A small market TV sports director asked me if minor league baseball is the fastest way to network TV play-by-play for all sports.
Joe Davis and Adam Amin are fabulous TV broadcasters who started their careers in minor league baseball. From their examples, though, many young broadcasters now believe that minor league baseball is the best way to network TV play-by-play.
It’s not.Read More
My favorite Whitney Houston song is How Will I Know. I had the cassette in college and listened to it often. I mention it because someone asked me, “How will I know when it’s time to go to a major market?”
They then rephrased the question like this, “Is it better to be freelancing and looking for opportunities while living in my desired market, or should I stay where I am and tough it out while pursuing other opportunities?“
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There’s a young play-by-play announcer doing Division II football and basketball in the northern U.S. He wants to know, “How long before I’m considered a Division I caliber broadcaster?“
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A minor league baseball broadcaster was fired up when a job with a great organization in his home state opened. He knew it was open before it was public knowledge.
What he didn’t know is if he should wait for the team to publish a position description before applying.
Never wait!
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Early in my sportscasting career I sent my demo to a mentor. It was under the guise of wanting feedback but really I wanted praise.
I was crushed when I didn’t get it.
How do you respond when you get negative feedback about your work?
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(In a sleepy, unenergetic voice). “He’s at the 10, the 5, and scampers into the end zone for the touchdown.”
Oh my goodness! Who wants to listen to passionless play-by-play?
Passionless play-by-play is lifeless and boring – and a bored audience tunes out. Here are three tips if you’ve been told you need to increase your play-by-play energy:
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Every time STAA works with Learfield Sports to fill a play-by-play opening, I invariably hear from at least three people who are stunned that they didn’t get an interview. Some of that comes from entitlement or ego but much of it is rooted in impatience.
Here are three keys to help you stay patient in the sports broadcasting job market.
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Editing my play by-play demos used to be so frustrating.
Either I would find the perfect segment, except it took 45 seconds or a minute to get to the play-by-play. Or if it started in a timely fashion, there was something afterward that I didn’t like.
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A frustrated job seeker asked me what else he could be doing in the job market. I asked him, what have you already done?
I was stunned by what I learned.
The first thing this frustrated job seeker told me was that employers don’t recognize his greatness. “It’s their fault I’m not getting hired.”
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Have you ever been doing play-by-play when two, or maybe even three, players on the court share the same last name?
