Gridiron Central, the twice-weekly high school football vodcast of the Rome News-Tribune and prepcentralonline.com, has received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Achievement in the Advanced Media — Interactive Programming category of the 2009 Southeast Regional Emmy Awards. Gridiron Central is the only program produced by a newspaper to be nominated this year.

"I can’t begin to describe how happy we are to receive this nomination," said New Media Director Jim Alred, creator and producer of Gridiron Central. "This is a huge testament to the hard work and effort of what I believe is one of the best multimedia staffs in the nation."

The Southeast Emmys are presented by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Southeast Chapter, a professional, nonprofit association dedicated to excellence in visual media.

Based in Atlanta, the chapter serves the southeast region that includes Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Asheville, N.C.

Gridiron Central premiered in August 2007. The show that offers highlights of prep football games, commentary, footage of fans and bands, top plays and more has been viewed more than 2 million times over its two-year run. In 2008, the show moved into its custom-built Studio Central, its permanent home, and added a second weekly show, previewing upcoming football match-ups and showcasing footage and commentary from other fall sports.

"Jim and his group in the interactive department have worked very hard to bring quality video and Internet programming to their audience," said Burgett Mooney, president of News Publishing Company, parent company of the Rome News-Tribune and seven other regional community newspapers. "The Emmy nomination is a truly deserved validation of that effort, and I know the online community joins me in congratulating Jim and his team."

The show is produced by the New Media Department of NPCo. The show’s producers are Jim Alred and Ross McDuffie. The duo also serves as co-hosts of the program and videographers. Tricia Dillard is the director and a videographer. Enea Zhonga, Christina Saul, Kevin Myrick, Ashley-Grace Ramocan and Ryan Smith serve on the production crew or shoot games. The show also features appearances from Rome News-Tribune sports Editor David Dawson, sportswriter Jeremy Stewart, Walker County Messenger Sports Editor Scott Herpst and Cedartown Standard Sports Editor Brad Easterwood.

"Gridiron Central wouldn’t be possible without the tireless work of our interns, sportswriters and production crew. Often times, our football Fridays begin at noon and don’t end until early in the morning on Saturday," Alred says. "This is a labor of love, but it’s also a lot of fun. We enjoy covering high school sports in Northwest Georgia, and this nomination doesn’t just go to us, but to all the teams, coaches, athletes, bands and fans that help make the show successful."

The shows are posted each Saturday and Wednesday during football season. Over the past two high school seasons, 56 shows have been produced, all of which are available to view or download at prepcentralonline.com.

Three other programs were nominated in the same category with Gridiron Central. Those are Taptoos: Guardian Angel, Tapped In: Tetris and Tapped In: Missile Command. All three are produced by Turner Broadcasting’s Game Tap TV.

The 2009 Southeast Emmy Awards will be presented on June 27 in Atlanta at the Grand Hyatt-Buckhead.

This is the third nomination or award for a prepcentralonline.com production this year. The Web site, prepcentralonline.com, won second place nationally for General Excellence in an Online News Service in the New Frontier Awards in February. The Web site is also a finalist for best Newspaper Web Site in the 2009 Georgia Press Association Better Newspaper Contest.

Gridiron Central will return in two weeks for a special spring football wrap-up edition, covering the spring games from area teams.