(December 4, 2013) Like many young sportscasters, Kevin Dexter spent Thanksgiving Day pulling an on air holiday shift. It also happened to be his first shift at a new job. An STAA client, Dexter has been hired as a Sports Update Anchor at the CBS Sports Radio Network.
“I not only get to be on the air in New York City, but have the added bonus of national exposure,” says Dexter. “I’m very lucky to have an opportunity like this so early in my career, and I’m looking forward to excelling to the best of my abilities.”
A 2013 STAA All-American as one of the nation’s top collegiate sportscasters, Dexter graduated from Hofstra University in May, focusing all his efforts on achieving a challenging career goal.
“Getting out of school I had the approach that, I’m from New York, I want to be in New York, and even though it may be very difficult, I want to give it my full effort to make it in New York.”
After graduation, Dexter went after as much experience as he could find. He began calling play-by-play for three Long Island colleges (Molloy College, Adelphi University and LIU Post), did NHL Highlight Voiceovers at NeuLion Inc., and producing sports as a freelancer at News 12 Long Island.
“My goal was to get an update job somewhere in NYC to help jump-start my career further,” Dexter says.
The opportunity to get that update job came arrived through networking.
“Through my relationship with Ed Ingles at Hofstra, I got hired to help teach the sportscasting summer camps he runs for teens,” Dexter explains.
“This summer Ed brought in a gentleman named Peter Silverman to help out. Pete used to be the Senior EP at ESPN Radio in NYC, as well as an executive at a number of other places. He watched and listened to some of my demos, and was impressed, and said he would make a few phone calls for me, one of them being to Eric Spitz, the Program Director at CBS Sports Radio. I got in touch with Eric in August, and he responded saying they had no current openings, but to keep in touch.”
In September, Dexter received an STAA job leads email listing a part-time opening at the CBS Sports Radio Network. He mailed an application package, but kept his expectations realistic.
“I also filled out the application online, and to be honest I didn’t expect to hear anything back. I figured there would be hundreds, if not thousands of people applying, and I’d be lucky if they even listened to my demo. Luckily for me, they listened to and liked my demo, and Eric remembered me from Pete’s phone call.”
Dexter was called in for an interview and training. After several weeks, he was given the good news.
“Starting in mid-October I went in once or twice a week to record demos and learn about the format. I would get critiqued every time, and continue to come back and record again. After last week’s round of demos they said I was good to go, and officially hired me.”
Part of the thrill in Dexter’s first shift on Thanksgiving was I sharing the experience with his supportive family.
“My immediate family was here on Long Island huddled around their radio listening every 20 minutes, and my extended family was doing the same in Green Bay, Wisconsin. It made it even more special for me knowing that all of my loved ones were listening and supporting me on my first day.”