| By: Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director | Published: May 26, 2009 |
Last Saturday, in conjunction with SVG-U, five lucky communications students from Prairie View A&M University got a backstage pass to HBO Sports’ production of Boxing After Dark in Houston. HBO Sports director of East Coast production Jason Cohen opened the doors of the Toyota Center and his truck compound to the students, giving them an inside look at a live sports production, and even put one of them to work during the show.
“We were proud to continue our commitment in reaching out to university students once again,” Cohen says. “The Prairie View students were incredibly enthusiastic and asked a ton of terrific questions.”
The five students, along with Carol Adams-Means, media professor and director of the media center at Prairie View A&M, toured the remote-production facilities at the Toyota Center in downtown Houston the day before the show. HBO’s usual NEP production truck was working elsewhere, so NEP sublet Lyon Video 8 HD, which is an HD SDI multiformat expando truck, and brought NEP support staff to assist on-site. The students toured the audio, video, graphics, switching, and monitoring facilities in the truck before heading into the arena to look at the production layout, including the position and function of each camera.
“While the communications students at Prairie View A&M Universityhave modern, high-definition production and ENG facilities, they were impressed by the amount of equipment and work that it takes to do a live remote production,” Adams-Means says. “The students marveled at the amount of equipment that could fit in the small space of the production truck.”
The array of video source inputs and monitors was especially eye-opening, she says, for both her and the students. “The students were intrigued with the patch-bay configuration. They had never seen that before because we use a video-switching matrix. I personally like the patch bay; it seems more reliable.”
One of the Prairie View students was available to work during the event on Saturday, so Cohen procured a ringside credential for him and let him get his hands dirty. “One of the greatest challenges in our industry,” he says, “is to keep students connected to our industry’s opportunities, and hopefully, SVG-U will bridge that gap.”
Back in the classroom at Prairie View A&M, Adams-Means is optimistic about incorporating more sports-broadcasting opportunities into the communications program.
“Our university wants to do more with sports broadcasting, and we would be open to having some advisers on-board from the industry,” Adams-Means says. “The students would welcome the opportunity to receive internships and further employment opportunities in sports media.”
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