Just as teams attempt to work together on the field, the television or radio production covering the event also excels through teamwork.
I thought I’d offer some brief outlines of the many production jobs available in sports broadcast media. On some of the positions, I have linked to more in-depth profiles of the jobs. I plan to add additional in-depth profiles of these positions but this can serve as a starting point.
Play-by-play announcers provide description of the event while color commentators—often times former players or coaches—provide expert analysis of the game’s events.
Many productions also include studio commentators that provide analysis of the games before, during, and after the event. Also, many radio and television broadcasts include reporters who talk with coaches during the games to provide updates on issues like injuries. They also may interview players and coaches after the game.
As the action unfolds on the field, court, or racetrack, audio technicians help bring the event’s sounds to the sports fan. Critical in both radio and television broadcasts of sports, audio technicians set up and monitor equipment used to capture the action, which includes microphones to pick up crowd noise, the noises from the field of play, as well as the broadcast’s on-air talent.
They also work the various sound equipment to assure a consistent audio level during the broadcast.
The video technicians are responsible for setting up and operating the various video components needed to broadcast a sporting event.
Professionally trained either in school or on the job, cameramen do the fieldwork of capturing sports action for the television broadcast. They typically are assigned specific parts of the game with other camera operators focusing on different aspects. While I used the term, “cameraman,” the jobs are, of course, filled by men and women.
Cameramen often work in the elements and carry heavy loads of equipment as they move to assigned positions.
These engineers, which typically receive broadcast training, specialize in the many graphics that appear during a sports broadcast, from scoring updates, presentations of players names, to play diagrams during the action.
In television broadcasts, fans expect replays. In fact, they expect replays from several angles. These professionally trained technicians oversee the video and cue up the replays as needed. Often times, they may slow the video to a crawl to allow even greater insight.
These professionals make the decisions that will shape the broadcast, providing story angles to the on-air talent, while making decisions on the look of the show, including camera angles, use of graphics, sound, and all decisions that allow the broadcast to tell the story.
Spotters assist the production crew with names and events during a broadcast. In sporting events with a lot of participants, it often is difficult to keep track of every competitor. Spotters assist in this role.
While there is an official scorekeeper, television and radio broadcasts often rely on their own statisticians as well. These statisticians will focus on providing figures that give context to the game during play. They may advise the announcers and production when a baseball player may be reaching a milestone home run or a football running back is closing in on a 100-yard game.
The stage manager makes sure everything is in its proper place for the broadcast, specifically relative to the on-air personalities. The stage manager makes sure chairs and equipment are in the right place. Cameras that focus on the personalities also need to be placed properly. They also adjust on the fly, and in live broadcasts adaptation often is needed.
Here is a profile story on a stage manager.
Technical directors typically work their way up from other broadcast positions, cue cards, prompters, and studio camera for instance. They eventually work with video and audio controls. This experience proves useful as the technical director works to make sure all broadcast components are working together.
There are other jobs available in radio and television broadcast, but these should give you an idea on the varied positions available.