SportSouth today announced the debut of Under the Lights: Clemson Football, the next in its series of SportSouth Originals.  The 30-minute behind-the-scenes special spotlights the tradition surrounding the Clemson football program and chronicles the Tigers’ spring practice and preparation for the 2010 football season.  Under the Lights: Clemson Football debuts on Thursday, June 18 at 4 p.m. ET on SportSouth. 

A SportSouth camera and sound crew were embedded with the Clemson football team to capture the intensity of spring practice and highlight the traditions that surround the program, from the passion of the fans in “Death Valley” to the superstition of rubbing Howard’s Rock and the pageantry of running down The Hill.  A wireless microphone worn by first-year head coach Dabo Swinney during practice provides unprecedented insight into Swinney’s “all-in” philosophy, a philosophy he is spreading across his Tigers’ team and across the Clemson community.

Under the Lights: Clemson Football premieres on Thursday, June 18 at 4 p.m. ET and has additional airings on June 18 at 10:30 p.m. ET, June 21 at 9:30 p.m. ET, June 23 at 11:30 p.m. ET and June 25 at 7:30 p.m. ET.

SportSouth has created appointment viewing for its SportSouth Originals franchise. A two-hour block of SportSouth Originals begins every Sunday night at 8 p.m. ET and includes programs such as Under the Lights; In My Own Words; Spotlight; At Home and Straight Up.  In the past two years, the regional sports networks serving the Southeast and SportSouth have received 14 Emmy Awards from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) Southeast Chapter, seven of which were awarded to the Original Programming team. 

The regional sports networks serving the Southeast – FOX Sports South, FOX Sports Carolinas and FOX Sports Tennessee – collectively reach more than 12 million cable and satellite television households in seven states in the Southeast and are the television home of the Atlanta Braves, Atlanta Hawks, Carolina Hurricanes, Charlotte Bobcats, Memphis Grizzlies and the Nashville Predators, as well as the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Southeastern Conference.  SportSouth reaches more than nine million homes in six Southeastern states and is the television home of the Atlanta Braves, Atlanta Thrashers and Southern Conference.  SportSouth also offers expanded coverage of the University of South Carolina and University of Tennessee.  Combined, the four networks produce more than 800 live local events each year, including 180 in high definition.