The
Sportsvideo Network
(1989-Present)
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 we produced and announced 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, We have announced and produced over
1,000 games for Sportsvideo on TV.
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. Howard became the General Manager of the channel that services Gloucester City, Mt. Ephraim and Brooklawn's Community Channel-19. My many of our duties include producing all our live talk shows, maintaining the video billboard that runs with my photographs and information with music in the background. We also in charge of programming the computer system to play the various shows and events that we produce throughout the year.