In June of 1992 we struck a deal with our first Cable Company to broadcast sporting events to the community, and Sportsvideo on Cable TV was born. Our first system was TKR Cable (then TCI, then At&T, now Comcast) in Gloucester City. At first we were just on TKR covering all the High School Sports for the boys and the girls as well as American Legion Baseball, Little Leaugue, Ponytail Softball, and special events, for Gloucester City, Brooklawn, Mt. Ephraim and Maple Shade.
We then covered games for the Tri-County Conference and the Colonial Conference in Gloucester, Salem and Cumberland Counties on Comcast and Suburban Cable. We cover the Burlington County Conference on Comcast and TCI Cable. We had games appearing in all 76 counties in South Jersey servicing a few million people. All of these Cable systems are now Comcast Cable.
At Sportsvideo/ Gloucester Community TV I produce and announce the games a little different than the cable companies. We tend to personalise the games a lot more for the viewer and involve the participants and community members into our broadcasts. We are also not afraid to try "new and innovative things" in our broadcasts. A few of my favorite innovations are: A season highlight tape of the last two Gloucester High Football seasons, coaches that are miked during the games, and instant replays from all four cameras. I feel our productions are among the tops around, especially with our limited budget, that is supported solely by sponsors.
It has been very challenging being part of a start-up business. As a result, I have done nearly everything with the company, including selling commercials. This is the most difficult part of my job because I had no training in this area, I just learned as I went. Since I started I have sold,written and produced nearly 500 commercials that are seen on our network.
In 1998, Sportsvideo had its own TV Talk Show: "The Fan Club", taped at Reggies Cafe in Blackwood, New Jersey. I was the producer and co-host for the show that was shown throughtout Southern New Jersey. This show was as much fun to do as anything I've ever done. The panel consisted of Howard Clark, Kevin Schules, Mike Burke, and myself discussing what was happening in sports. We taped it live at the bar, with questions from the audience. Many of the shows got real wild and opinionated. Our last show was a Mudwrestling Match between Mike on our panel, and the bars owner, Joe Melchiore (a 3 time NJ state champ). Needless to say the show was unbelievable, with mudflying everywhere. I guess that means I also do play-by-play for professional wrestling now, who knows. Hopefully we will be able to bring this show back soon.
Since 1992, I have announced and produced over 1,000 games for Sportsvideo on TV. I have also been directing games on the network since 1996.
As a result of our 10 years of TV service to our area, Howard Clark and myself started Gloucester first local TV channel in February of 2002. I became the asst. General Manager of the channel that services Gloucester City, Mt. Ephraim and Brooklawn's Community Channel-19. My many duties include producing all our live talk shows, maintaining the video billboard that runs with my photographs and information with music in the background. I am also in charge of programming the computer system to play the various shows and events that we produce throughout the year.
