{"id":91339,"date":"2015-09-09T14:35:43","date_gmt":"2015-09-09T18:35:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sportsvideo.org\/main\/?p=83095"},"modified":"2016-01-20T06:36:40","modified_gmt":"2016-01-20T11:36:40","slug":"liberty-flames-sports-network-is-a-rising-star-in-the-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sportsvideo.org\/2015\/09\/09\/liberty-flames-sports-network-is-a-rising-star-in-the-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"Liberty Flames Sports Network Is a Rising Star"},"content":{"rendered":"

When evangelical Southern Baptist pastor Jerry Falwell founded Liberty University in the early 1970s, he had ambitious goals for the Virginia-based school: be for\u00a0Protestants what the University of Notre Dame is for\u00a0Catholics. That is to say, a large, nationally recognized university that enjoyed success at the highest level, most notably in athletics.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s for that reason that it was particularly\u00a0satisfying for the team at Liberty Flames Sports Network (LFSN), which\u00a0not only took home a SVG\/NACDA College Sports Media Award for its production of a National Signing Day show that aired in February but topped the likes of Notre Dame in doing so.<\/p>\n

\"In<\/a>

In 2013, Liberty University invested approximately $5 million in a control room and studio, spurring the emergence of the Liberty Flames Sports Network.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cIt as an awesome recognition for the hard work that was put in by so many,\u201d says Matthew Byrd, producer for LFSN. \u201cTo win an award like this is a neat fulfillment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Liberty has come a long way from its controversial early days as a small bible college to reigning as the world\u2019s largest Christian university, nearing 100,000 students in its residential and\u00a0online\u00a0programs. It\u2019s commitment to video production has also been something of\u00a0a roller-coaster journey along the way.<\/p>\n

When the college was founded, a department within the administration produced Sunday-morning church programming that boosted Falwell\u2019s position as a televangelist. It eventually led to the development of a 24\/7 satellite network that ran in the late 1980s called Liberty Broadcasting Network. Included in its religious programming was also a generous amount\u00a0of live coverage of Liberty University athletics.<\/p>\n

In the \u201990s, as the business model of the cable-television industry changed, the university sold the network and its transponder and shifted its resources toward a syndication model. Today, the university still follows a similar model but has made a large commitment to digital distribution, and now sports programming makes up a significant portion of the content created by the university.<\/p>\n

The institution\u2019s re-commitment to television production has also grown exponentially over the past couple of years. Since a key HD upgrade in the summer of 2013, the university has begun to establish itself as one of the elite college sports-broadcasting outfits in the country.<\/p>\n

The organization comprises\u00a0about\u00a030 people, a mixture of a small full-time operations staff and a collection of industry freelancers from around the area\u00a0who\u00a0provide guidance and training for the large crop of students who\u00a0make up a big portion of what makes Liberty Flames Sports Network work.<\/p>\n

Professionals largely make up the crews on major productions, such as football and basketball (on average, 70 such\u00a0events per year). Students, meanwhile, get the chance to cut their teeth in live productions on events like soccer, field hockey, lacrosse, etc., (of which there are well over 100 events per year).<\/p>\n