Right before the players teed off, our broadcasting class was welcomed to The Country Club of Jackson by PGA Tour Media Official Doug Milne, nephew to Head of School Jack Milne. Milne led the students and his uncle through a maze of trucks and cables to catch a behind-the-scenes look at the Sanderson Farms Championship. The students toured the NBC Sports broadcast truck, learning from Director Jesse Wesp about the day-to-day work of coordinating coverage for the PGA TOUR. Over 100 people work together for NBC to produce the golf tournament coverage that plays across screens worldwide. Wesp described several unique challenges that golf presents in sports broadcasting, from the length of the tournaments to the length of the courses, which often stretch across 10-15 square miles! When tournaments happen in Hawaii, the broadcast trucks must be shipped across the ocean one month ahead of time. Upon hearing about what Raider Network allows students to learn and practice, Wesp said, “We’d love to have you guys out here. We’re always looking for people.”
After seeing the broadcast truck, Milne led the students to the media room, explaining how information flows from the golf course to the TV screen as the group walked. In sharp contrast to the hard work of the camera crew spread throughout the course in the heat, reporters sit quietly in the cool of the media room to write and fact-check. While showing the students the media room, Milne told them that he had not intended to work in golf broadcasting. Early in his career, he was hired by the newly formed PGA tour department at NBC. Twenty-eight years later, he has served in the roles of writer, producer, and media official with the tour, and says “It’s a great time to be in this industry.”
The students enjoyed their visit to the PGA event, and glimpsed the vast number of jobs that exist within the world of professional broadcasts. Representatives from the media spoke highly of Raider Network, which presents our students with the opportunity to make informed decisions if they choose to pursue careers in the field of broadcasting. NBC Director Jesse Wesp left the students with one final piece of insight, saying, “It’s not what you know in TV, it’s how hard you work. People notice that.”
