It is becoming increasingly rare to find full-time work doing just play-by-play, TV anchoring and reporting or sports talk show hosting. You have to do more. If you can’t, or are unwilling, you will die.
These 9 skills will help keep you relevant in the sportscasting industry:
Read More
Not long ago, a minor league baseball broadcaster started working for a new team. For as long as anyone could remember, the team had traditionally broadcast the pre-game national anthem. The new broadcaster’s practice, though, had always been to break for commercials during the anthem.
The station left the decision up to him. He asked my advice. Here is what I replied…
Read More
Years ago, the program director of a sports radio station in Oklahoma City applied for the same position at a Los Angeles station. Management in LA loved everything about him – his knowledge of the format, his ability to manage personalities, his proficiency working with sales and marketing departments – all of it.
There was just one thing that gave management in LA reservation about hiring him – the huge jump in market size from where he was to where they were.
When the trepidation came up in the interview, the PD replied brilliantly.
Read More
Last weekend, I heard Jay Z’s song Izzo (H to the Izz-o, V to the Izz-A). Immediately, a flood of memories came rushing to mind. When I was the host of ESPN Radio’s weekend overnights, Izzo was one of several songs my producer would play for me in the final 15 minutes before air.
Just as it is for athletes, music was part of our show’s pregame routine. (Jason McBride was our producer; Brian Fitzgerald our board-op. LOVED working with those guys). The songs simultaneously relaxed me and fired me up. Jason wouldn’t start playing them until all of our show prep was complete.
Read More
A TV sportscaster contacted me one month into a two-year contract with a new employer. Things weren’t working out as he anticipated; he wanted out.
A highly accomplished broadcaster applied for one a major college play-by-play job. However, when he applied by emailing resume and audio attachments, it made the impression that he doesn’t possess the technology skills necessary for the position.
Sports broadcasting jobs today are much more than simply being on the air. They are about creating online videos, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, blogging, live streaming and web editing. A person who can’t upload their demo and resume to DropBox likely can’t handle the multimedia duties required by most of today’s play-by-play jobs.
It’s okay to not know how to perform these tasks. It’s not okay to refuse to learn. Not if you want to continue your career.
Read More
A sportscaster had the opportunity to call a handful of basketball games on ESPN3. He is hopeful it will lead to a chance to broadcast games regularly for ESPN.
Do ESPN3 games lead to opportunities with ESPN? Maybe. This topic has been explored in the STAA forums, with great insight provided by someone who has helped produce many E3 productions.
Your chances for moving up to ESPN partly depend on who hired you to do ESPN3 games.
Read More
You are a basketball play-by-play broadcaster. You’re married and you have at least one child who would love nothing more than for you to be at home to play with tonight. The team for which you are broadcasting is playing on the road in a post-season tournament. Lose and you go home. Win, and you are spending another night in a Holiday Inn.
Your team won. What do you hear in your child’s voice when you tell him you aren’t coming home for at least another day?
Sports broadcasting can be an incredible and fulfilling career. Like anything, though, there are challenges. Days, or even weeks, away from family are difficult. Feeling like your spouse might think you aren’t pulling your weight around the house, or with the kids, can strain a marriage.
What are you doing to cope?
Read More
Did your mom ever tell you that you can’t have dessert if you don’t eat your vegetables? My wife and I tell it to our son all the time. You can’t eat just the steak and garlic bread – you also have to eat the peas.
It’s the same way when applying for jobs. You can’t pretend the stuff you don’t like in the position description doesn’t exist.
Read More
We spend a lot of time on this blog offering suggestions about how to make frustrating situations better. If I were an alien from outer space scrolling through for the first time, I might think that sports broadcasting isn’t such a great profession.
But it IS a great profession.
Read More