ATHENS – There’s a new “home” for UGA sports programming, and it’s Fox 5 Atlanta.
In a deal that ends the Georgia Bulldogs’ longtime partnership with Atlanta’s WSB-TV, Fox 5 will now provide all the supplemental programming on the Bulldogs during the football season, with additional special productions on all athletic endeavors throughout the year. Contract terms and lengths were not immediately known.
The local network will produce the “Kirby Smart All Access” show that is televised weekly during the football season, as well as three other UGA-focused programs.
“We are proud to partner with the University of Georgia to become North Georgia’s primary and leading source for news and information about the Bulldogs,” said Bill Schneider, Fox 5 senior vice president and general manager said in a statement. “Fox 5 is fortunate to have a number of UGA alumni in our newsroom who can share their unique perspectives on the exclusive, premium content.”
Fox 5 Sports anchor D.J. Shockley, a former Georgia quarterback and the Bulldogs’ sideline reporter for Georgia Bulldogs Sports Network’s radio broadcasts, will lead the coverage. Chief meteorologist David Chandley and “Good Day Atlanta’s” Joanne Feldman will provide game-day weather forecasts and appear on the Sanford Stadium video board before each game.
It will make for a flurry of a fall for Shockley. He already travels with Georgia’s football team home and away while also attending to his full-time duties as Fox 5′s sports anchor before adding these new responsibilities.
“I love being busy, especially in the fall,” Shockley said in a text exchange Monday, “What else do you want to do in the fall but cover the best?”
The Fox Sports lineup will include: “Bulldogs Now,” a weekly, half-hour program at 8 a.m. Saturdays that will debut this summer and provide exclusive access and the latest updates on the Georgia Bulldogs all year round; “Bulldogs Final,” a short wrap-up show airing the Saturday nights of UGA football games and repeat Sunday mornings; “Kirby Smart All-Access” and “Georgia All-Access.”
The Fox 5 deal ends UGA Athletics’ 14-year partnership with WSB Television that began under former sports director Chuck Dowdle. However, current sports director Zach Klein said WSB will continue to produce its all-year, Saturday morning college football show. It just will no longer be called “Bulldogs Game Day.”
“It was a great run,” Klein said. “We’re excited for the future of WSB, especially with Georgia football and the SEC coming to ABC and Channel 2 in 2024.”
WSB Radio will continue to act as the flagship station for the Georgia Bulldogs Sports Network’s radio broadcasts of Georgia football games.
