Live from the Booth
Every Sunday thousands of fans tune in to the most listened to sports radio station in the nation, Sports Radio 66 WFAN. They are tuned in to hear a New York Giants radio broadcast masterfully portrayed by the enthusiastic play-by-play calls of Bob Papa, the expert analysis of Carl Banks and production of one very talented individual. The Big Blue Nation gets their football delivered to them over the airwaves in a fashion second to none. Ferro Productions went behind the scenes with John Schmeelk, Managing Producer of Giants Radio to share with you , our readers, the inside details of producing an eight hour live broadcast.
As a senior at New York University, John Schmeelk began his radio broadcasting career with an internship at the FAN. And quite a career it’s been! John has since covered the Mets, Nets, Yankees, Devils, Knicks, Rangers, and Giants. In 2006 John 1st produced Giants Football for wFAN and has since been riding a crazy train of success.
John Schmeelk in the radio booth
Each week John produces a 90 minute pre-game show, a full in-game broadcast, and 90 minute post-game show. ”I control everything in the broadcast, except for hiring talent, more or less” says John. “I don’t report to anyone on game day. If a decision needs to be made, it goes through me. This means I need to be prepared for anything and EVERYTHING.”
The Giants pre-game show on the FAN is the easiest to prepare for, according to Mr. Schmeelk. “You know what’s coming. There are no surprises yet in the pre-game.” A run down is prepared to the minute, for the entire hour and a half show. There are some pre recorded segments such as head coach or player interviews, but the rest is live. Everything needs to be executed perfectly as there are twenty seven minutes of commercials that need to be aired. Peter Belloti is John’s pre game Producer, and it’s his job to make sure all the time slots are met. Peter and his Production Assistant, Lisa Latino, keep everything moving at the necessary pace, ”It’s all about people understanding their role. When everyone does their job, the show gets done properly.”
Bob Papa (left) making the live calls from the booth
The main objective of a radio announcer is making the listener appreciate the game as if they were watching it on television. It’s Bob Papa and Carl Banks’ job to paint that picture for Giant fans during the game broadcast, and as John says, “they are absolutely the best in the business”! Mr Schmeelk, accompanied by his audio engineer, is in the booth with Bob and Carl during the game.
It is the engineers job to make sure the correct lines and levels are up, and to assure that no one is over modulating. He also routes the system in such a way that allows John to speak in his broadcasters ear without it going over the air, which is an essential element to making sure things happen in a well organized and timely manner.
Further enhancing the broadcast experience, Howard Cross is reporting live from the field. On-field Producer Dave Betancourt supporting Howard, together deliver the exclusive sideline updates.
Howard Cross (center) reporting from the sideline
The new stadium with it’s technological upgrades allow all of John’s production to be done wirelessly, a luxury he notes is something he does not take for granted. In fact, John played a role in designing the Metlife Stadium audio infrastructure two years ago when the stadium was being built. All of Johns reporters and producers are linked up wirelessly with Lectrisonic IFB’s and mic’s, making communication easy and efficient.
In terms of transmission, the entire feed gets fed directly from the radio booth at Metlife Stadium, to the wFAN studio via ISDN line.
At the commercial break at the end of the game broadcast, it’s time for John Schmeelk and Bob Papa to “literally run from the booth to the elevator, and down to the locker room.” After the break, the broadcast picks up with Tom Coughlin’s press conference. A quick physical and mental transition is mandatory not to miss a mark. Once that’s wrapped, Bob and John begin a series of player interviews. At this point in the broadcast, communication between John, Papa and the audio engineer in the upstairs booth, is essential. ”If he (the engineer) has the wrong mic up, and Bob and I are trying to speak to each other, that will be going out over the air, live.”
The Audio Engineer with his mixer
John Schmeelk and Bob Papa in the post-game press conference
Each player interview lasts only about two minutes supporting this entire segment which runs for about thirty minutes. ”You have to be sharp, otherwise it is a complete disaster, and jobs will be lost” stresses John.
After a long day of eight live hours on the radio, it’s back to the drawing board to prepare for the next week’s broadcast. John says he credits his success to hard work and his willingness to make sacrifices. ”In order to produce a successful broadcast week after week I need to attain that insane attention to detail, and I’m thrilled to do it.”
View more photos from our facebook
