Interview with Professional Matt Sneed- 94.5WPST

• Matt Sneed-Assistant Program Director/ Music Director/Afternoon Drive DJ 94.5WPST


• I was able to get the necessary answers to the blog post questions through Mr. Sneed very quickly after I had called his direct line earlier after my other attempts at contacting people did not go as planned


• I plan on using this interview for the sole purpose of completing the blog post project and it is not intended for anything else

1. What does your professional do/What is thier profession? Mr. Sneed is the Assistant Program Director as well as the Music Director and Afternoon Drive DJ.

2. How did you get started? Mr. Sneed got started with an internship at WPLJ in 1996.

3. What experiences led them to this position? Lots of hard work, dedication and never giving up was what led Mr. Sneed to his where he is today.

4. What do you like/dislike about your job? According to Mr. Sneed, he does what he likes for a living so there really are no dislikes to his job, though free tickets and CD's don't hurt either :).

5. How do you feel new technologies will impact the media industry in the future? No comments from Mr. Sneed

6. What recommendations do you have for students? No comments from Mr. Sneed

7. Where and how can students get started? According to Mr. Sneed, dropping out of college and going for it is the ideal way to get started, but seriously don't do that, its only a joke! HAHA! But for a lot of people they do not need four years of college because real experience is best when it comes to radio.

8. How important is experience and what is the best place to get experience? Real experience is the best, according to Mr. Sneed and getting a job and going from there wouldn't hurt either.

9. What qualities/characteristics are important for someone getting started in the industry? Talent, drive, commitment, hard worker, no ego, don't complain and be as crazy as possible are all qualities that are important for breaking into the radio industry according to Mr. Sneed.

10. Is there an Industry Journal/Trade Publication you would recommend reading? According to Mr. Sneed, Allaccess.com and FMQB.com are ones he suggests reading.

I really learned a lot from this interview as well, especially what it takes to be a radio DJ and what one has to do in order to get there. Now the tricky part for me will be whether I want to go into the radio business or the production business, but I guess only time will tell.

Interview with Rider University Professor and Electronic Media Professional Neal Slotkin

• Neal Slotkin-Comcast SportsNet in Philadelphia


• I went to Professor Slotkin's class one day to meet him face to face and to ask him if he would be able to take part in this interview for the blog post project. He said yes and I immediately sent him the questions that needed to be answered and was able to attain a very quick response from him as well.


• I am not using this interview for my station profile, but instead I will use it to fulfill the requirement for this blog posting
  

1. What does your professional do? Professor Slotkin is a Senior Producer at Comcast SportsNet in Philadelphia. His network aims to provide comprehensive and in-depth sports coverage (pregames, postgames, intermissions) breaking news and features with emphasis on the tri-state area (Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware). They want to provide thier viewers with exclusive access to the athletes, coaches, and important people in the Philadelphia region as well as catering to the needs and interests of the passionate sports fans in town. They produce and air hundreds of hours of live professional sporting events including the Phillies, Sixers, Flyers, plus more than 100 college basketball and football games mostly in high-definition. Comcast reaches nearly 3 million households in the 4th largest TV market in the country.





2. How did you get started? He began his sports journalism career while attending Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ. He did play by play and produced at the college radio station WRSU-FM. During college he also did an internship at WPVI (Ch. 6) in the sports department under Gary Papa. He also did an independent study at WFAN sports radio in New York and five weeks after graduating he landed a job at ESPN in Bristol, Connecticut, where he worked as a production assistant for over 3 years. Professor Slotkin also worked on various studio shows including Sportscenter, Primetime (NFL), Prime Monday, NHL-2-Night, and many more. Along with that, he also worked on some remote locations and covered the Patriots-Packers Super Bowl in New Orleans and a Final Four in New York too. He then went to work at Comcast in August 1997 and helped launch the network and has worked in different roles since then.


3. What experiences led you to this position? He has held various roles at both ESPN and CSN. He has made his way from Production Assistant to Show Producer, Field Producer, Feature Producer, and now Senior Producer. He does a variety of things on a daily/weekly basis, mostly field producing at various sporting events (home or on the road-where he covers every Eagles game and typically all Flyers playoff games in addition to covering Phillies, Sixers, Big 5 Basketball, high school sports, etc.) He also line produces many shows out of the control room and as Feature Producer he writes, produces, and creates long format features for SportiNite programs and specials. Along with that, he also edits his own material and has been nominated for 11 Emmys and has won 3 already.


4. What do you like and dislike most about your job? He likes the variety of jobs he can fill on a daily/weekly basis. He also loves sports and growing up in this area (Cherry Hill) he gets to cover the teams he grew up watching almost each and every day. Professor Slotkin likes the fact that he can cover any sport and feel comfortable interacting/interviewing coaches and players becuase he does what he loves. Along with that, he also likes to write and tell stories which is really the most important part of his job because teamwork is a huge part of the success of CSN. He does feel that communication could be better on the job because covering sports news can be very hectic and the need to do a better job is a always a must for him. One other part worth mentioning is that he feels he is underpaid for his work/experience but then again accepts the idea of it because that is how the world of production is.


5. How do you feel about new technologies will impact the media industry in the future? Professor Slotkin says that since the internet and mobile communication are now dominating the landscape, Comcast SportsNet is making a concerned effort to improve its website. They've budgeted significantly more money and mader several hirings in thier on-line department and intend to make the website the first place viewers go for stats, scores and highlights. They also now have the ability to stream some games live on csnphilly.com, but their next big step to tackle will be the social media websites such as twitter and facebook.


6. What recommendations do you have for students? Professor Slotkin recommends internships, internships, internships, becuase to get a foot in the door, you have to get hands on and practical experience. He also says to find as many internships as you can and the more different they are, the better and it is also important to be well-rounded as well as learning to write well, make contacts in the business, and feel comfortable talking to people because its all part of communication.


7. Where and how can students get started? Professor Slotkins suggests that students should find an area of Journalism/Communications that they like and look into getting an internship or even volunteering there too because most TV/Radio/Marketing departments all hire interns so get out there and find one. He says that one should start by working the internet and calling people and then if you get an internship just don't go in and do what's asked of you, but rather go above and beyond the call of the intern so that you make people remember you there and always remember to ask questions too, but not to the point in which you become annoying.
   
8. How important is experience and what is the best place to get experience? According to Professor Slotkin, there is nothing more important than experience, competence and confidence and you get it from being around people in the business through internships, making contacts, asking questions, etc.


9. What qualities/characteristics are important for someone getting started in the industry? Professor Slotkin says that being a good writer, a better listener, and being hungry to learn goes above and beyond what is required. He also suggests that one should be responsible for thier actions, have a flexible schedule, and be versatile to perform many different types of jobs as well as being a quick learner.


10. Is there an Industry Journal/Trade Publication one would recommend reading? Reading the internet, newspapers and magazines-- and knowing what's going on in the world, in your business and in your specific line of work will greatly benefit you.
    

Doing this interview has now given me a greater sense of what I it is to be a producer which I hope to one day be as well. This has greatly benefited me because I now have an idea of what it takes to get to this line of work in the communications field, and because of this I will continue to work hard in all my classes and such and hope to one day be an awesome producer as well.

Scholarly Article 2: 20 Reasons to watch games on MLBTV

http://http//mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100302&content_id=8644870&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

Babe Ruth with a hit to left field, it's going back, back, back and its gone! The Yankees win the game! Remember those olden days of America's favorite pasttime, with legendary greats like Reggie Jackson, Babe Ruth, Roberto Clemente, and so on? "The first ever televised baseball game ever was between Princeton and Columbia at Baker field with W2XBS as the broadcasting network. Princeton won that game 2-1, but what was phenomenal about it was that this was the the first ever televised baseball game" (baseball-almanac.com). Ever since then, TV and baseball have grown immensely into thier very own media markets. TV has taken over as the new source of media for society and baseball is still one of the most watched sports in the country. But now baseball has gone a step further and has expanded itself into not only one media market, but many. That is the main gist of this article. One of the biggest reasons for this change is the "portability, because it is one of the biggest features for 2010 because subsribers can now watch the game at thier own leisure, whether it be on thier laptops, or even thier Iphone or Ipod Touch, as well as the soon to be released Ipad" (mlb.com). Along with that, "mlb.com's propriety speed detection allows viewers to receive crisp, best in class streaming video on any monitor of thier choice" as well as "being able to watch more than 150 games while checking the stats and scores of others too" (mlb.com). People will also be able to "be able to have the choice of home or away broadcast as well as a DVR feature for pausing, rewinding, and jumping back to live action, along with a multigame view" (mlb.com).

I chose this article because it has a direct correlation to what our webisode will be about. MLB.com, a part of MLBAM, is giving its subscriber's exactly what they want. It shows how baseball is expanding its "roots" and gaining a wider audience because people no longer have the time to watch a full game of baseball anymore. It's giving the people what they want and when they want for a price of course. It will cost them a bit, but to a true baseball fan, that price would probably be well worth it. With the recent advent of the so called "clip culture" (Eastman and Ferguson, 319), and "viewsers, a recently created word that designates viewers who become video users" (Eastman and Ferguson, 317), we can clearly see that more and more people are beginning to turn to online viewing of sports and shows than they ever did before.

The new and important insights this article brings forth is the idea that for a small fee, any baseball fan or sports fanatic can now watch thier favorite teams streaming online, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, something that has never been possible before. Now you can watch the Yankees or Phillies from the comfort of your own computer, laptop, etc without ever missing a ridiculous play, strike, or hit. And not only that, you could watch more than just your favorite team, as you can watch one team here, switch to another game, and another, and then back. It's an amazing idea that will is here and will be here forever or until someone figures out how to improve upon it to make it even better than it already is. With the advent of the idea of streaming, you won't miss a beat of your favorite baseball team ever again, like say your on an important business flight to Hawaii and you don't want to miss the Yankees vs. Red Sox game, you could pull out your laptop, synch up to mlb.com and watch the game from the sole comfort of your own seat without every worrying if they won or lost. The same would go for anyone who has an Ipad, Iphone, Ipod Touch, or whatever, they will all be able to get the live streaming broadcast of thier favorite teams, no matter where they are in the world.

All information provided by http://http//mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100302&content_id=8644870&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb and http://http//www.baseball-almanac.com/firsts/first3.shtml

Scholarly Article 1: Major League Baseball To Stream ESPN Events

www.newyorktimes.com/2010/03/08/technology/08stream.html?partner=rss&emc-rss
Did you ever really wonder what the future would be like when you were younger? Of course, most of us probably envisioned something like living the way the Jetsons did in thier very own cartoon world, but we aren't quite there yet. But if you had to guess one thing that has changed a lot over time, one would probably say the TV. Yes, the TV has evolved immensely over time since it was created back the in 1950's. Not only has TV become digital, but sports have now followed this same ideal as well. One sport that comes to mind with this idea is baseball. "Baseball, with its immense power of streaming and digital market capabilities will now not only broadcast baseball games, but it will also stream live NBA games, World Cup soccer matches, Grand Slam tennis tournaments, and college football games." "The Major League Advanced Media, or MLBAM will now handle the technology infrastructure and customer support for nearly 3,500 events that ESPN streams each year" (nytimes.com). So not only will you be able to watch you favorite baseball team play, but you could also watch a World Cup match between teams like France and Spain for example, or a tennis match between Roger Federer and James Blake. John Kosner, senior vice president of ESPN Digital Media, says that "baseball does a terrific job in terms of online video and distribution of thier games and they are really the best it class for sport." "The advanced media unit, which once only broadcasted 3,000 baseball games online each season, has been slowly branching out into other sports, handling events like the NCAA March Madness Tournament" (nytimes.com). This very well coincides with the idea and phrase "clip culture, which refers to the presumption that viewers have acquired shorter attention spans over time" (Eastman and Ferguson, 319). Meaning that "if a person is only interested in highlights or the most important moment, then clips on the internet easily meet that demand" (Eastman and Ferguson, 319). With that in mind, the world of streaming is certainly changing faster that we expected in order to accomodate our ever shortening attention span. If this trend continues, who knows what the future beyond this will hold?

I chose this article because it specifically relates to what our group is doing for our webisode project. It is about baseball streaming online, but in this particular case, not only will the MLBAM be showing baseball games online, but they will also be showing for the first time other games as well such as soccer and tennis. It shows us how society is gradually changing due to the fact that we all have shorter attention spans and can no longer watch a whole baseball and or basketball. So what happens with this? We get applications like MLBAM to not only show us our baseball highlights, but other sports highlights as well. This article supports our group's idea that since we have become a so called "clip culture" (Eastman and Ferguson, 319), people can watch thier favorite sports, in this case baseball, whenever THEY want, and not the other way around.

One important insight is the idea that MLBAM, once an all baseball unit that broadcasted over 3,000 games to all of its subsribers, is now streaming more than just baseball games. It also provides us with a possibly significant trend that as people's attention spans continue to get shorter and shorter, this could possibly be the way to give a very busy person what they want and what they need. It also raises the idea that if we continue going the way we are currently, streaming online of all sports and possibly even all tv shows and movies will be the only way to get people thier "quick sports fix." Along with that, I believe that this article suggests a new option that has not really been tried yet. The basis of this article is the idea that ESPN, the world-wide leader in sports, made a deal with MLBAM to not only stream live broadcasts of baseball games around the country, but to also stream the upcoming World Cup from South Africa as well as the many Grand Slam tennis tournaments to come. A good example of this would be let's say you live in Japan and you want to watch not only the Yankees(your favorite baseball team), but you want to watch the World Cup as well, then all you would need to do is log onto MLBAM and subsribe to the streaming online broadcast of both the Yankees and the any World Cup match you want.

All information provided by www.nytimes.com/2010/03/08/technology/08stream.html?partner=rss&emc-rss.

The Future of Radio-Where will it go from here?

The future of radio is here my friends, and the very idea of it is at a crossroads. In this new day and age, radio is wondering where it will go from here. TV has already started its own revolution with on demand services, and being able to record you favorite shows from the click of a button. In an article from the Washington Post, "as the audience for AM and FM radio stations declines, start up entertainers and media alike search for the "next radio" (washingtonpost.com). As many offshoots of radio have risen, there is no sure signs that any of then will survive, including ones like "Rhapsody" (washingtonpost.com). No one really knows where or when the next version of radio will come about, but the industry makes one inference and that is that "Apple could only produce the next form of radio, even possibly one that eventually gains mass acceptance" (washingtonpost.com).

I believe that this will somewhat impact the industry, but not as much as TV. Radio, no matter what form, seems to be holding steady as it is and doesn't seem to be wavering whatsoever. People listen to radio stations and music day in and day out, and it is because of this that radio is able to stay afloat. I think it is important however that if the transition to a new form of radio is coming, it better get here somewhat quickly because I'm not sure how long those failing music forms will be able to hold up without it. This is important for the audience of radio as well because more and more people are turning to music sites such as Itunes, Frostwire, and things like that. If those people and the radio applications they are using right now can be content with what they are offered, then the wait for the new form of radio, whenever it comes will be well worth it. With the many forms of radio, like "satellite, online, and broadcast radio" (Eastman and Ferguson, 342-343) the industry is due for a new form, just like TV. Like in the article, the many forms of radio "whether it be XM, or terrestial radio, or even cable radio, along with Pandora and Rhapsody" these will be the forms of radio people will have to love for this moment in time. Yes the new form of radio is on the way, but it will take time to find out exactly who and where it will actually be coming from.

Info provided by www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/21/AR2008032101038_pf.html and Media Programming: Strategies and Practice by Susan Tyler Eastman and Douglas A. Ferguson

The Future of the TV Industry Is At Stake Here People

The future of television is finally here everyone, whether we like it or not. With the advent of new applications such as "Hulu, Joost, and 238 different Internet TV providers," who knows what will happen (forbes.com). In an article published by Forbes magazine, it seems that TV is losing customers due to the fact of the changeover in which people can watch all of thier programs online now. This is also due to the fact that other means of watching films or your favorite shows are being introduced as we speak, with things like TiVo, Netflix, etc. The industry is in jeopardy and that is very clear. In order to fight to essentially "stay alive," they will have to find the means in which it will appeal to all thier lost viewers once more. As stated by CEO Mitch Berman of ZillionTV, "the company that finds the perfect combination between consumers, advertisers, content providers and ISPs will win, but only if they create the right balance and business model" (forbes.com).

I think that this is all very important to the TV industry itself because who knows what might happen if it completely collapses in a few years leaving us with just TV on the internet. I know it seems completely bogus, but yes it is slowly happening, and it will impact the industry greatly because the more customers they lose, the more and more the industry will suffer. Even with the new features of things like "on demand, and fiber optics" (Eastman and Ferguson, 255), the TV has to fight back in some way in order to recapture its title of the "true king of entertainment." The online world has taken over and that is evident, with the world of TV caught within both threshholds now. More and more people, i.e. the audiences are now turning to more and more things on the internet than ever before because basically everything is now just hliterally a click away. "Podcasts, enhanced viewing sites" (Eastman and Ferguson, 255), and all things of that sort can be related to the article from Forbes.com as well as to our modern world. The world we live in now is much more busier than usual, and people really don't have the time anymore to sit down and watch tv shows anymore. Because of things like Hulu, and ZillionTV, and yes even TiVo, people can watch thier favorite programs at thier own leisure, when they want and whenver they want.

Info provided by www.forbes.com/2009/05/07/zilliontv-video-broadband-technology-enterprise-tech-zilliontv.html and Media Programming: Strategies and Practice by Susan Tyler Eastman and Douglas A. Ferguson