Athens, Ga. – The UGA Alumni Association has a new television program, The UGA Alumni Show, airing on WUGA-TV. The show is a collection of interviews with UGA alumni, faculty, students and administration. During the interviews, the guests share personal stories and news about the university. UGA Alumni Association Executive Director Deborah Dietzler and WUGA-TV Program Coordinator Charlie McAlexander serve as hosts.
Dietzler hopes to utilize WUGA-TV’s large coverage area to reach constituents that are not currently being reached through traditional media and to provide entertaining, UGA-focused programming for WUGA-TV. “It is a tremendous opportunity to be able to share these interviews with our outstanding alumni,” Dietzler said. “Our graduates truly represent the value of a UGA education and the alumni association is delighted to be able to use television to demonstrate the excellence that is UGA with such a wide audience.”
Episode one includes interviews with Judge Steve Jones, who earned degrees in 1978 and 1987 and is president of the alumni association, and artist Cabell Sweeney, who graduated in 1995. Episode two guests include Swann Seiler, who graduated in 1978 and is past president of the alumni association, and David Williams, who earned degrees in 1979 and 1982. Williams is a UGA professor and director of the Honors Program. Future episodes will consist of interviews with past presidents of the alumni association Vic Sullivan, who graduated in 1980, and Trey Paris, who earned degrees in 1984 and 1985, and alumni association board member Palmer Sanford, who earned degrees in 2001 and 2010, among others.
Each episode also features an interview from the Goin’ Back series. Goin’ Back: Remembering UGA is an oral history of the University of Georgia, produced by the University’s Office of Public Affairs in partnership with the UGA Alumni Association. Episode one features UGA legend Dan Magill, who graduated in 1942, and episode two includes an interview with Whisperin’ Bill Anderson, who graduated in 1959. Mary Frances Early, who earned degrees in 1962 and 1971, is the Goin’ Back guest for episode three.
The alumni association is proud to be included in WUGA-TV’s programming lineup as it expands its broadcast area to double the previous size, according to Dietzler. WUGA-TV has increased its coverage from 600,000 potential viewers to 1.5 million potential viewers. This is the 9th largest television market in the country, stretching from North Carolina to the Georgia-Alabama state line, and includes the greater Atlanta area. WUGA-TV can be found on DirectTV, Dish Network, AT&T U-Verse and Comcast.
For air dates and times for The UGA Alumni Show, see www.alumni.uga.edu/alumni/index.php/content/the_uga_alumni_show_schedule.
For more information on WUGA-TV, see www.wugatv.org/.
