC, formed nearly a decade ago when our coverage consisted of sports in Hanover County and Henrico County, Virginia (thus the "HCS"). HCS Media, LLC is wholly owned by Bonnie Witham (that's Rob's wife, in case you wondered), making it woman-owned operation. We're very proud of that. Our total work was under the HCS Media banner until we rebranded as "The RVA Sports Network" in October, 2014.
2) What does the RVA Sports Network cover?
The vast majority of our area sports coverage is at the high school level. We do not limit our high school sports coverage to just the "big" sports (football, basketball), but we provide coverage for every high school sport all season long. RVA Sports Network also has a long-standing working relationship with Randolph-Macon College's athletic department, providing extensive coverage on our Hanover County centric social media and our other website, HanoverCountySports.net. Over the past four years, our Chief Operating Officer, Rob Witham, has added play-by-play duties for Yellow Jacket football, men's and women's lacrosse, field hockey, and men's and women's soccer. We also provide coverage of the other colleges and universities in the Metro RVA region, focusing on sports other than football and men's basketball, though we do have coverage of them.
3) Why does RVA Sports Network have so many Twitter feeds?
Well, first, it wasn't planned this way. How it came to be is completely organic. In May, 2012, while covering a high school softball game, Rob thought that a Twitter feed would be a great, real-time way to send out game scores, schedules, highlights and more. Thus, @hanoversports was born. As the success of that feed grew, we made the decision to move into Henrico County with @henricosports in May, 2013. We added Chesterfield-centric coverage with @cfieldsports later that year. In 2014, our corporate Twitter was rebranded as @TheRVASportsNet, and the rest is history. We continue to maintain all four feeds to underscore our commitment to truly local coverage of sports. People in Ashland may not care about a volleyball match between Clover Hill and Manchester. With our network, you can choose what to follow based on your interests. At @TheRVASportsNet, we do send out information, news and results from across Metro RVA.
4) So, what exactly is your high school coverage area?
RVA Sports Network covers public and private schools in the Cities of Richmond, Petersburg, Colonial Heights, and Hopewell, plus Amelia, Caroline, Charles City, Chesterfield, Cumberland, Dinwiddie, Essex, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, King & Queen, King William, Louisa, New Kent, Nottoway, Powhatan, Prince George, and Sussex counties.
5) And college? Other sports?
As earlier mentioned, we provide extensive Randolph-Macon College coverage, plus report on athletics at the University of Richmond, VCU, Virginia Union, Virginia State, and Richard Bland College of William & Mary. In the past, we have provided live coverage of NASCAR in Richmond, Washington Commanders training camp, and presented a special website for coverage of Atlantic 10 Women's College Basketball when their postseason tournament was held at the former Richmond Coliseum from 2014 to 2018.
6) Who is the network?
It's big, and changes as the years go by. We cover dozens upon dozens of athletic events live. For the ones we cannot attend live, we rely on a network of team coaches, assistant coaches, Directors of Student Activities, student-athletes, parents, grandparents, even faculty, who send us score information and other news. That's why we have said for years that "you are the network!".
7) What do the hashtags #RVASNLive and #rvaW mean?
Whenever you see a Twitter, Facebook or Instagram post that includes the hashtag #RVASNLive, it means that someone from the RVA Sports Network is live, in person, covering that event. Occasionally, due to schedules and unforeseen circumstances (you know, like a global pandemic), you will see game updates and final scores from us without the hashtag. That means we are following the action via either someone at the game or watching on the NFHS Network.
Whenever you see a Twitter, Facebook or Instagram post that includes the hashtag #RVASNLive, it means that someone from the RVA Sports Network is live, in person, covering that event. Occasionally, due to schedules and unforeseen circumstances (you know, like a global pandemic), you will see game updates and final scores from us without the hashtag. That means we are following the action via either someone at the game or watching on the NFHS Network.
The #rvaW hashtag premiered on January 1, 2017 to begin a year of emphasis coverage of women's sports for the 50th anniversary of the passage of Title IX legislation, which was the following June. We continue to use it to highlight the fantastic achievements of young women throughout the RVA. We are committed to providing 50 percent of our coverage to boys high school sports and 50 percent to girls. It's only fair, and only right. From its outset, we've encouraged everyone, including other media outlets, to use the #rvaW hashtag as well.
8) Okay, list your social media outlets. We know about your website.
No problem! They are:
TWITTER: @hanoversports @henricosports @cfieldsports @TheRVASportsNet
FACEBOOK: HanoverSports HenricoSports RVA Sports Network
INSTAGRAM: RVA Sports Network
9) How do you determine which games you cover live?
Well, covering a game live is done in two ways: live broadcast or live Twitter coverage.
During football season, we look for the best possible matchups for "High School Football Friday Night" with our radio partners at Rejoice 101.3 FM and 990 AM. In the 2010's, our "Game of The Week" packaged focused on Hanover County because, at the time, our games aired on WHAN 102.9 FM based in Ashland, and, from 2011 to 2018, Rob was the sports department for the Herald-Progress newspaper before its demise. With WHAN's sale in 2020 and our move of both our high school football and Randolph-Macon football to WREJ/Richmond, it allowed us the opportunity to expand our broadcast coverage area. We try to get to as many teams as possible. Each season is different, based on what games, for example, in the back half of the season could have the most playoff implications.
Other live broadcasts, which up until now have been online at our website, for high school basketball, baseball, softball and other sports, are also chosen for best possible matchups while attempting to spotlight as many teams as possible.
Live Twitter coverage is split 50/50 among boys and girls events, with us, again, trying to provide coverage for as many teams as possible and as many sports.
10) Why don't you broadcast more postseason high school games, other than football?
The Virginia High School League (VHSL) charges $100 per game broadcast for all postseason state events. Individual regions also charge to broadcast playoff games. Thus, unless there are sponsors to cover production costs, we simply cannot do it. The more sponsors we can procure, the more live regular season AND postseason coverage we can provide.
8) Okay, list your social media outlets. We know about your website.
No problem! They are:
TWITTER: @hanoversports @henricosports @cfieldsports @TheRVASportsNet
FACEBOOK: HanoverSports HenricoSports RVA Sports Network
INSTAGRAM: RVA Sports Network
9) How do you determine which games you cover live?
Well, covering a game live is done in two ways: live broadcast or live Twitter coverage.
During football season, we look for the best possible matchups for "High School Football Friday Night" with our radio partners at Rejoice 101.3 FM and 990 AM. In the 2010's, our "Game of The Week" packaged focused on Hanover County because, at the time, our games aired on WHAN 102.9 FM based in Ashland, and, from 2011 to 2018, Rob was the sports department for the Herald-Progress newspaper before its demise. With WHAN's sale in 2020 and our move of both our high school football and Randolph-Macon football to WREJ/Richmond, it allowed us the opportunity to expand our broadcast coverage area. We try to get to as many teams as possible. Each season is different, based on what games, for example, in the back half of the season could have the most playoff implications.
Other live broadcasts, which up until now have been online at our website, for high school basketball, baseball, softball and other sports, are also chosen for best possible matchups while attempting to spotlight as many teams as possible.
Live Twitter coverage is split 50/50 among boys and girls events, with us, again, trying to provide coverage for as many teams as possible and as many sports.
10) Why don't you broadcast more postseason high school games, other than football?
The Virginia High School League (VHSL) charges $100 per game broadcast for all postseason state events. Individual regions also charge to broadcast playoff games. Thus, unless there are sponsors to cover production costs, we simply cannot do it. The more sponsors we can procure, the more live regular season AND postseason coverage we can provide.
11) Are you on YouTube? If so, why don't you do live video of games?
Yes, we've been on YouTube for years! You'll note in our archives that most of our entries there are audio broadcasts. There are two reasons why we haven't branched out into the live video broadcast genre:
1) Cost and Staff: More technical equipment means longer set-up and tear down times, more money to maintain/improve equipment, and more bodies to handle said equipment. It is also added strain for athletic directors at high schools who already have their hands full with game management, crowd control, security and more.
2) The Effect on High Schools: While we strongly believe that our radio coverage does not affect the number of fans who come to games (if you want to see the game, you'll come out and buy a ticket), we also believe that, if we added video coverage, school athletic departments could lose very important ticket revenue. We have no plans to move into video. Our wheelhouse is radio broadcasting (Rob has been in it since 1985). That's our legacy media vertical.
12) I represent a business. I want to reach your audience. How can you help?
Simple! We have multitudes of programs and packages that range from annual purchases to cover all of Metro RVA, specific season coverage, to geo-targeting a specific area by sponsorship of the coverage of a specific school or schools, which is perfect for small businesses on a budget. So, come grow with us!
Yes, we've been on YouTube for years! You'll note in our archives that most of our entries there are audio broadcasts. There are two reasons why we haven't branched out into the live video broadcast genre:
1) Cost and Staff: More technical equipment means longer set-up and tear down times, more money to maintain/improve equipment, and more bodies to handle said equipment. It is also added strain for athletic directors at high schools who already have their hands full with game management, crowd control, security and more.
2) The Effect on High Schools: While we strongly believe that our radio coverage does not affect the number of fans who come to games (if you want to see the game, you'll come out and buy a ticket), we also believe that, if we added video coverage, school athletic departments could lose very important ticket revenue. We have no plans to move into video. Our wheelhouse is radio broadcasting (Rob has been in it since 1985). That's our legacy media vertical.
12) I represent a business. I want to reach your audience. How can you help?
Simple! We have multitudes of programs and packages that range from annual purchases to cover all of Metro RVA, specific season coverage, to geo-targeting a specific area by sponsorship of the coverage of a specific school or schools, which is perfect for small businesses on a budget. So, come grow with us!
For the cost of just a handful of prime television commercials, you can reach hundreds of thousands of people with our annual options. Plus, our audience, both with sports on the RVA Sports Network, and with WREJ's gospel format, comprise some of the most loyal listeners/engagers in media today. They'll support you because you support something they are passionate about!
Email witham.bonnie@gmail.com or robwitham1@gmail.com for complete information. For privacy purposes, we do not publish our sales package options/information online.
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