Tupelo Raycom Formed in Tupelo-Honey, WebStream Sports Partnership

The first program to bear the new Tupelo Raycom production credit, “Holiday Homecoming with Jewel” aired on CBS Christmas Day. Tupelo-Honey produces mid-level events in four sectors: Sports, Live, Entertainment, and Digital. In the sports sector, Tupelo produces college football, college basketball, and other programming for NBCSN, ESPN, and other broadcasters and is the exclusive production company for national Arena Football League broadcasts on CBS Sports Network and ESPN2.

Tupelo-Honey Founder Cary Glotzer will serve as CEO of Tupelo Raycom with WebStream Founder John Servizzi and Greg Weitekamp acting as executive vice presidents. WebStream Sports has made its name on cost-efficient yet high-quality remote, in-venue, and studio productions. The company’s client list ranges from broadcasters Turner Sports, ESPN, and CBS Sports Network to mid-major conferences Big South, Horizon, League, Southern Conference, and Ohio Valley Conference. WebStream recently produced its first college bowl, the Popeye’s Bahamas Bowl game, for ESPN in December.

“From the moment Raycom Media acquired WebStream fifteen months ago, it was clear that bringing these two groups together made tremendous sense,” said Glotzer. “The sports and entertainment markets have embraced their efficient production model and blending our talented staffs and resources allows us to deliver quality production at every level.”

“Change is rarely easy, but I can I honestly say my time with Raycom Media has been nothing short of sensational,” added Servizzi. “Raycom Media has invested heavily in us and this represents the next leap forward for our team.”

No positions have been eliminated in the combination. Instead, the full-time staff has been organized to provide better service to clients and increased professional development and mentoring. In addition, Tupelo Raycom will utilize more than 1000 industry professionals to develop new programming and deliver live events, music specials and branded features for broadcast and digital platforms.

Tupelo Raycom boasts a client list that includes NBC, CBS, ESPN, Turner Sports, FOX, Travel Channel, Bounce TV, Live Nation, MSG Network, NCAA, Major League Soccer, Amazon, NFL, New York Giants, New Orleans Saints, Atlanta Falcons as well as the Horizon League, Big South, Missouri Valley, Ohio Valley and Southern Conferences.

Raycom Media, an employee-owned company, is one of the nation’s largest privately owned broadcasters and owns and/or provides services for 63 television stations and 2 radio stations in 42 markets located in 20 states. Raycom Media owns or provides services for stations covering over 14% of U.S. television households and employs over 4,600 individuals in full and part-time positions. In addition to television stations, Raycom Media owns PureCars (digital ad platform for automotive), Raycom Sports (a marketing, production and events management and distribution company), Tupelo Raycom (a sports and entertainment production company) RTM Productions (a Franklin, TN-based automotive programming production and marketing solutions company) and Broadview Media (a post-production/digital signage company based in Montgomery, AL). Raycom Media is headquartered in Montgomery, Alabama.

Tupelo Raycom, a Raycom Media company, brings together Tupelo-Honey (founded 1996) and WebStream Sports (2006). With offices in New York, Indianapolis, Charlotte and Nashville, the company develops new programming and delivers live events, music specials and branded features for broadcast, digital and in-venue entertainment. Tupelo Raycom maintains six production trailers and a 20-station edit facility in New York’s Financial District. The company’s client list ranges from broadcasters Turner Sports, ESPN, and CBS Sports Network to mid-major conferences Big South, Horizon, League, Southern Conference, and Ohio Valley Conference. WebStream recently produced its first college bowl, the Popeye’s Bahamas Bowl game, for ESPN in December.