CSVS Q&A: Mike Bruce, Chair, Broadcast Education Association Sports Division

In anticipation of the inaugural College Sports Video Summit (CSVS) to be held June 9-10 in Atlanta, the Sports Video Group has assembled a seasoned advisory committee that includes some of the game-changers in the business and technology behind college-sports broadcasting. Each week leading up to the event, College Sports Video Insider will feature an interview with a different member of the College Sports Video Summit Advisory Committee. This week, Mike Bruce, chair of the Broadcast Education Association’s Sports Division and a professor at Oklahoma Baptist University, recaps the Sports Division meeting at NAB and looks forward to CSVS.

The BEA Sports Division had a day-long series of panel discussions at NAB. How did the day go?

It went pretty well. Attendance was down a little bit but not as significant as other events that have taken place recently.

There is lots of excitement for the sports division, and for things we’re doing in sports media in general. The BEA is really trying to emphasize sports media in the organization, particularly among academics. During next year’s conference, there will be a big research symposium for faculty members who do research on sports and media, where they will be able to present some of their findings and some of their work.

What’s the biggest challenge your program at Oklahoma Baptist University faces to increasing its video-production quantity and quality?

The biggest for mine is the fact that we have very little budget. That would not be the same for everybody; people at some of the larger universities might say access to venues and being allowed to get students in to work at the venues. But, for us, the budget is the biggest constraint.

Are there easy ways for video departments to become more cost-effective?

I think one of the easiest things to do is just think about covering the basics. A lot of times people say we can’t do sports because we don’t have a way to do instant replay or we don’t have enough cameras or enough microphones or a big enough switcher. So there are equipment problems that people foresee. I think you can do sports well just by covering the basics. Maybe you only have two or three cameras, but you can still produce an acceptable or even well done production even with limited resources. In short, don’t allow lack of equipment or lack of funding to deter you from diving into sports production.

What are you most looking forward to at CSVS? How do you hope to use it?

I think it’s a good opportunity for a faculty member to interact with vendors who provide equipment and services for sports media. It’s also a great opportunity to interact with athletic departments and media folks who work with or for athletic departments. It’s important for everyone to collaborate on how they can improve sports media.

From my perspective as a professor and as part of the BEA, it’s important to talk about how faculty and students can become more involved in sports production at the college level.

The College Sports Video Summit takes place June 9-10 in Atlanta. For a limited time, college, university, and conference employees receive a free hotel-room night with their $75 registration. For more information and to register, visit http://csvsummit.com/.