He may be behind the scenes, but everyone knows his importance to high school sports
By RICHIE HALL
Jim Wafford had one word after being inducted into the Hamilton County Basketball Hall of Fame on Friday night.
“Humbling,” he said. Wafford, the owner of Logan Street Signs and Banners and HCTV, was formally inducted into the Hall of Fame during halftime of the Noblesville-Fishers girls basketball game, which took place at The Mill, a gym where almost every basketball game, you can see Wafford and his broadcasting crew calling the action.
“We created Hamilton County TV to help these student-athletes,” said Wafford.
What is now HCTV began in the summer of 2011. The primary content back them was local talk shows, public domain TV shows and movie.
HCTV began broadcasting basketball in the fall of 2012, with a Noblesville junior varsity/varsity girls basketball game. Wafford said at the time, HCTV was the only commercial broadcaster showing regular-season girls sports. HCTV has broadcast close to 800 basketball games, boys and girls, JV and varsity.
As broadcast technology evolved, so did HCTV. The channel added a YouTube channel in 2014. HCTV joined the IHSAA’s television network in 2016 as the organization’s first affiliate. Then in 2018, HCTV welcomed Indiana SRN’s broadcasts to its channel.
HCTV added a Roku and Amazon Fire channel in 2019, then joined forces with the Bragg Sports Network, adding that to its channel to highlight Sheridan athletics. Also, HCTV mentored three local high schools in starting their own channels: Fishers Sports Network, Southeastern Sports Network and Husky Sports (Hamilton Heights). The content of all three networks is available on HCTV.
While sports are a very important part of HCTV, the channel also is known for broadcasting other important events. HCTV shows the annual Hamilton County 4-H Fair, community events such as parades, the annual Boys & Girls Club Bed Race, city and county council meetings.
Wafford is also the owner of Logan Street Signs & Banners, which owns HCTV. In the early days, “my sign shop covered 100 percent of the cost to create the channel, buy equipment and broadcast the games.”
“The past six years, we have gained great community-minded company sponsors,” said Wafford. “The public has supported us by watching our broadcast.”
Wafford said that in 2012, “we were excited to break the ceiling of 1,000 viewers for the year. The past four years, we have exceeded 450,000 each year” over all platforms.
“I’ve been in this community for 32 years,” said Wafford. “People supported our sign shop and they supported our trophy shop, and then the overwhelming response to the Internet TV is just amazing.”
HCTV covers all things Hamilton County, and occasionally heads on the road to cover games. The first-ever out of county trip was in 2015, when Wafford and crew traveled to Kokomo to cover the Noblesville girls in the basketball regional.
“There was a snowstorm that morning,” said Wafford. “My crew of Perry Williams, Brad Silbert, William Wafford and I jumped in our 4×4 pickup (with our plow attached) and traveled to Kokomo to broadcast the game.”
“He’s one of those guys that’s behind the scenes,” said Williams. “But man, he does a lot for Noblesville athletics in every sport, boys, girls, wrestling. He did a wrestling match last night. So, he’s just a great guy and serves our community well.”
HCTV’s work has also gotten notice around the state. Wafford said the channel has received recognition from the IHSAA, noting that it is “one of the few commercial broadcasters that is hired to produce semi-state and state championships throughout the year” for tennis, golf, basketball and soccer.
Wafford said the most fun thing about broadcasting the games is getting smiles from the student-athletes, their families and friends.
“We have created a platform that enables recognition for the student-athletes from their friends and families that may not have the opportunity to see them play live,” said Wafford. “The fans can watch “Live or Later.”