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By: Carolyn Braff, Editor Thursday, November 12, 2009 - 1:58 pm |
In just two years, the Kent State Sports Network has grown from a fledgling student operation to the major production arm of the Mid-American Conference. Under the direction of Executive Producer Jeff Bentley, the network boasts a fully digital high-definition production facility, and a purchase order has already been placed for a satellite uplink truck. Kent State students will have the opportunity to work on more than 30 full production broadcasts this year for men’s and women’s basketball and, beginning next fall, will be able to enroll in a new Sports Production major.
Swift Success
How did Kent State go from zero to HD in just two years? Help from above never hurts.
“We started this two years ago from a directive from our provost,” says Bentley, who spent 16 years as an independent contractor working for such networks as ABC, NBC, and ESPN before joining Kent State. “Through his leadership, it got pushed down to the head of the departments, and that’s how this came about.”
“This” is a collaboration between two university departments that enabled Bentley to double his budget and influence within the university. The first step was pulling the independent Teleproductions department into the School of Journalism and Mass Communication (which is under the umbrella of the College of Communication and Information). Once that move was complete, with some help from the provost, Bentley was able to purchase significantly more equipment because it is being shared.
“There needed to be a vision of where we were going with all of this before we started purchasing the equipment, and that was through the curriculum we’re establishing,” Bentley explains. The curriculum a new Sports Production track, part of the Electronic Media Production major, is fully written and currently awaiting approval by the College Curriculum Review Board. Developed in conjunction with Bentley’s team, the curriculum will require students to work on live productions through the Kent State Sports Network.
“The hope is that we’re getting students that are coming to our school specifically for this, and, in the long run, we hope to pay for this through tuition dollars,” Bentley explains. “We had the vision that this is not just a one- or two-year project, that we’re looking at the long term.”
Facilities for the Long Haul
The long term looks very bright, given the state-of-the-art facilities Kent State students have to work in.
“I would put it up against anyone’s facilities in the state of Ohio,” Bentley says of the control room. “It’s got everything in it, just like a production truck.”
At the heart of the control room is a Grass Valley 2.5 M/E digital production switcher. The control room also supports JVC and Sony cameras with Fujinon lenses. Other elements in the system include a Mackie audio production console, Chyron HyperX dual-channel graphics system, Yamaha effects processor, Pesa Cheetah Build router, Telecast Fiber Systems interconnect distribution, an RTS multichannel intercom system with IFB, Apple Final Cut Pro, and Avid NLE finishing system.
“We just upgraded and bought a new five-camera package and a brand-new tape system, the Grass Valley Dyno,” Bentley says. “That puts us completely ready for a full production.”
Around the University
The control room, located in Franklin Hall in the College of Journalism and Mass Communication, is connected via fiber to the school’s basketball arena, located four miles away. A purchase order has already been placed for a satellite truck, which will arrive on campus in February, and allow Bentley’s team to produce other campus events, like commencement and the State-of-the-University address.
“We’ll be able to produce small productions on campus, like baseball, as well,” Bentley adds. “We’d like to have every venue fibered so we could do a full broadcast out of our master control, but that’s probably a year or two down the road.”
Multipurpose Productions
In addition to the 30 regular-season men’s and women’s basketball games the Kent State Sports Network will produce this year, Bentley has just been tapped by the conference to produce all nine games of the Mid-American Conference basketball tournament for both men and women.
Each five-camera shoot appears live on the Web as well as on the in-arena video boards. “Our fans see a regular broadcast on the video boards,” Bentley points out.
Learning on the Job
More than a dozen students take part in the productions, and their participation is a critical part of the Sports Production major. Bentley brings in some professionals to help teach the students how to operate the equipment during class time, but they gain most of their experience through the live game productions.
“It’s basically a learning facility,” Bentley says of the control room. “We bring in professionals that worked with us on ESPN and Fox games, so these students are getting hands-on game experience alongside a professional crew.”
Connecting With the Pros
“We are fortunate enough to be in an area with a lot of sports happening,” says Tracy Boughman, coordinating producer for the Kent State Sports Network. “There are a lot of pro sports and a lot of college sports around, so a lot of people on our staff have connections to that industry.”
Those people are sharing those connections as well, as Kent State builds relationships with the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers, MLB’s Cleveland Indians, and NFL’s Cleveland Browns.
“Now that they know that we’re doing this in a very professional way, they want our students for interns,” Bentley says. “We’re getting a program together that will start in the spring semester to basically build a pipeline from us to them, and that’s another thing that we can use to recruit students.”
Initially, however, it was the students who recruited the major.
“We kept hearing students and their parents coming in and saying they want to do sports,” says Jennifer Kramer, manager of public relations and marketing for the College of Communication and Information. “They automatically would be driven to our Electronic Media Production major; however, we didn’t feel that was enough. We wanted specific sports training for our students, and it’s really grown. The more industry-focused we can be for them, the more likely it is for them to succeed.”
With a focus keenly centered on industry experience, and the support of several departments within the university community, Kent State students are in a unique position to succeed.
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