Fresno State sports podcasts may or may not be the wave of the future, but they certainly are the present, at least for softball.

In a pilot program called the Associated Students, Inc. Broadcasting Unit, these podcasts are currently available for five softball away games and can be accessed through Fresno State̢۪s iTunes podcast, according to AS Vice President Stephen Trembley.

“It’s just a framework,” Trembley said of the new program, “to see if we can do it again in the future. For the limited amount of money we spend, we get a good return.”

The amount of money spent was $500, out of a total of about $3,000 budgeted for the program by the AS Senate, Trembley said.
He hopes the good return will come in the form of hundreds of Fresno State students going into the podcasts and listening to the latest games. Trembley said the stats haven̢۪t come out yet to indicate how successful the program has been.

Podcasts are digital media files that are recorded on iPods and broadcast over the Internet.

Regardless of the new program̢۪s merits or success rate, it may not be back next year depending on funding availability. That̢۪s because Fresno State was granted a free trial by CSTV to set up the program through the end of the school year, Trembley said.
He said it usually costs about $6,000 a year to run the podcast service through CSTV.

“I’m always soliciting to see what kind of programs we can start up,” Trembley said. He said this year’s AS budget left some room for a few extra programs, but the broadcasting unit wasn’t currently planned for next year’s budget. Trembley said he is looking for corporate sponsors for next year.

AS Vice President of Finance Russel Statham confirmed the budget allocation for the program was around $3,000, adding that the amount used in the end was a lot lower, due to Trembley̢۪s discretion and availability to broadcast.

Trembley, who has had previous broadcasting experience, said he was the only student to go on the road to announce and record the games. He covered a total of nine games up through spring break, including the five on podcast. Trembley said he had to cancel some of the planned coverage because of his duties at Fresno State.

Statham also said the ASI Broadcasting Unit proposal, along with Trembley̢۪s proposed budget, were sent to the Senate and approved, but that such items would normally go to the AS executives.

Statham said it was typical for the executives to determine allocation of funds for new program requests, but they decided to let the Senate decide the issue in this case due to the nature of the issue. Trembley is one of the executives.

The project appears in the budget as a “New Program,” Statham said. Trembley’s budget request was subsequently taken out of the New Programs budget.

Trembley said the only expenses for his trips were for gas and lodging, with hotel accommodations used only for the CSU Fullerton Judi Garmen Classic. He said home games were free as far as the program was concerned and that three student volunteers also helped announce during those games.

In a memorandum to the AS Senate dated Feb. 5, Trembley said, “This ground-breaking program would provide a unique audio extension of our current communication projects and has the potential to reach all 21,000+ students, with a realistic goal of having at least 1,000 views to our Web site by the end of June 2007.”

In the letter, Trembley pushed for the program, saying it would increase awareness of intercollegiate activities and give broadcasting majors and other students a unique opportunity that may help them in their career paths.

Trembley said he has always been looking for new ideas to increase student access to school events.

“Right now we’re looking at podcasting and streaming,” Trembley said. “Next year, we may look at ways to videotape Senate meetings and post them online. We want students to have as much access to AS programs as possible.”

Accessing the Fresno State podcasts through iTunes is free. Those who are interested should go to the AS link under “My Organizations” on the Blackboard home page, then click on the April 5 post for instructions on setting up an iTunes account.