For the first time in forever: UTVS puts together first all-female broadcast at SCSU
2/13/2020 9:59:00 AM | General, Men's Basketball, Women's Basketball, Women's Hockey
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By: Kelsey Whaley
ST. CLOUD, MINN. – It's 10:30 in the morning in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Paige Jaeger, a junior mass communications major at St. Cloud State University, just arrived at Stewart Hall to prepare for Friday night's men's and women's basketball broadcasts. It's not a typical, run-of-the-mill game day, though, because these broadcasts will be unlike any other Jaeger or fellow mass communications major Maya Brown has produced, and not just because of the campus-wide power outage wreaking havoc on their Friday.
No, these men's and women's basketball broadcast were special for a very different reason, and it had nothing to do with the games themselves. It was because of the crew Jaeger and Brown assembled that Friday night, a crew that was historic in more ways than one. For the first time in UTVS and St. Cloud State mass communications history, Jaeger and Brown organized the first all-women's broadcast for any sport, compiled of 26 women ranging from first years to seniors in the mass communications department.
"It was the biggest team collaborative effort I've ever been a part of," Jaeger said when describing the broadcast the Monday after it occurred. "It was extra cool to know you were doing it with women in sports who may not have had that exact opportunity in the past."
"It was very stressful at the time," Brown echoed. "Everything fell into place when it needed to be, but it's a lot more fun to talk about it now." Paige Jaeger, director of St. Cloud State
and UTVS' first ever all-female broadcast.
The broadcast was a dream come true for Jaeger, as both she and Brown dubbed it her "brain child" in a recent interview. As a young female in the profession, Jaeger often found she was the only female on the production crew, even during her days at Wayzeta High School in Plymouth, Minnesota. Because of that, Jaeger came to St. Cloud State with a vision to empower women in the field and show the world an all-female crew is a possibility in the world of TV production.
"I've been employed in tv broadcast since I was fifteen," Jaeger explained, as she got her start in the field as a sophomore in high school. "I eat, sleep and breath TV production, but being as involved as I am, I noticed a different type of representation for women. I've either always been the only woman on the crew or just one of a few, and I wanted to show female representation in a male dominated field."
So how did it all come together? Not as easily or smoothly as the final product would suggest. After Jaeger's brain child was approved, she and Brown needed to prepare for the broadcast, which included producing shorts and features to air during a game. The two also needed to organize a production and broadcast crew of 22 women, with roles ranging from on-air talent to behind the scenes magic. Of course, all of this needed to be put together in two short weeks, in which Jaeger and Brown were also expected to fulfill their requirements as students.
"There was no real push back," said Jaeger. "The biggest question was 'do you have enough [women] to fill all the roles', and Maya and I responded with absolutely. We just need to dig deeper to fill some of those roles and find those people who may not be as active as they want to be."
The two juniors handled the situation with ease. Matching previous experiences with skill sets, Jaeger and Brown were able to assemble their 22-person crew and then some, adding four more positions so 26 total women could be involved in the broadcast.
"First, we found all the women who had been involved in Husky Productions previously, and after that, it was a guessing game of who would do well in what position," described Brown.
"Being the director for Husky Productions, I know what each job entails and what is needed," Jaeger continued. "We looked at everyone's skill sets and tried to match their experience level with something they would excel at."
Jaeger and Brown even involved mass communications faculty member Julie Pitzer in the production, as she served as the team's photographer and videographer throughout the event, capturing history as it was happening.
"I was approached by Paige and Maya to participate as a female faculty support-person at the broadcast, as well as document via photo/video and run social media efforts fort both UTVS and Mass Communications," Pitzer said of her involvement in the project and the impact it had, not only on the student-organizations, but the mass communications department as well. "This event provided a window into the hands-on, real world experiences students in mass communications are already doing every day in classes and through student organizations such as UTVS, The Chronicle and Husky Agency."
From that point on, Jaeger and Brown found plenty of ways to keep themselves busy leading up to February 7. Jaeger took on the more technical roles while Brown kept herself busy scheduling interviews with coaches and student-athletes in the St. Cloud State athletic department, looking to highlight the roles women play on their respective teams and the impact they have on the athletic department. In addition to these individual duties, the entire crew partook in a two week training, developing specific skill sets that would be needed for the production itself.
"I'm very proud because we had people who never touched the equipment before or were working with much more advanced systems," said Brown. "Once we got the hang of it, it was a lot like riding a bike."
"There was a lot of pre-position work before the game, so no one walked into their position cold," said Jaeger. "There was some adjustment during the first half of the women's game, but it didn't take us too long to make everything click."
*****
It's now 11 in the morning in St. Cloud, Minnesota on Friday, February 7, 2020, and it's all hands on deck for Jaeger, Brown and the rest of the production crew. Early in the morning, the university was struck by an unexpected power outage, throwing a curve at Jaeger on a day that was meticulously planned down to the minute. With a crew call scheduled for 12 p.m. exactly, Jaeger and Brown were going in early to put a few finishing touches on pre-production graphics.
"You'd think [the power outage] would be a setback, but it wasn't," Brown and Jaeger both admitted. "It was an adrenaline rush that actually made things more fun, but the biggest thing was we needed to make sure this could still happen."
"When I got there, our engineers were already working to fix the problem," Jaeger said, complimenting the UTVS engineers and TV studio manager Derrick Silvestri for their quick response to the power outage. "[The crew] couldn't prepare for something like that, but my phone was blowing up with crew members asking how they could help or when they could get there. It was the coolest experience."
Other than the power outage, the stars aligned perfectly for Jaeger's dream broadcast. Coincidentally, Jaeger picked the perfect weekend for the all-female production, as it occurred the Friday immediately following the celebration of National Girls and Women in Sports Day (NGWSD). Mind you, this was not an intentional selection, but rather a happy circumstance she and Brown stumbled upon when picking the dates.
Maya Brown runs replay during the men's
basketball game versus Wayne State on
Friday, February 7, 2020.
"I wanted to do this [broadcast], but we had to pick and choose around the hockey schedules," Jaeger explained. As the director of Husky Productions, another student-run television broadcast group that produces content for the Huskies home hockey game s, Jaeger's schedule, and the control room availability, is often limited by the St. Cloud State men's and women's hockey schedules. "We picked the weekend of February 7-8 because both hockey teams were on the road or off, and it was after we picked the day we found out it was the Friday following National Girls and Women in Sports Day."
It was Brown who made the ultimate discovery. She was looking for feature ideas for the broadcast and was researching national holidays or celebrations that fell around the February 7 date. When she saw National Girls and Women in Sport Day was celebration on February 5, she and Jaeger both knew it was perfect, not only for feature ideas, but for the individuals as well.
"We were able to get people involved that usually wouldn't be able to participate because of their hectic schedules." Jaeger continued to explain how perfect the timing really was, as several female student-athletes were involved in the productions. "Rachel Herzog, who plays on the women's hockey team, was able to be our in-studio host because the team was off last weekend, and Mariah Alipate of women's basketball was able to do color commentary for the men's game."
Even without perfect timing, the support Jaeger and Brown received was unwavering. From a surplus of individuals wanting to be involved to coaches and student-athletes in the athletic department itself, many people from a variety of backgrounds wanted to assist the two with the historic production.
"The support of the athletic community at St. Cloud State was amazing," Brown explained. As a producer for UTVS, Brown has spent the past two years working closely with the athletic department, especially the women's soccer team. "Even coaches who could not be there for the broadcast itself were willing to do whatever it took to support us."
"This athletic community is like a family," Brown continued. "When I sent the email out for interviews, all the coaches were very supportive of the idea and wanted to help with this production in any way. It was nice to know that we have this support system, and it shows what kind of community we are at St. Cloud State."
*****
Kirsten Krull (center) leaves the ice rink
behind for one night to serve as color
commentator for the all-female broadcast.
It's 5:23 p.m. in St. Cloud, Minnesota on Friday, February 7, 2020. Jaeger's brain child is officially live across several media platforms, including Spectrum Channel 180. The on-air talent of Sydney Wolf and Kirsten Krull are dissecting the St. Cloud State women's basketball team, which is hoping to celebrate its own historic moment. The Huskies enter the game riding a 10-game win streak, the longest active streak in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) and the longest for the team since joining the conference back in 2008.
Jaeger and Brown run the show from Stewart Hall. While normal production crews are headlined by a producer and director, the two of them have shared production duties leading up to this point and divulge into their comfort roles. Brown, an avid fan of basketball, runs replay while Jaeger takes on more technical roles during the game. They still share directorial duties, though, as Brown gives her input throughout the show, helping Jaeger showcase certain players and moments throughout both the women's and men's games.
"I don't know basketball as well, so it was really nice to have Maya on replay so she could tell me what to show during the broadcast."
"I would lean on Paige," Brown said. "I would let her know what shots and replays we could fit in and still make it back for live shots."
At roughly 9:30 p.m., the show comes to an end. The women's basketball team was unable to win its 11th consecutive game, as the Huskies fell to the Wildcats by a final score of 79-58. The men's basketball team fared better, as they extended their win-streak to three consecutive games with a resounding 90-68 win over Wayne State.
Meanwhile, Jaeger, Brown and 24 other women broadcasted the game for the world, or at the very least St. Cloud State basketball fans, to see. When the final horn blows, the crew patiently waits for the two teams to clear the court before striking the set. The cameras come down, the equipment is hauled back to Stewart Hall, and just like that, the hectic day is over just as quickly as it began with all the stress evaporated from Jaeger and Brown's shoulders.
"We had two weeks to put everything together," Brown said reflecting on the experience, "The week before [Jaeger] had hockey and I was in the cities, and we had to get all these interviews and get all the editing done, and it was stressful."
'But it was so much fun," Jaeger interjected. "The support we got and the comradery of our crew made it worth it."
"To be able to say we did this, with the crew that we had and the time we had, it's certainly something I'll never forget."
With the winter sports schedules winding down, UTVS won't be able to produce another all-female broadcast in the 2020 spring semester. However, Brown is hopefully the group will be able to put at least one more together before she graduates next December.
"We are already talking about doing one next semester," Brown proclaimed. "We have more knowledge. We're more prepared for next time around."
"I hope women will be encouraged to try this at least once a semester or even more so," said Pitzer. "For the young women and girls still wondering if this industry has a place for them, it does. All you need to do is take that first step, find you voice, follow your passion, like these young women who participated in this broadcast."
The calm before the storm inside the UTVS
Studio, located in Stewart Hall.
Even with Jaeger graduating in the spring of 2021, the future looks bright for female broadcasters and producers at St. Cloud State. A core group of first years were involved in this initial broadcast, filling Jaeger and Brown with hope that this initiative, her brain child, won't die when she leaves the university.
"Usually with a production of this size, you only see juniors and seniors participating," Brown commented. "We had so many young people, so many freshmen coming in and wanting to be involved, it really showed the depth of the mass communication program."
"The world is changing," echoed Jaeger. "There are more women in sports than there's ever been, on the field, on the ice and behind the scenes, and there is this awesome, unspoken female empowerment growing in sports. It's a family, and all women should be able to do what they love."
List of all the participants in the all-female broadcast crew:
Director: Paige Jaeger
Technical Director: Nora Maleug
In-Game Producer: Cheyenne Tuseth
Audio: Jaclyn Gustafson
Camera 1: Sarah Bunich
Camera 2: Connie Knipe
Camera 3: Taylor Sullivan
Camera 4: Elaina Fourniea
Graphics: Susan Yang
Scorebug: Brooklyn Purowitz
Font Assist: Nyah Adams
Utility: Andrea Duetsch
Replay 1: Maya Brown
Replay 2: Bethanie Barrios
In-Game Editor: Maddy Close
Shader: Nadilyah Stewart
Master Control: Nicole Downing
Social Media: Elaina Mihalik
Play by Play Announcer: Sydney Wolf
Color Commentator: Mariah Alipate
Color Commentator/ Sideline Reporter: Kirsten Krull
In-Studio Host: Rachel Herzog
Studio Camera Operators: Kimberly Gomez, Justice Jenkins and Gianna Njau
