Nov. 30—John Cassidy, the former CEO of Sierra Central Credit Union and longtime organizer of The Event, has helped launch a new regional sports show called Highlands Sports Roundtable that is set to air for the first time on Friday night.
Taped in a studio at 93Q Radio in downtown Marysville, the first show features Cassidy, former Sacramento Kings forward Harold Pressley, Sactown Sports broadcaster Scott Marsh, and FOX40 reporter Gary Gelfand. It is sponsored by Highlands Community Charter and Technical Schools.
Episodes of the show, including the first one this Friday, will air at 11:30 p.m. on FOX40, according to Cassidy. Along with traditional broadcast television, the show also will be available at 11 a.m. on Saturdays on Sactown Sports 1140 AM radio, 93Q's YouTube page and in a podcast format.
Cassidy, who was inducted into the Northern California Sports Association Hall of Fame in 2014, previously hosted the Sierra Central Sports Roundtable, which was based in Yuba City. That show, much like his new one, also featured Pressley and Marsh and put a focus on players, coaches and legends who grew up and played in the Sacramento region.
"It was the first studio show on the Comcast Sports Network that became NBC Sports Bay Area and NBC Sports NorCal," Cassidy said. "... The show was really popular. It's the same format that TNT kind of borrowed for their four-person set for NBA on TNT. ... We had a killer, state-of-the-art studio."
Sierra Central Sports Roundtable was on the air for about 11 years before ending after Comcast consolidated its programming, the Appeal previously reported.
"We're bringing the sports roundtable back," Cassidy said Wednesday before the taping of the first episode of Highlands Sports Roundtable.
Cassidy said the idea to bring back the roundtable came from Pressley, Highlands, and himself.
"This is going to be a branding campaign to help Highlands increase their brand awareness throughout Northern California," Cassidy said. "... We got approached by Highlands and then I talked to FOX40 and their corporate people. ... Once it got approved, they jumped all over it and allowed us to air it on FOX40."
Cassidy, who will be the main host, said shows will air weekly throughout the year. While Pressley, Marsh and Gelfand will be the "core anchors" of the show, Cassidy said others may be included over time.
As with his previous show, Cassidy said Highlands Sports Roundtable will seek to fill a void in highlighting regional athletes and teams.