I'm grateful for the streaming of ETSU sports. I'd like to see the school step it up however. Many schools are doing multi-camera streaming...complete with graphics, slow mo replays and announcers call it for television...not doubling having one announcer do both. Technology makes this affordable...the only problem is labor. Schools with robust media programs have a huge inventory of students to do it. In a perfect world....ETSU would have student announcers, production team, producers etc. With proper oversight by a professional leader (faculty or otherwise), this can be a spectacular product. It hurts me to see Chattanooga kicking our butt when it comes to this. It's fun for the students and it's great for the fans and the school. Think of the possibilities....all games, coaches shows, signing day etc. Come on ETSU....get it together Dr. Sander et al.

I hope that we continue to do the live streaming of basketball and baseball games in the Southern Conference. Just personally, Id rather listen to Jay Sandos while watching the video than to listen to student announcers. Frankly, I would probably choose to listen to Sandos on the radio instead of watch the live stream with any other announcer. I know I am probably in the minority on that, I just think that Sandos is one of the biggest assets that the athletic department has. That becomes even more apparent when you try to listen to whoever that is that calls the women's games. Id rather keep up with the live stats on my phone than to listen to him.

By the way, I just watched the new "ETSU Courtside" on WJHL that comes on at 11:30 on Sundays. I am glad that ETSU has bought the time on TV to increase exposure. However, that is the most half-assed show i've ever watched. They literally have Jay do a 30 second intro to the each game, show the video highlights with the radio broadcast, followed by a commercial and then the next game.

There needs to be some exclusive interviews with the coaches or AD or something. It adds nothing for those of us who keep up with the teams, and is too boring to make those who do not keep up with the teams watch.

Tough to do that with such a small broadcasting department, especially when there's so little crossover between the Buccaneer Sports Network and the department in Warf Pickel. ETSU only has two paid positions directly involved with the Network - Jay and a videographer. The rest has always been students or former students, save Don Helman's stint as the women's basketball guy. So they've already been doing some of what you're suggesting at varying points, and they used to have multi-camera setups for basketball and even volleyball. Best guess, budget constraints and lack of personnel nixed those. They also had a TV show which turned into a web series last year; now it has completely gone dark as far as I can tell because they're so understaffed and have totally run out of on-air talent except Jay. John Stevens graduated and went back to the Navy; Brandon Keys graduated and went into high school sports; Keith Brake graduated and went to work with UConn; Jessica Larkin graduated, too, but I don't know what she's doing now. Those people were big parts of the core broadcasting group, and they haven't really been replaced.

As for having separate announcers for radio and TV, you have to get the games on TV first, which means someone has to want them. As long as they're doing online streaming, the simulcast works fine, especially considering what kind of money they have right now: I have it on good authority that BSN's budget got cut in half this year.

It's possible that, in the future, ETSU will outsource its radio content. UTC and Memphis go through Learfield, while Vanderbilt and (IIRC) Tennessee go through IMG (as do App State and Marshall). That might help clear the way for a separate student broadcast, since they wouldn't need the student help for production on-site. But, really, unless they can find more students who actually want to do play-by-play, the current arrangement is fine as far as theoretical student involvement.

(01-26-2014 05:13 PM)Mister Consistency Wrote:  Tough to do that with such a small broadcasting department, especially when there's so little crossover between the Buccaneer Sports Network and the department in Warf Pickel. ETSU only has two paid positions directly involved with the Network - Jay and a videographer. The rest has always been students or former students, save Don Helman's stint as the women's basketball guy. So they've already been doing some of what you're suggesting at varying points, and they used to have multi-camera setups for basketball and even volleyball. Best guess, budget constraints and lack of personnel nixed those. They also had a TV show which turned into a web series last year; now it has completely gone dark as far as I can tell because they're so understaffed and have totally run out of on-air talent except Jay. John Stevens graduated and went back to the Navy; Brandon Keys graduated and went into high school sports; Keith Brake graduated and went to work with UConn; Jessica Larkin graduated, too, but I don't know what she's doing now. Those people were big parts of the core broadcasting group, and they haven't really been replaced.

As for having separate announcers for radio and TV, you have to get the games on TV first, which means someone has to want them. As long as they're doing online streaming, the simulcast works fine, especially considering what kind of money they have right now: I have it on good authority that BSN's budget got cut in half this year.

It's possible that, in the future, ETSU will outsource its radio content. UTC and Memphis go through Learfield, while Vanderbilt and (IIRC) Tennessee go through IMG (as do App State and Marshall). That might help clear the way for a separate student broadcast, since they wouldn't need the student help for production on-site. But, really, unless they can find more students who actually want to do play-by-play, the current arrangement is fine as far as theoretical student involvement.

Great analysis. ETSU has the resources....it's a lack of desire to promote and make things happen by the faculty. It's been done at community colleges for goodness sake. It's got to be a productive party where students are rewarded in multiple ways. Faculty are not motivated to do the extra work....and that's what it is. I suggest making it part of the job description. A chair or department head have to be engaged. The problem here is entitled staff and faculty who value seeing their families more than serving their students. I suggest having the benefits of being a teacher at a University requires effort to deliver a hands on college education. Cleveland High School does this....Cleveland High School in Tennessee. Look at their website and see what they do. http://www.nfhsnetwork.com/channels/clev...-tennessee I further suggest live streaming/switching HD hardware software from newtek.com

ETSU's Division of broadcasting doesn't have the numbers, nor the philosophy these days. It seems like the pendulum has swung more towards teaching film study, documentaries and that sort of thing. From what I can remember, ETSU is using a five camera shoot, two on the side, two on the ends and one diagonally. In order to do this right, five camera operators, two grips, a graphics guy, TD, director, producer, and an audio guy. That's to do a basic webcast. Conrad and Jay are doing a great job with not very much to work with right now, and the guys that did it while Jay was gone overseas defending his country did one hell of a job. It wasn't until the stimulus that ETSU had even somewhat modern equipment to work with. We were shooting the studio show with cameras donated from PBS in 1973. The pedestals actually should've been in a museum for TV history as they were from the late 50's. The previous administration didn't fund things at all, and a lot of people who did care worked their nuts off to get a weekly TV show, radio coaches show and games on the internet from the A-Sun time on. Can it be better? Yes. But the HD upgrades are expensive for their production trailer, and when nobody wants to pay to watch the games online, they don't have a huge revenue stream from it. The faculty at ETSU is engaged, I had damn good professors there and learned a whole hell of a lot. I don't know if that's changed, I know Tom retired and from what I gather is on his fishing boat in the Gulf, and he should be. I guess I could just go all Nicholson on you and say unless you want to come up out of the stands and let Dillion Sneed run your ass over while you try to "save the camera and get the shot," I would rather say you thank you to the people who are working and doing the best they can with the materials they have to work with, otherwise I suggest you write some checks, pick up a camera, or volunteer to show up to the dome hours early to set up and stay atleast two hours postgame to tear down and put away equipment, then spend another two hours cutting up highlights to get on YouTube or to be on the next coaches show.
You have no idea what it took to get that stuff done, I do because I did it. I spent HOURS of my life, and ruined my vision working on editing software that regularly crashed, dealing with broken headsets, switchers that didn't work properly, studio cameras that I'm not sure how they worked. The professors and students from my era drove to Cullowhee, Spartanburg, Radford, Clemson, Charleston, Boone, Macon, Nashville, Knoxville, and a bunch of other places I can't remember. We had people stand out in the rain to watch really bad women's soccer, softball, baseball to give what few fans ETSU has left video content. And those are there now are doing the same thing. They don't have numbers or the money to hire more full time people, and the local stations aren't big enough to do what MyTV30 in Nashville does with Middle Tennessee games.
And I damn sure wouldn't want any of the other local standby's doing play by play. I'd puke on my laptop if I heard Lester Wilson going "Downtown Leroy Brown" or Hunter Harris "Walking on the rim."
And I want a teacher who values their family more than their students, they are human beings dude. That's a ridiculous statement. They're paid to teach classes and do a job, that job isn't to work 60 hours a week and help the athletic department put on webcasts they should be outsourcing to a production company and using the students as workers to put it on.

(01-27-2014 08:20 PM)Mister Jennings Wrote:  The problem here is entitled staff and faculty who value seeing their families more than serving their students.

What the,, I don't even.. I can't even say what I want to about that statement tTeachers do enough stuff "off" the clock. Value serving students more then family? Really, do you even read what you type sometimes?

A grossly underpaid staff at that.

Frankly, I hope that every ETSU employee values spending time with their families more than being at work.