In its third year of production, Talking Conference USA Football is a 15-minute weekly program airing in season. Talking Conference USA Basketball is a companion program in its second year of production, utilizing an identical format and also airing in season.
Talking Conference USA Football/Basketball airs in three segments, beginning with a sportscast segment covering football activity within the conference. This segment features a heavy use of sound bytes and play-by-play highlights. It also previews upcoming games and other significant stories. In the second segment, the program explores Conference USA by the Numbers. Russ Anderson (football) and Courtney Morrison-Archer (basketball) dig out the numbers that give fans an inside look at the reasons for team success. The third segment is an in-depth interview with a C-USA news maker, a player, coach or administrator.
Talking Conference USA Football/Basketball is formatted for ten minutes of content and five minutes of commercials. The network retains two minutes, while three minutes are local. Until further notice, all five minutes are available for local sale. The program is recorded in the industry standard .mp3 (128k mono) digital audio format. It is produced during the overnight hours of Thursday night and is distributed for airing either Friday or Saturday.
Talking Conference USA Football/Basketball is fed in both segmented and discreet versions, allowing for direct insertion into the station's program control system. Automated retrieval and insertion can be achieved through an .ftp feed. The program is also sent through email, with a third level of redundancy provided by posting the program at a file transfer service. URL's for a direct download are sent in a separate email each week.