For the next two years WCHS-TV and FOX 11 (WVAH-TV) will be home to Marshall University athletics.

Marshall/IMG Sports have signed an exclusive two-year agreement with WCHS/WVAH-TV to carry Marshall University Thundering Herd football and men's basketball beginning with the 2012 Marshall football season.

"We are very excited to join into this partnership with Marshall University and IMG,” said Harold Cooper, General Manager of WCHS/WVAH. “The ability to bring our own brand of coverage to the Herd and Marshall University is something we've wanted to do for a very long time. I say with pride...'We Are Marshall’.”

Under terms of the agreement, WCHS/WVAH will carry live coverage of select Thundering Herd football telecasts and basketball telecasts. In addition, WVAH will be the home of shows featuring Marshall head football coach Doc Holliday and head men's basketball coach Tom Herrion. Eyewitness News Sports Director Mark Martin, the reigning West Virginia Sportscaster of the Year, will serve as the host for the two coaches shows.

“IMG is thrilled to partner with WCHS/WVAH,” said George Smalley, General Manager, IMG Thundering Herd Sports Marketing. “Bringing top-quality programming to Thundering Herd fans has, and always will, be our top priority.”

IMG College, the nation’s leading collegiate marketing company which manages the media rights for nearly 100 universities nationwide, has managed Marshall University’s multimedia rights since 1998.

“We very much appreciate the sincere interest that WCHS/WVAH has shown in being a part of Marshall Athletics by agreeing to be our television partner,” said Thundering Herd Director of Athletics Mike Hamrick. “We’re looking forward to partnering with them to further the exposure of our athletic department.”

Martin is certainly no stranger to Marshall Athletics, having served as the Marshall/IMG Sports radio sideline reporter in 2010 and the color commentator alongside “Voice of the Herd” Steve Cotton in 2011. He also served in both capacities on Thundering Herd television broadcasts in the early-to-mid 1990s.


"Throughout my days of covering sports in West Virginia, I've always had a fondness for Marshall University," said Martin. “This is a nice opportunity for our stations. It gives us another avenue in our commitment to sports coverage in the Mountain State. I have a great deal of respect for both Coach Holliday and Coach Herrion and look forward to working with both of them in this setting."