13,000 Viewers for 1st Televised CHS Game

Central High narrowly lost its overtime battle against St. Amant Monday night at Dutchtown High School in a non-district game. But something perhaps more important was happening at the same time.
The game was being broadcast live on the Internet — the first time a Central High School basketball game has ever been broadcast live in its entirety.
What a success that telecast was!
During the game and in the first 48 hours after the game, more than 13,500 people watched!
The Central City News is pioneering broadcasting on Facebook Live, and viewership numbers are amazing!
Now the Central City News is offering readers (or viewers, depending on what you want to call them) five more Central High regular season away games this season.
Central City News editor Woody Jenkins said, “We see Facebook Live as a whole new medium. We are able to deliver a high quality television picture to huge numbers of viewers and document exactly how many people are watching!”
“In reality, the numbers dwarf over-the-air and cable coverage. The reason is simple. Far more people are on their phones and other devices than are watching conventional TV. Furthermore, the average TV set offers 100 or more choices. The people who are watching TV are very segmented. It is rare for any particular program to draw large numbers.”
Most importantly, over-the-air and cable shows generally aren’t “shared” the way Facebook Live is.
“One of the astounding things today is how many young people don’t even own a TV and how many
who have a TV never watch it.”
“Our first dramatic experience with Facebook Live was when we broadcast play by play of the State 5A Championship baseball game between Central and West Monroe last spring. To our amazement, the game had 94,000 viewers. This would be far more than claimed
by cable providers like ESPN.”
Jenkins said the Central City News and other publications produced by Community Press, LLC, will continue to expand its Facebook Live coverage.
“Each of our newspapers is now a Video Newspaper® filled with QR codes, linking the reader to video. As with Facebook Live, we see that continuing to expand,” Jenkins said.