Sports Anchor/Reporter Marshall Kramsky is leaping from market 97 to No. 36. To him, though, market size is irrelevant. “I don’t believe that market size is ever a reflection of talent. Talent is talent,” he says.
Kramsky is taking his talent from Burlington, VT to WCPO 9 News in Cincinnati.
The former New York University baseball player compares talent to having a good fastball. “If a pitcher throws 98 mph on the black with great late movement, it doesn’t matter who the competition is, that pitcher is going to have success. I view being a sports journalist in the same light. Every market has stories. If a sports journalist shows up every day, hunts deep stories, tells them in an insightful, engaging, and entertaining way – they are going to be successful. Market size does not matter.”
Apply and wait
The WCPO position opened in November. Kramsky applied immediately, then waited. “I didn’t hear anything for months, until one day, right as my contract expired, I got an email from WCPO saying they really enjoyed my work,” he recalls. “My Winter Olympic coverage was already playing on a regular basis in that market since my former station (NBC5) had a sister station in Cincinnati.”
Kramsky joined STAA in 2017 early in his senior year at NYU. His first stop after graduation was at CBS7 in Odessa, TX, and then onto Vermont. Hard work has been his calling card each step of the way.
“During college, I once received advice from one of my favorite local sportscasters who I wound up interning for at WABC in NYC. ‘Work harder than everyone else, and good things will happen.’ It’s cliche, but it has always worked for me. I try to put out work that is different, not by comparing it to other people, but by delivering it in a way that feels right to me.”
Sports hotbed
The Cincinnati Bengals recent Super Bowl run adds to Kramsky’s excitement for his new opportunity. “Having the opportunity to cover a team that is a legitimate Super Bowl contender with a larger than life star quarterback is a dream for a sports journalist,” Kramsky grins. It’s not just the Bengals, though, that Kramsky is looking forward to covering.
“The Cincinnati Bearcats are coming off of a historic College Football Playoff appearance, Xavier is being picked nationally as one of the top teams to keep an eye on during next college basketball season, and the Reds are in a really interesting rebuilding mode with the reigning NL Rookie of the Year and one of the top pitching prospects in baseball.”
Kramsky adds that his enthusiasm is mainly about the greater Cincinnati area as a whole. “It’s a sports town. People are passionate about their teams from the high school to professional level, and wherever there is passion, there are stories. I can’t wait to bring those to life.”