Dan Doherty is New York through and through. He was born and raised on Long Island. He graduated from Ithaca College, returned to Long Island for his first job in radio, then went back to Ithaca for his second. Now this New Yorker is heading to . . . North Dakota. Doherty is joining BEK Sports Network in Bismarck as a play-by-play broadcaster.
“Willingness to move to different places and away from home is a necessity in this industry,” Doherty suggests. “These jobs and opportunities don’t grow on trees.”
His hiring comes just days after BEK hired fellow STAA member Chris Brintle in the same capacity. Doherty moves to Bismarck after three years at ESPN Ithaca. It was the first job he landed after joining STAA in 2018. BEK is the second.
“I would not be where I am without STAA,” Doherty states. “I would not have known of the opportunities that have allowed me to do what I love full-time if I was not a member. Then, of course, all the resources and critiques are wonderful as well and ensure that you don’t get stale behind the mic.
“The BEK opportunity came about thanks to an STAA job posting,” Doherty recalls. “I was very happy in my role at ESPN Ithaca so I wasn’t itching to go elsewhere unless I found a great opportunity. The job description for BEK and the focus on play-by-play really attracted me so I went for it and got lucky since I don’t have any connections there.”
Keeping his demo reels updated helped Doherty in his BEK application. “I didn’t have to burn time updating demo reels. I had updated them for a job application I submitted for a different posting a couple of months ago and did not feel the need to scour through more audio to make more reels.”
As for moving so far from home, Doherty recalls a piece of advice his mother gave him. “‘Say yes, ask questions later.’ That stuck with me.”