How does the SMG program get you up to speed to apply for a professional play-by-play position? Here’s our play-by-play:
- You contact SMG and tell us you’d like to be a professional sportscaster in a play-by-play position. You also tell us four or five local radio stations that broadcast sports.
- We set you up with a professional sportscaster right at one of the stations. You two talk, and if both are happy with working together, the sportscaster becomes your mentor.
- You follow a carefully laid out training course put together by top sportscasters, including:
- Bruce Gilbert, head of Sports Operations at Clear Channel radio
- ESPN program directors Larry Gifford and Jeff Schwartz
- Play-by-play superstar Lee “Hacksaw” Hamilton of XTRA Sports 1360
- Rob Buska of NBC Sports
- The course materials will ask you to put together your own sportscast, including play-by-play work.
- You and your mentor meet weekly right at the local station. No need to travel to some far-off, high priced, brick and mortar broadcasting school that teaches you to be a DJ or news guy when all you want to learn is sportscasting.
- Your mentor offers feedback and suggestions. Over time your work improves to meet professional standards.
- SMG and your mentor work to put you in a real play-by-play situation, in a local college, or similar, sports program. This will give you actual experience to take to potential employers.
- At the program’s conclusion, you get a diploma from SMG certifying you for professional sportscasting work. SMG and its sister company, Broadcasters Mentoring Group, are highly regarded in the broadcasting industry as a source of new on-air talent.
But you also get something more…
The Make or Break Value of Contacts
Because you’ve trained at an actual radio station, the professionals there have been able to watch your skills grow. And if you work hard, they become interested in seeing your career advance.
Almost everyone in broadcasting has a wide network of contacts in the industry, who report back when jobs open. This increases your chances to know about them before any outsider does, and when you apply, you’ll carry recommendations from your mentor and others. Contacts often mean the ball game in getting a job in broadcasting. In fact, industry data show that six of every 10 new broadcasting hires happen through contacts.
No wonder Crys Quimby, program director at WCBS-AM, flagship station of the New York Yankees, says, “The mentoring model SMG uses is an outstanding vehicle for someone trying to break into the business. It’s not just WHAT you know. It’s WHO you know.”
Best Program, Lowest Cost
But SMG has another winning edge, especially compared to traditional broadcasting schools that only offer sportscasting as a small part of their program. We’re up to 20 times less expensive compared to these schools, when they’re part of a college degree program, and less than half the cost even when they’re not. Plus, financing is available.
Get Off the Sidelines, Get in the Game
So here’s the drill: If you want to be a pro sportscaster, you’ve got to throw the first pitch. It’s easy to do and won’t cost a cent. Just read on in the SMG website, and especially the FAQ page, or, even easier, just fill in the Contact form below or call SMG at (818) 879-0858. We’ll put you in touch with one of our counselors for a free career consultation. There’s no obligation of any kind to learn more.
You’ve wanted it long enough. Time to get your game going. Contact SMG at no cost or obligation today!
