Egan joins KNOP-TV in Nebraska

(February 23, 2012) How do you land a TV job without a TV demo? STAA client Alex Egan says the key is to start small. Egan has been hired as a News Anchor by KNOP-TV in North Platte, NE.

Egan will anchor the nightly 10 p.m. newscast while also helping with sports coverage and web producing.

When a friend first told Egan about the opening at KNOP, he sent the station the link to his STAA Talent Page – which included only radio demos. Egan had done some campus TV work while attending the University of Northern Colorado, but has been working exclusively in radio since graduating in 2010.

KNOP liked what Egan’s sound, but they also wanted to see him on camera. So, Egan returned to his alma mater to shoot a demo for the station.

“We have a student run, bi-weekly newscast. I was one of the anchors on it when I was in school,” Egan says. “They were actually holding auditions for their next semester. It just worked out the day I was there they already had some audition pieces in place for me to record and send off to North Platte. I was just lucky with the timing.”

Prior to joining KNOP, Egan was calling Fort Morgan high school football play-by-play. His college experience included sports talk hosting and football color.

So, how do you make the jump from radio to TV without a television demo?

“North Platte is the second smallest TV market in the United States, that’s what you do,” Egan chuckles.

Small town life is going to be a big adjustment for Egan.

“It’s definitely the smallest place I’ve ever lived. I lived in Greeley (CO), which is 90 thousand people, and I lived in a suburb of Denver which is anywhere form 3 to 4 million. Going to a city with 25,000 people is going to be a challenge but I’m looking forward to it because I’ll be working full-time so I wont have much time to sit back and relax.”

(Visit Alex’s STAA Talent Page).