area schools. Smith's motivation was to lead with programming and create a television station that provided coverage of everything that was taking place in Western North Carolina. In addition, his overriding rule in providing this all-inclusive coverage was that MTN would only broadcast positive television shows and positive news coverage. Unlike other stations across the country that usually focus on negative news stories, Smith focused MTN entirely on everything positive and great that was happening in the High Country of Western North Carolina. With this never-ending goal in mind, MTN worked 7 days per week, 24 hours per day, and literally 365 days per year in an effort to cover everything positive that was happening in the region. As a result, MTN produced more hours of its own television content during these years than any other television station in the United States. MTN produced, filmed, directed, hosted, and broadcast more than 100 hours each week of its own programming, including its own Appalachian State University football and basketball game broadcasts, additional college football and basketball game broadcasts, more than 500 high school football, basketball, soccer, baseball, and softball game broadcasts for high schools in the counties of Watauga, Avery, Ashe, Wilkes, Carter, Johnson, Mitchell, Yancey, Madison, and throughout Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee, the EndZone football Friday night highlight show, the Appalachian State University ASU Chalktalk football strategy show, nightly newscasts, morning newscasts, a noon show and newscasts, a three-hour live morning show with many guests each day from throughout the High Country, a weekly sports highlight show that included coverage of the High Country Heisman contenders, a weekly Appalachian State University sports highlight show, the Avery County Chamber of Commerce Show, the Watauga County Chamber of Commerce Show, the Avery County Schools Show, the Watauga County Schools Show, the Appalachian State University chancellor's show, the Ashe County Arts Show, the Watauga County Arts Show, the Good Life of Avery County Show, the Wilkes County Show, the two hour daily live sports call-in show, the These Historic Hills show, live broadcasts of political elections, interviews each election period with all the political candidates running for office, regular interviews with all area state and national in-office congress people and senators, the weekly Seniors of the Month show which highlighted the lives of outstanding citizens who were of senior age in the MTN broadcast area, many hours every week of local