For my second interview, I talked with Neal Slotkin. He is a senior producer at Comcast Sportsnet. I knew that Neal was an adujunct faculty here at Rider, and so I decided to send him an e-mail. We then had a phone interview a couple of days later.
Comcast sports net in this area focuses on the sports in Philadephia. That's what Neal and his team reports on. He says that he has various responsibilites and that his job changes everyday. Sometimes he works with the field producer. He goes with the reporters to interview players and coaches. He films what are called "News of the Day" which are stories about a specific team that usually last about 2-3 minutes long. He works very closely with the Flyers and the 76ers. He also travels with the Philadelphia Eagles. He goes to their home and away game and writes and reports about that. When he gets back, he edits everything and then writes something for the anchor of the show to read. He's also a feature producer. This takes a little more work because it's about 5-6 minutes long and it needs to be planned ahead. An example of a feature he gave me, was when Harry Kalas (the announcers for the Philadelphia Phillies) passed away. Since he had been sick for a while, and people knew he was probably going to die soon, the station started preparing the feature ahead of time. That way when it did happen, they could air it as soon as people heard the news. The features need special attention because they need to go through a lot more videos, and they really need to keep up with the situation.
Neal got started at Rutgers University. He worked at his campus radio station reporting on the sports event at the school. He then had an internship at Channel 6 and an independent study at WFAM New York. He also volunteered at Prism Sports. After he graduated, he landed a job at ESPN and worked there for 3 1/2 years. One day his mother gave him a call telling that she heard that Comcast was starting a station in the Philly area focusing on Philly sports. Being from Cherry Hill, he was very interested in the project because a Philadelphia Sports' fan. So he left ESPN and joined the project. On October 1st 1997, Comcast Sports Net was launched.
As far as technology is concerned, he says it changes everyday and that electronic media is just going to have to keep up. From putting up extra online content to making applications available for blackberries and other phones. As far as their station, they are trying their best to keep up with the ever changing technologies. They have both facebook and twitter accounts that keep audiences updated constantly. They're also working on broadcasting games on their website.
Neal mentioned several things he like about his job. He loves the variety of what he gets to do. He also loves the fact that he gets to follow and write about the sports and teams that he is a fan of. Also the fact that he gets to work with sports in general, because it's something that he's always loved. He also likes the fact that he works with such talented people. What he doesn't like about it, is that it could get very hectic and busy. As he said, it's not a 9-5 job. He works a lot of nights and and rarely has weekends off. He has a family, and because of his hectic job, he misses a lot of things with them. Another dislike is the fact that the people on the production side don't make great money. He said it's enough to make a living, but that the real money goes to the people who are on air.
One thing Neal suggested as far as getting your foot in the door is an internship. He couldn't stress that enough. He said you can never have too many. He also said that while you're at your internship, try to set yourself apart from the rest. Go in early, stay later, offer extra help, volunteer to go on a shoot when you weren't supposed to be working. Those are the types of things that will make you stand out from everybody else. He said you need to be a hardworker, very responsible, and a solid writer. He said it's also important to listen well, ask questions, and be flexible. He also said that it was very important to be a well-rounded person. He said there were no specific trade publications that should be read, but to keep up with what's going on everywhere. Even you're interested in sports, read about what's going on the news and in other areas of the media so that way you have a good grasp of everything.
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Link to comcast sportsnet Philly
Example of a program aired on Comcast Sportsnet Philadelphia
Friday, May 7, 2010
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Interview with Richard Hankey
For this interview/my station profile assignment, I interviewed Richard Hankey who is the executive producer of VH1's Top 20 Video Countdown. He works for the VH1 network (which is owned by viacom). I'm lucky enough to know somebody who works for VH1. My cousin's fiance is also an executive producer on several shows there and I told her about my assignment, and she said she could get me in contact with anybody that I wanted. I always had an interest in the Top 20 Video Countdown so I told her about that one. She spoke to him for me, and together we set up the interview. As I said before, I used this program for my station profile assignment because it was a show that I watch a lot and always took interest into how it was produced.
As I mentioned Richard is the executive producer this show and others as well. He recently did casting for MTV's Jersey Shore. He said he got started doing internships in various places until he was hired at VH1. He became the executive producer of the Top 20 Video countdown in 2000. He loves the experience that comes with his job. He loves getting to meet new people and he loves his the crew and the people that he works with. He talked a lot about how this show has a very strong and great staff and how he loves working with all of them. Also, as far as this show he enjoys how simple it is. It's not too complicated to produce and put together. Something that he doesn't like about the job, is having to cast the host of the show. He said there was a period of time when it seemed like they had a new host every few months. He said casting the host for this show is the hardest thing he has ever had to do (casting-wise) and that he stresses out a lot whenever a host leaves for whatever reason, because he knows that it's going to be a long and difficult process to find a new one.
He says the new technologies in the media may help make producing the show easier. Half of the experience of the show takes place online (voting for your favorite videos), so he doesn't seem to think that the growth of online content is going to affect this particular show very much. It was something I was actually wondering about since my group's webisode was about online content, but he doesn't seem to think that the show itself will go online anytime in the near future.
Richard stressed how very important internships are. 75% of people who work at VH1 were once interns. They start as a production assistants and work their way up. He said while they like seeing that you got experience at schoo, he said doing an internship is extremely important and gets you more professional experience. He says it's important to not only have the skill and the knowledge, but to also have confidence and drive to want to work in this industry.
Here is the link to the Top 20 Video Countdown (the show that Richard is currently executive producer of)
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In addition to playing music videos, the VH1 Top 20 Video Countdown also does interviews with various artists on their show. Here is a video with the host interviewing American Idol Season 7 Runner-up, David Archuleta. In the video you also get a taste of how the countdown works as well.
As I mentioned Richard is the executive producer this show and others as well. He recently did casting for MTV's Jersey Shore. He said he got started doing internships in various places until he was hired at VH1. He became the executive producer of the Top 20 Video countdown in 2000. He loves the experience that comes with his job. He loves getting to meet new people and he loves his the crew and the people that he works with. He talked a lot about how this show has a very strong and great staff and how he loves working with all of them. Also, as far as this show he enjoys how simple it is. It's not too complicated to produce and put together. Something that he doesn't like about the job, is having to cast the host of the show. He said there was a period of time when it seemed like they had a new host every few months. He said casting the host for this show is the hardest thing he has ever had to do (casting-wise) and that he stresses out a lot whenever a host leaves for whatever reason, because he knows that it's going to be a long and difficult process to find a new one.
He says the new technologies in the media may help make producing the show easier. Half of the experience of the show takes place online (voting for your favorite videos), so he doesn't seem to think that the growth of online content is going to affect this particular show very much. It was something I was actually wondering about since my group's webisode was about online content, but he doesn't seem to think that the show itself will go online anytime in the near future.
Richard stressed how very important internships are. 75% of people who work at VH1 were once interns. They start as a production assistants and work their way up. He said while they like seeing that you got experience at schoo, he said doing an internship is extremely important and gets you more professional experience. He says it's important to not only have the skill and the knowledge, but to also have confidence and drive to want to work in this industry.
Here is the link to the Top 20 Video Countdown (the show that Richard is currently executive producer of)
Logo
In addition to playing music videos, the VH1 Top 20 Video Countdown also does interviews with various artists on their show. Here is a video with the host interviewing American Idol Season 7 Runner-up, David Archuleta. In the video you also get a taste of how the countdown works as well.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Future of Television Programming
This article talks about how the future of television programming, and how it's going to affect television programs and networks themselves. One interesting thing brought out in the article, is how television going on demand and digital is going to affect all programs. The author says that we know what day and time our shows are going to be on, and during the time we are watching those shows, we see advertisements for other shows on the network. If the ability to pre-record our shows, and be able to watch them whenever we want without commercials, then we won't be seeing the advertisements for other programs, therefore we won't be watching them. This could expecially hurt new and upcomming programs that don't have a steady fan-base yet.
This is going to affect the industry, because that means less people watching shows on the networks. While when we tivo a show we are still watching it on the network, the show now becomes digital, and we can completely fast forward all commercials. That means less people seeing the commercials, less people that are going to watch the shows being advertised, and therefore audiences for the network as a whole. Audiences however will be postively affected. They can watch any shows they want on demand without commercials. They won't have to worry about having to be home at a certain time to watch their show. They can pre-record it and watch it whenever they want. The audiences of new and up and coming shows though, maybe affected.
To see an example click here
http://alexcalic.com/2009/09/29/the-future-of-television-programming-will-require-better-discovery/
This is going to affect the industry, because that means less people watching shows on the networks. While when we tivo a show we are still watching it on the network, the show now becomes digital, and we can completely fast forward all commercials. That means less people seeing the commercials, less people that are going to watch the shows being advertised, and therefore audiences for the network as a whole. Audiences however will be postively affected. They can watch any shows they want on demand without commercials. They won't have to worry about having to be home at a certain time to watch their show. They can pre-record it and watch it whenever they want. The audiences of new and up and coming shows though, maybe affected.
To see an example click here
http://alexcalic.com/2009/09/29/the-future-of-television-programming-will-require-better-discovery/
Future of Talk Radio
This article is talking about talk radio now, and what it will become. It talks more about the political aspect of talk radio, and how that's what's keeping it alive right now. It mentions how Barack Obama calling out Rush Limbaugh was a huge advertisement for talk radio, because Americans were suddenly interested in what he had to say, whether they agreed with him or not. In the beginning of the article, he also talks about radio as a medium itself. He says that the generation of the baby boom is very familiar with radio, and still uses it as a primary source of techonology. Younger generations, however, aren't as familiar with radio due to today's rapidly growing technology. Therefore, once the younger generation starts to get older, radio (and the programs that come with it) may be in trouble.
I feel this article is important and why it's going to impact the industry, because it's giving hope that radio programs are going to stick around for a while, therefore having regular radio as a medium sticking around for a while. If the political shows are still poplular, and politicians are talking positively and negatively about these conservative/liberal talk show hosts, then people are going to be drawn to what they have to say more and more. When they start listening to these programs, they will be drawn to radio more and more, and potentially using FM radio as well. This may give both AM and FM radio a few more years of strength.
A negative aspect to this is that the younger generation is growing up fast, and will soon be taking over. Since they don't know how to use radio as well, that means less and less listeners as time goes on. This means it's possible that the political talk shows won't even be able to save radio anymore.
As of now, this may impact the audiences of talk radio in a positive way. If more politicians are calling out these show hosts, then the more interesting the discussions wil be on the show. The audience will get more entertainment and be more ammused by the show. On a negative note, since the younger generation is growing up fast (causing radio to decline in listeners) then radio may die out sooner than we think causing the current listeners to have nothing.
For an example of political talk radio, click here
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2009/05/04/the_future_of_talk_radio/?page=3
I feel this article is important and why it's going to impact the industry, because it's giving hope that radio programs are going to stick around for a while, therefore having regular radio as a medium sticking around for a while. If the political shows are still poplular, and politicians are talking positively and negatively about these conservative/liberal talk show hosts, then people are going to be drawn to what they have to say more and more. When they start listening to these programs, they will be drawn to radio more and more, and potentially using FM radio as well. This may give both AM and FM radio a few more years of strength.
A negative aspect to this is that the younger generation is growing up fast, and will soon be taking over. Since they don't know how to use radio as well, that means less and less listeners as time goes on. This means it's possible that the political talk shows won't even be able to save radio anymore.
As of now, this may impact the audiences of talk radio in a positive way. If more politicians are calling out these show hosts, then the more interesting the discussions wil be on the show. The audience will get more entertainment and be more ammused by the show. On a negative note, since the younger generation is growing up fast (causing radio to decline in listeners) then radio may die out sooner than we think causing the current listeners to have nothing.
For an example of political talk radio, click here
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2009/05/04/the_future_of_talk_radio/?page=3
Monday, February 22, 2010
Short Answer Question
Video websites such as Hulu and Youtube have been losing quality and money by posting too much free material. What is a possible suggestion to help this situation? Compare it to something in television. (pages 327-328)
One thing that could be done is to limit the free content on websites. Only let audiences access a certain amount of free content, and then start charging them. Either allow them to watch the first five episodes of a show for free, and then charge a few bucks an episode or allow them a few month free trial period and then charge them for access. Another thing that can be done is have a whole section of videos that are free, and then another section (maybe more exclusive videos) that have to be paid to watch. Either way the audience is pulled in by the limited free videos, and then will have the urge to pay to see what they're missing out on.
An example in television would be HBO and pay per view. There are networks that air movies but most of them have commercials, less variety, and they only air once in a very long time. With pay per view, you can choose the movies/events that you want without commercials, and watch them whenever you want for a fee. HBO has a wide variety of programs and movies that aren't always available on other networks, plus you get them without any commercials. You can have access to this channel for extra money on your cable bill.
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jan/21/business/la-fi-ct-newhulu21-2010jan21
One thing that could be done is to limit the free content on websites. Only let audiences access a certain amount of free content, and then start charging them. Either allow them to watch the first five episodes of a show for free, and then charge a few bucks an episode or allow them a few month free trial period and then charge them for access. Another thing that can be done is have a whole section of videos that are free, and then another section (maybe more exclusive videos) that have to be paid to watch. Either way the audience is pulled in by the limited free videos, and then will have the urge to pay to see what they're missing out on.
An example in television would be HBO and pay per view. There are networks that air movies but most of them have commercials, less variety, and they only air once in a very long time. With pay per view, you can choose the movies/events that you want without commercials, and watch them whenever you want for a fee. HBO has a wide variety of programs and movies that aren't always available on other networks, plus you get them without any commercials. You can have access to this channel for extra money on your cable bill.
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jan/21/business/la-fi-ct-newhulu21-2010jan21
Friday, February 12, 2010
Hulu Starting To Charge?
This article is talking about how the popular website hulu (where you can usually get access to popular tv shows for free) is considering charging viewers to watch certain shows. It says in the article, that the website would be willing to charge for their three most popular shows ("30 Rock", "Modern Family", and "House"). They mentioned a plan that's being considered is view the more recent episodes for free, but then charge $4.99 to watch older episodes. While nobody from hulu confirmed it yet, it's still being talked about.
The reason why I chose this article is because hulu is really a popular website that many people (myself included) go to seek entertainment. It's a great website to go to if you missed a show, or to just watch something you enjoyed over again. The qualitly of the videos is great, there's only one advertisement every 20 minutes or so. It beats youtube's sometimes poor quality, and it also beats having to watch on tv with commercials. Charging users of this website will let a lot of people down, and they will also lose a lot of "customers".
It relates to my group's webisode purely because it's tv content online. My chapter is all about television entering the world of internet. This website provides almost every show you could imagine to watch at your finger tips. This is definitely something that will turn people away from tv, and onto their computers.
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jan/21/business/la-fi-ct-newhulu21-2010jan21
The reason why I chose this article is because hulu is really a popular website that many people (myself included) go to seek entertainment. It's a great website to go to if you missed a show, or to just watch something you enjoyed over again. The qualitly of the videos is great, there's only one advertisement every 20 minutes or so. It beats youtube's sometimes poor quality, and it also beats having to watch on tv with commercials. Charging users of this website will let a lot of people down, and they will also lose a lot of "customers".
It relates to my group's webisode purely because it's tv content online. My chapter is all about television entering the world of internet. This website provides almost every show you could imagine to watch at your finger tips. This is definitely something that will turn people away from tv, and onto their computers.
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jan/21/business/la-fi-ct-newhulu21-2010jan21
Future of TV online?
This article dicussed the future of online tv, and how certain networks and tv channels are putting their content online. Certain channels are posting previous episodes of their programs online, and some are making webisodes just for their webistes. In the article from cnn.com, it states "TheWB.com is set for a beta launch in early May. A second WB site for kids will present animated programming Looney Toons, Hannah Barbera, and DC Comics said Warner Bros." It also talks about the success of youtube and how many people are turning to the site to catch up on shows that they've missed. One woman talks about how if she misses her show she must "suffer" and go online to see it.
It also mentions how the WB stopped showing online episdoes of their hit program "Gossip Girl" because they were losing viewers during the time that it's aired on television. Despite that fact, the a source from the article doesn't seem to think that television has anything to worry about. The person said "Yes television is changing, but I don't think TV is dying because the television experience in the living room is really good one- and it's not going away."
This article relates to my chapter for a couple of reasons. First of all, my chapter talks about web shows and how some tv stations have online only content. This article talks about how many television stations are now posting certain excerpts from programs that you wouldn't see on tv online. For example the cartoons that I mentioned before.
The other way it relates to my chapter and webisode, because the chapter also talks about tv stations posting episodes of their shows online the day after they've aired. That's also discussed in this article. While it doesn't mention it in this article, I know that ABC family posts all of their shows the night after they were aried on tv. I know when I miss my show I immediately turn to the website so I can watch what I missed and catch up. That's what this article mentions, and it's also what my chapter talks about.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/TV//05/01/tv.future/index.html
It also mentions how the WB stopped showing online episdoes of their hit program "Gossip Girl" because they were losing viewers during the time that it's aired on television. Despite that fact, the a source from the article doesn't seem to think that television has anything to worry about. The person said "Yes television is changing, but I don't think TV is dying because the television experience in the living room is really good one- and it's not going away."
This article relates to my chapter for a couple of reasons. First of all, my chapter talks about web shows and how some tv stations have online only content. This article talks about how many television stations are now posting certain excerpts from programs that you wouldn't see on tv online. For example the cartoons that I mentioned before.
The other way it relates to my chapter and webisode, because the chapter also talks about tv stations posting episodes of their shows online the day after they've aired. That's also discussed in this article. While it doesn't mention it in this article, I know that ABC family posts all of their shows the night after they were aried on tv. I know when I miss my show I immediately turn to the website so I can watch what I missed and catch up. That's what this article mentions, and it's also what my chapter talks about.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/TV//05/01/tv.future/index.html
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