RSU TV General Manager Royal Aills, center, receives the Oklahoma Tourism Industry Association’s RedBud Award for Outstanding Media Coverage – Television and Online from Oklahoma Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb and “Discover Oklahoma” host Jennifer Reynolds.
Rogers State University Public Television (RSU TV) was honored by the Oklahoma Tourism Industry Association with a RedBud Award for Outstanding Media Coverage – Television and Online for the second season of its weekly series “MidAmerica Industrial Park’s Living Grand on Grand Lake.”
Additional show sponsors were Grand River Dam Authority, Cherokee Entertainment and Northeast REC. The show’s third season premieres Thursday, June 2, at 7 p.m.
Royal Aills, general manager of RSU TV, said the show is a key element in the station’s commitment to showcasing the region. “Part of our mission is to support tourism in Oklahoma and particularly in Northeast Oklahoma,” he said.
Aills served as the executive producer of the show, with Stevie Fernandez serving as the producer.
Tonya Backward, workforce development coordinator at MidAmerica, explained the park’s purpose in sponsoring the show.
“We partnered with RSU because of their commitment to education and economic development in the region,” she said. “The show has proven to be a great way for us to get the word out that MidAmerica is a great place to not only work, but to also develop skills for career advancement through our on-site educational partners, such as RSU.”
The Oklahoma Travel Industry Association held its annual RedBud Awards Gala on May 17 in Oklahoma City as part of the 2016 Oklahoma Conference on Tourism. The event was emceed by Lt. Governor Todd Lamb and “Discover Oklahoma” host Jennifer Reynolds
Twenty eight awards were given in sixteen categories recognizing Oklahoma’s top tourism attractions, events, programs and organizations for outstanding efforts to serve and promote Oklahoma’s tourism industry. Competition entries for the Redbud awards must have been produced, published, broadcast or held between January 1, 2015 and December 31, 2015. All entries were evaluated by a slate of tourism professionals on specific criteria including customer service and experience, marketing effectiveness, media relations, variety of audiences reached, value and overall creativity.
RSU Public TV is the state’s only full-powered public television station licensed to a public university in Oklahoma, and primarily serves the northeast Oklahoma. The station broadcasts educational, cultural and general interest programming to more than a million people in its viewing area. For more information, visit www.rsu.tv.