Nicole Abuid

Eleanor Boudreau
ENC 2135
27 Sept 2017

Project One: Investigative Field Essay

The field of televised sport production is incredibly complex and has been in existence almost

as long as the television itself. In fact, NBC televised a college baseball game only a few weeks

after it started broadcasting the very first television signals. Before television, sports were

broadcast over the radio, again being one of the first things to go out over their airwaves. And

before the radio, sports were broadcast through telegraph wires (Teitelbaum, 5-6).

Televised sports broadcasting is the behind the scenes of how sporting events both local

and national are on millions of television screens across the globe. Broadcasters provide live

coverage of events in order for sports fans to be able to follow the action as the event is

occurring (Teitelbaum, 16). There are a variety of positions within live sport event production,

each of them with a specific purpose, each of them highly essential to the overall success of the

broadcast. The positions work off of one another, and whether they are in the control room (the

room where the central technical decisions for the production are made and carried out) or out on

the field, they all must be in-sync and communicate with one another in order for the broadcast

to run smoothly (Dupont, 2-5).

The positions which interest me the most are that of director, producer, and technical director

(this particular job is my top choice). These positions are at the top of the hierarchy of televised

sport production. They are the highest paying positions and have the most power wigh decision
making and carrying out orders. Lower-level positions in the hierarchy, which by no means are

less important in the production of the game, include replay and playback operator, and graphic

and audio operator.

I became interested in this field because I was highly involved with my high school's

television production program during my senior year. In our program, we would broadcast the

home games of our sports teams which would be live-streamed on our programs website. We

would thoroughly plan each live event, create a rundown to be handed out to each crew member,

arrange a pre-game meal, set up all the equipment needed, and start broadcasting half an hour

before the game started. Each game we would switch crew positions so that everyone would get

experience with each job. I loved the intensity of the atmosphere, the connections I made with

my crew, and how there wasnt one moment where I was bored.

I decided to research the field of televised sports broadcasting and life within it because I

want to determine if my perceptions of the field are accurate. I want to discover whether the

experiences I had in my high school program are similar to that of the professional atmosphere of

this career. This research will help me in my process of finalizing whether this career is truly

right for me, and whether I will enjoy dedicating my studies and my life to it.

Methods

Before I began my research, I already had a few people in mind who I wanted to interview,

and who I believed could give me reliable and valuable insight about my chosen field.
 One of my close friends, Cameron Guck, who was my high school television production

programs live event director, came to mind as a potential interviewee for my research. Only

three months after graduating from Cypress Bay High School he is already working as a Grip for

the professional basketball team the Miami Heat, and is two months away from completing a

television production program (which typically takes two years to complete) at McFatter

Technical College. As someone who is so accomplished at such a young age, I knew he would

be able to provide me with useful information for my research.

The next person I had in mind to interview was one of the head anchors at the WVFS 89.7

radio station, FSU senior Michael Hudak. Although his expertise leans more towards radio sports

production, I believe he can provide me with insightful information regarding televised sports

production. The mediums of radio and television and their broadcasting of sports may have

distinct differences, but they also share many similarities. Andrew Tolson states in Media Talk:

Spoken Discourse on TV and Radio that with televised broadcasts, viewers are watching the

televised construction of the event, while with radio broadcasts, listeners are able to construct

their own version of the event.

I also wanted to interview my public speaking teacher, and the faculty advisor of the WVFS

89.7 fm radio station, Dr. Misha Laurents. I interviewed her because I believed that she would be

able to provide me with insight regarding communication and discourse communities within my

field, as well as information regarding the broadcasting field and what skills I need to be

successful within it.

 Mark Rodin is the last person I interviewed for my research. He is the Executive Director of

Seminole Productions, Florida State Universitys professional production group. As stated on

their website, Seminole production produced over 80 live sporting events each year and provide

courses which students can take for credit in the Digital Media Production major (which I intend

on majoring in).

I asked my interviewees questions specific to their knowledge and experience of aspects

relative to my chosen field. I interviewed them all in person, recorded their answers, and

transcribed them.

Results

I first interviewed Cameron and asked him about the availability of jobs within the field of

televised sport production. Its very important to know how difficult itll be to find work after I

receive my degree. Regarding this he said,

Its really dependent on who you know and what connections you can get. I personally

got my job at the miami heat because of my high school teacher now my technical

college teacher, Mr. Kurt Doster. When asked about whether the availability of jobs will

fluctuate within the next decade, he told me, The thing about TV production and

communications is that technology is at a point now where its rapidly evolving more than

ever before and it's really become both a hindrance and a blessing for people that work in

the field. I personally know people who are kind of afraid that they won't be able to get a
 job at a news station or something like that because robotic cameras are a thing now and

it's really just a very scary thing to look at where you know peoples jobs can be

overtaken by technology and we can cut down on the amount of people we have in these

situations. But in the next ten years I don't think it'll be a drastic change, especially in the

live events world where events happen so fast and you have to capture moments so

quickly, but the television world definitely has to look out. But the live events world will

be good for the next 10 years.

I had not considered the fact that technology could essentially make many jobs within the

broadcast television field obsolete. And while he said that this may not apply to live sports

production just yet, it is a startling thought to consider for the far future.

I then asked Cameron about the best and worst parts of being a part of the field. I want to

know everything about the field and what I should expect, both the good and bad. He told me,

The best parts in the field is that I get to see professional players play for free, I actually

get paid to watch professional players play for free. But I've heard from my teacher that

eventually it gets really old. That watching the games doesn't really do it for you any

more it's not really entertaining because I've been to so many and youre not focusing on

the actual game youre focusing on what the shot is. That may be one of the negative

aspects, that it kind of dilutes the whole sports experience for you.

I asked him to describe the general atmosphere of the work environment for live sports

production. Cameron answered,

 Working with the Heat you find out that a lot of teams are very different in how they

operate and also when you not working with teams, when youre working with a network

is also a very different environment as well. The control room is a very, Im not gonna

say hostile environment, but it's a very serious environment where a lot of people are

yelling and a lot of people throwing insults around but it's all in good faith, they're all

friends, it's just some people get very worked up when they can't get the things that they

want right away in that situation. But so far it's been a great time just kinda interacting

with professionals and getting advice and getting their experiences.

Cameron provided insight on how people can move up within this field. He said,

Moving up in the live events industry is about putting yourself out there, its about

showing what you can do and showing that youre ready and willing and able to learn a

new position. As long as you can prove that youre trying your best to learn the position

then they're really gonna take note of that and they're gonna see that youre trying to learn

and see that youre trying to move up and they're gonna try to help you.

Conclusion

I discovered that the field of live event sports production is a field based on connections you

make with others, putting yourself out there, and being willing to learn and put in the extra effort.

I learned that you will be able to succeed in this field if you are personable, a great team player,

and have excellent communication skills. Succeeding in this field is not only about what you

know, but who you know- however connections cannot replace skill. Life within this field is very
exciting and intense, and allows you to be in an environment with a variety of different people,

each who you could learn something from. Due to all my research, I am even more certain that I

will pursue televised sports production as my career.

References

Krein, Marc. If You Build It, They Will Come: Developing a Sports Media Major. Project
Muse, 2008, muse.jhu.edu/article/235861.

Sheffer, Mary Lou, and Brad Schultz. Double Standard: Why Women Have Trouble Getting
Jobs in Local Television Sports. Journal of Sports Media, University of Nebraska Press,
9 May 2008, muse.jhu.edu/article/237025.

Newby, Julian. Inside Broadcasting. Routledge, 1997. Career Builders Guides. EBSCOhost,
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 Media-Consumption Behavior and Programmatic Quality and Satisfaction. Journal of
Sports Media, University of Nebraska Press, 24 July 2016, muse.jhu.edu/article/626349.

Whannel, Garry. Television and the Transformation of Sport. The Annals of the American
Academy of Political and Social Science, vol. 625, no. The End of Television? Its Impact
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Cave, Martin. Sports Rights and the Broadcast Industry. The Economic Journal, vol. 111, no.
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Tolson, Andrew. Media Talk: Spoken Discourse on TV and Radio. Edinburgh University Press,
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EBSCOhost,search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=163362&site
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Teitelbaum, Michael. Sports Broadcasting. Cherry Lake Publ., 2009.

Clapp, Brian. A Day in the Life: Producing Live Sports. WorkInSportscom Sports Career Blog,
29 June 2015, www.workinsports.com/blog/live-sports-production-day-in-the-life/.

Dupont, Albert. Teaching the Control Room. School Video News,

schoolvideonews.com/Activites-Projects/Teaching-the-Control-Room---Producer-and-
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