Parts of the program will later be shown through the network’s various on-demand cable delivery systems in markets around the country. This will be the first sports-based regular program for the network and will also be the Center for Sports Communication’s first produced video broadcast. The first program for American Ed TV will be done Saturday, October 11, from 10 a.m. to 12 noon in the Lowell Thomas radio studio, where The Classroom airs live each Saturday morning. 

Dr. Keith Strudler, director of the Marist College Center for Sports Communication, serves as the show’s executive producer and co-host, and he is joined by co-host Geoff Brault, a veteran play-by-play announcer and Marist sports communication graduate. They will continue to discuss the big topics and pressing issues in national and international sports, including college, amateur, and professional, and feature guests from academia, sports journalism, and the professional sports world.

Marist student interns will take leadership roles in all aspects of this video production, just as they have in the program’s successful radio broadcast. Students will do everything from creating show ideas to building graphics to directing the production itself. This partnership will not only provide American ED TV’s audience with quality programming, but also help train the next generation of sports communication professionals. 

Strudler believes this type of partnership represents the future of college education. "Colleges must find ways to give their students true hands-on experiences, through guided instruction, with real deadline pressure and external audiences for feedback,” Strudler noted. “This partnership with American ED TV accomplishes all of that, and it does so in working with a national leader in American education and media.”

Co-founder of American ED TV and distinguished broadcast journalist Jack Ford believes this partnership both exemplifies the network’s mission and well serves both Marist students and the American public.

"The Classroom embodies our ideals of real journalism focused on American Education," said Ford. "In exploring sports with Marist and its students, we will be the first news and entertainment program available to a national audience to seriously and consistently engage the myriad complicated issues surrounding athletics, education, and American society."

The Classroom has aired on ESPN 1220 for over a year, and in that time has addressed such issues as compensation for college athletes, the value and stress of youth sports, and gender and race issues in sports. As such, the show aspires to be a true classroom for its listeners, viewers, and for those involved with producing the show.

“The show really aspires to teach and entertain, as sports really lends itself to do both,” Strudler said. “Marist has long established itself as a leader in sports communication education. This show, particularly now that it will reach a national viewership, will make that even more evident.”

For more information about the show or the Marist College Center for Sports Communication, please contact Keith Strudler at (845) 575-3506 or email him. For more information about American ED TV, visit AmericanEDTV.com or call (877) 966-EDTV.

About American ED TV

American ED TV, the leader in education, is a multimedia education entertainment company. The first network dedicated to the news, business, and culture of American education, the company is based in Columbus, Ohio with offices in New York City, Greenwich, Conn. and San Francisco. Available on multiple platforms via its own branded environments as well as through distribution partners, it’s original and event programming is available on the internet, radio, television, and mobile devices. For more information, go to www.americanedtv.com.

About Marist College

Marist College, recognized for excellence by U.S. News & World Report, The Princeton Review, and Kiplinger's Personal Finance as a "Best Value," is noted for its leadership in the use of technology to enhance the teaching and learning process. Marist is dedicated to helping students develop the intellect and character required for enlightened, ethical, and productive lives in the global community of the 21st century.

About the Marist College Center for Sports Communication

Founded in 2011, the Marist College Center for Sports Communication is a global leader in the study of and practice in sports communication, helping to prepare an enlightened and engaged group of future leaders in one of society's most far reaching disciplines. The Center serves a variety of publics through instruction and curricular development, research and creative activity, production of professional sports media, presentations by leaders in the field, and community service as relevant to the discipline. The Center maintains several industry leading partnerships and works with the industry leading Marist Poll and HBO Real Sports to conduct and broadcast scientific research on important sports issues, making the Center a leading voice on vital issues in the landscape of sport and society. The Center maintains both an advisory board that consists of top executives in the sports communication field and a high level speaker series, bringing some of the industry’s top perspectives to the Marist Campus. The Center is the cornerstone of Marist’s degree concentration in sports communication, one of the nation’s largest and most established, and in spring of 2015 the Center will launch its first international sports communication program at Marist’s Florence campus. The Center is directed by Dr. Keith Strudler, one of the nation’s leading experts on sports communication and the founder of Marist’s sports communication program.