Local TV station receives backlash for supporting local high school sports

A central Kentucky TV station received backlash over the weekend for broadcasting local high school basketball games instead of an out-of-state football matchup between two top-five Big Ten programs.

Lexington’s FOX 56 hosted its inaugural Home Team Showcase on Saturday, a preseason quadruple header featuring two high school girls’ basketball games and two high school boys’ basketball games. One of the contests even included Kentucky commit Malachi Moreno, who suited up for Great Crossing against Boyd County in the second of four matchups. Moreno posted 22 points and 21 rebounds in a win.

All four games were broadcast live on FOX 56 in an effort to shine some light on the upcoming 2024-25 high school hoops season, which officially begins on Monday, Dec. 2. The first contest tipped off at 10:05 a.m. EST with the final one starting at 2:35 p.m. EST. For the young student-athletes participating, it gave them some deserved attention in a way they normally don’t receive.

However, local college football fans were not happy, and they made their displeasure known on the internet. The final two high school games coincided with the primetime battle between No. 2 Ohio State and No. 5 Indiana, which kicked off at noon and ended up being a 38-15 beatdown in favor of the Buckeyes. So for those who were trying to watch this game on cable, they were unable to do so. In that regard, it’s understandable why some were upset about the timing.

That being said, the Ohio State game was still technically available for those in the area through the FOX Sports App or FOXSports.com, which can be accessed by using a cable provider account. On top of that, the high school event had been in the works for months while the timeslot for Ohio State-Indiana wasn’t announced until a week ago.

The timing of how it all ended up working out just wasn’t ideal — and the good folks over at FOX 56 certainly heard about it, unfortunately.