Media in Minutes

From Classroom to Control Room: Gary Bender's Journey in Sports Broadcasting

• Angela Tuell • Season 5 • Episode 1

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How does one transition from a budding business student to a pivotal player in the world of broadcast journalism? Gary Bender shares his compelling journey, revealing how a struggle with mathematics redirected his path towards a thriving career behind the scenes in sports reporting. Gain insights into the evolution of his role from an aspiration in front of the camera to mastering the art of coordination at the assignment desk for giants like CNN and ESPN. Gary's story reminds us that while discouragement is inevitable, finding your true calling can lead to unexpected and rewarding paths.

Join us as we explore the adrenaline-fueled world of sports broadcasting through Gary's experiences. From breaking major news events to managing the logistical puzzle of production crews, Gary offers a captivating narrative filled with lessons on integrity and balance. Discover the intricacies of staffing sports events, where each show is a unique tapestry requiring both skill and intuition. With valuable advice for PR professionals and reflections on the balance between professional and family life, Gary provides a treasure trove of insights for anyone navigating the demanding yet rewarding world of media production.

Thank you for listening!  Please take a moment to rate, review and subscribe to the Media in Minutes podcast here or anywhere you get your podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/media-in-minutes/id1555710662  

Angela Tuell:

Welcome to Media in Minutes. This is your host, Angela Tuell. This podcast features in-depth interviews with those who report on the world around us. They share everything from their favorite stories to what happened behind the lens and give us a glimpse into their world From our studio here at Communications Redefined. This is Media in Minutes. In today's episode, we are talking with Gary Bender. Gary started his career as a local news assignment editor in Washington DC. During his decades-long broadcast career, he has also worked for CNN, comcast Sports and ESPN. Currently, he is crewing manager for Program Productions, north America's largest independent production crew, where he manages production of live sports events. Hi, gary.

Gary Bender:

Hello, how are you?

Angela Tuell:

Great, I am so happy to have you on our podcast today.

Gary Bender:

Glad to be here.

Angela Tuell:

For those of you who don't know, Gary and I go way back to the University of Maryland, where we were in journalism together and have been friends for more years than I should mention so as not to age us right. Yeah, please don't. So how are things in Maryland?

Gary Bender:

Things are good, weather's bad, but everything else is good.

Angela Tuell:

Yeah, that's the winter for you, right? You never know if it's going to be rain or snow or sun. I'd love to start this is going to be really interesting today, because you've been in broadcast for almost your whole career but I'd like to start with you walking us through your early career and how you became interested in journalism in the first place, which I'm not sure that I even know or remember.

Gary Bender:

Yeah, so you know, I was at college and I went to college at Maryland thinking I was going to do business. Right, my dad was an entrepreneur all his life. My older brother was at Maryland in the business school at the time and I figured that was like the natural thing to do. And you know, when it came down to it, I don't do math well, so. So that wasn't working out for me, um, and I just tried to think about what else there was and I wouldn't look at the English department and I'm like nope, not me. And then I went to the communications department at Maryland and that was like more, I guess, pr, um, and that that again just wasn't like what I was looking for from the journalism school. Realized you had to take a test to get into the journalism school. Yeah, like to transfer in um, which I had to take three. I had to take it a third time and like beg and plead to make that happen, um, and then I got in um it is hard to get into the to the journalism school there.

Gary Bender:

Yeah, yeah and you would think it'd be easier if you're already at the at maryland and then transfer in, but it's not yeah so and honestly it was. It was one of those things where I looked back like growing up, like what I liked to do, and one thing I did growing up was I would print out sports scores on from the computer and pretend I was doing a sports cast and pretend I was George Michael right back to be a George Michael sports machine back in the day, and I bet I would sit there and pretend I was the anchor and that's sort of kind of where the connections were made.

Gary Bender:

And then, you know, I got into journalism school and I actually got an internship at the George Michael Sports Machine my junior year of college, yes, which you weren't supposed to at the time, and it was great and I, you know, I met people there that I still talk to to this day and that was just logging games. But you're then in an edit booth with George Michael and it was great and you got to see your highlights on TV. And then you got to sit next to Jim Vance and Dorian Gensler, you know, doing a fake sports cast in the studio and it's like this is awesome. And then, you know, as school went along, the summer before senior year, I got an internship. I actually originally was supposed to do a radio internship, which I found on my own, which our intern advisor at the time, sue, told me she would never give me credit for that. She handed me a post-it note with the name and a phone number and it was a friend of mine, now a friend of mine who worked at Fox 5 in DC.

Gary Bender:

I was two weeks late for the internship and I begged and pleaded for human resources to make it happen and I did so. If you notice a pattern, I'm always like behind the game.

Angela Tuell:

Somehow you've been successful still, I know I know.

Gary Bender:

So I interned the summer of 2001. During the internship, the EP at the time said I'm going to make sure you get a job here. And I got hired two weeks before 9-11. Yeah, and then 9-11 happened and I spent my entire senior year of college working overnight weekends.

Angela Tuell:

Yes, I remember that.

Gary Bender:

That's how you know most people are doing other things. Their senior year of college and I'm working. But that's kind of where it started and you know, sort of the passion for the journalism side of it came in and I turned out. I did not want to be on television my first day as an intern. I actually was told by a reporter there that I don't have the look.

Angela Tuell:

I don't remember that. What yeah?

Gary Bender:

I won't name names. But he said you'll never be on television. You'll never be on TV, you don't have the look. So I sort of found my niche at the assignment desk, and then I stayed there for seven years.

Angela Tuell:

Yes, you know, as you mentioned the assignment desk that was at Fox in DC, we actually haven't had someone that was an assignment editor on the show yet. So for those who are not very familiar with that role, tell us a little bit about it and what you also did for CNN, Comcast and ESPN.

Gary Bender:

Yep, so in local news. So the assignment is the nerve center right.

Gary Bender:

Local news. You're listening to police scanners, you're fielding phone calls, you're working with the producers and then the camera ops and the reporters. You're doing the logistics. You're touching base basically hourly with local police departments and, as you know, in DC there are many different police jurisdictions. We have a four page list of our rounds, so to speak. Where you had to call, you're basically cold calling police departments. Anything going on, you know, you're asking them, you're trying to fish. Every now and then you'd get something. But you also get to know people and that's a lot of what that was. But you are the central command of the entire operation.

Gary Bender:

If a producer wants a piece of video, if the producer wants a live shot, if the producer wants a remote live shot from, if the producer wants a live shot, if the producer wants a remote live shot from another network, you're it. They're going to the assignment desk for everything. Yes, and then at CNN it was a little different because it was on a national level. So basically I was then working with assignment desks at local stations around the country. When I was there I did a lot of the Northeast, so Boston, buffalo, new York, uh, pittsburgh, philly, like so I would. That was sort of my region. Um, and it was a lot of you know again touching base, what, what stories are you guys working on today? Yeah.

Gary Bender:

Like the next light, the next level up, basically. And then I moved back home, home, Comcast Sportsnet, where again you're sort of in the local environment. This time it's sports.

Angela Tuell:

Right Were you happy to go back to sports. Did you like that even more?

Gary Bender:

There are times where I wish I gave CNN more of a chance. I was only there a little over a year. I moved home to get married and it was a move that got me to where I am today, because if I didn't make that move I wouldn't be here and had the next job I did at ESPN. But part of me wishes I stayed in CNN longer but, that's fine.

Gary Bender:

So then again, comcast Sportsnet was again. You know the, the, the local level, but this time it's sports and you're working with the different teams, um, and colleges, um, and then again that was my jumping point to go to Bristol, connecticut. Yeah.

Gary Bender:

Um, and I was only at Comcast Sportsnet like a year and a half and then I was at ESPN for seven years and that was sort of back to the sort of what it was at CNN, where you're working with the local stations around the country, and for me I was running the NFL team on the assignment desk, so it was getting practice video, post-game sound, and then it was also setting up live shots for Sunday NFL countdown. So I think the theme of all of it is it's a lot of logistics and it's a lot of dealing with people.

Angela Tuell:

Yes, and a lot of stress. You have to be good at handling a million things at once, and that's not for everyone.

Gary Bender:

No, it's not I mean and stress, but at the same time organized, yes. So one example I can give when I was at ESPN was I remember Cam Newton got in a car accident just outside the Panther Stadium in Carolina. Well, my local news instincts kick in and I'm calling the police department, I'm calling the fire department, I'm calling the hospital. It's just those things sort of trigger and come back hospital. It's just those things sort of trigger and come back. But yeah, it's a lot of patience and a lot of you know you have to be confident in yourself too, because if you don't know what you're talking about or you don't make sense, then the person on the other side isn't gonna help you.

Angela Tuell:

Yes, yes, and be able, like you said, to build those relationships and to be able to talk to anyone, and those are all things that a journalist developed. You know that you developed through being a journalist. What did you most enjoy about being an assignment editor and what about least?

Gary Bender:

I enjoyed the hustle and bustle. I enjoyed that every day was different. You never knew what you were going to walk into. You know, unfortunately there were days where it was death and destruction. There were days where it was, you know, Super Bowls. You just never knew what was going to happen. I saw a lot when I was at Fox 5. You know, I was there for shuttle explosion. I was there for, I remember, if you remember, the AP alerts on the computer made it like there was like a bell, if it was a red alert yes.

Gary Bender:

Right and a Saturday morning at like 730, that thing started blaring and it said Ronald Reagan passed away. Yeah, I called my news director. She said I don't believe it, you need to confirm it and I love her to death. Catherine Green is one of the greatest managers, bosses, anybody could ever have. I called the LAPD and they confirmed it. But you know you learn a lot working with people like that and even now it's like sometimes you just got to do it yourself. You got to make the phone call you got to. You know you have to hear it for yourself. You can't just believe. Even if it's the AP setting on AP alert, sometimes you just got to make sure. Yes, yes. So the least was you know, nights, weekends, holidays.

Gary Bender:

You know, at Fox five I made a deal with my buddy who he were. I would work Christmas if he would work Thanksgiving and it worked like that for seven years At ESPN I was in charge of the NFL. Nfl was on Sundays. I'm working every Sunday. You're working. You could be working a 6 am shift. You could be working a 3 to midnight shift. That was the downside of it was the hours and the family side of it was tough. But there was nothing like the rush you get in those breaking news moments that made it worth it.

Angela Tuell:

That's exciting. Yeah, I do have to ask on the assignment desk, did you work with PR professionals often, or what was your? What's your advice for those?

Gary Bender:

My advice is just be patient. You never know when you're called, especially a local newsroom First of all, a lot of local newsrooms. These days, the person answering the phone is the assignment editor, the producer and the anchor at the same time. Yes.

Gary Bender:

And you don't, especially if you're not from that area or live in that area and you don't know what's going on. You don't know, especially if you're not from that area or live in that area and you don't know what's going on. You don't know what's going on. They could be dealing with a fire, they could be dealing with a murder, they could be dealing. You're like, you just don't know. So when you're the PR person and they're like I don't have time for you right now, click, don't be offended because they just might not have time for it right now.

Angela Tuell:

Yeah, and don't call me back.

Gary Bender:

Yeah, and luckily now you guys, pr professionals, can email. Yes, when I was in local news, email was just sort of beginning and it wasn't really a thing Right.

Angela Tuell:

Wait, that's aging us too, I know, I know.

Gary Bender:

Right, we had fax machines back then. I know Right, we had fax machines back then. But honestly I would just say, either do a little homework before you make those phone calls and you know, hey, is anything happening in Baltimore, maryland today? I mean every day in Baltimore, but but like you know, it's something out of the ordinary, right? And again you just again are you calling during their newscast? Not the best time to call. Right.

Gary Bender:

You know, and if you're a regular in the market, you'll learn and maybe you'll you know, need to learn, when their editorial meetings happen, because if you're calling during their meeting, you're not getting a good answer from anybody Right, and an intern could be answering that phone call. So do a little bit of homework before making that phone call.

Angela Tuell:

Yes, that's all great advice we must also talk about after being an assignment desk for all of those stations for a short time, you left broadcast journalism and went into communications for a corporate company. How was that experience and what made you go back into broadcasting?

Gary Bender:

So I left ESPN, moved back to Maryland. It was a family decision to be closer to family and also Central Connecticut's not the best place to be, especially if you're not from that area. So I you know, know, I was freelancing a little bit at like ABC and then I got a full-time job at a company in Baltimore. Um, I was doing like website, um content creation, and I taught myself how to do graphic design. I taught myself how to make podcasts. It was different. It's a whole different world. It was also part of, like, their human resources department.

Angela Tuell:

Oh, that's strange. I mean, I haven't seen communications under that. Really, it.

Gary Bender:

Yes, that's how they were it was, it was not as exciting. Yes.

Gary Bender:

So then I randomly jokingly texted a former coworker of mine who I knew was working at this company called Program Productions and I said hey, is your company hiring? She said send me your resume. Three or four days later I'm getting phone calls, emails, setting up interviews. Then I got this job and I you know I wouldn't want any other job right now. Like you know, you sit there at a place like ESPN and you're like I wonder if the grass is greener. Yeah.

Gary Bender:

You know you wonder that Looking from this side now, the grass is as green as I could ever imagine. Yeah, and it's great to be back in the sports side of it. A lot of what I learned on the assignment desk translated as far as the organization, the patients talking to people I mean, I talk to people every day, Right?

Angela Tuell:

Yeah, tell us more about Program Productions for those who are not familiar. What you do, sure.

Gary Bender:

So Program Productions we are the largest live event staffing company in the country. We crew the production trucks for all the networks that do live sports NHL, nba, mlb and some NFL, mainly preseason. But we hire the camera operators, the audio techs, the video, everybody below the line, so to speak, like the production will send their director and their producer, and then we're hiring everybody else on the local level. And you know, for me, you know it's on the surface, it's basically just it's putting a puzzle together. Every show is a puzzle and every show has needs and names fit into this puzzle.

Gary Bender:

So I have, you know, my camera guys fit into the camera needs of the client. But then you learn that it's not just a camera operator, it's what camera operator and who. And you know you. You you learn who the people are and you get to know them and you talk to them. And it's been an interesting evolution just over my last, my two and a half years from. I have a grid, I have to fill it to. I have a grid, I have to fill it. I have to make sure it's the right fit.

Angela Tuell:

Yeah, you told me that you crewed 350 jobs in 2023 and will crew close to 400 this year. How do you manage that much? I mean, besides the organization, it, it, it must be the assignment editor background, but it is it, it, it?

Gary Bender:

you know it is organization. I work ahead. So, sitting here right now, it's December 11th and my entire 2025 baseball visiting team crews are set Wow. But that way I can focus on the other things that come up. So I personally do all the visiting shows in DC and Baltimore. So Caps, wizards, nationals, orioles I do all the visiting teams. So you know every show is different Every. Okay, it's not. I can't just put a person in a position. I have to know who that person is. So, on top of everything else, it's also, you know, I can go play golf with the camera operators. I'm, I hire Maryland students for replay operator and camera operator. What they're doing on the college level right now is unbelievable. With Big Ten, network Plus and all these other streaming platforms, they're they're producing every sporting event on campus. Yeah.

Gary Bender:

Right, it's amazing. And then most of those jobs will translate into you know these jobs.

Angela Tuell:

Right. What were you surprised to learn about when getting into sports production? Um?

Gary Bender:

I think for me the biggest thing was just learning what everybody does. Yeah.

Gary Bender:

Right, a lot, yeah, right a lot of a lot of terms are thrown out there v1, v2, a1, a2, bug, op, parabop, evs, lead, evs, ro. It's just learning all these things. And then some companies call them different than others. And I mean I ran into a situation where I had a client from canada who their name for you, I forget what it is, but they don't use the term utility. They haven't. I forget what the term is, but it's different and I have to figure. You know, I'm like, okay, what is this? Um, so it's just, it was just figuring out what everybody does. Yeah, um, and again, being able to go on site and get into the truck and just talk to people and see what they do, you kind of figure out.

Gary Bender:

Okay, here's the difference in what the V, the V1, which is the main video op, and the V2, which is the second video op, what, what the difference is. And then, who can do those jobs? Can every V2 be a V1? No, um, same thing with audio. Can every? An A1 is in the truck mixing the show on a, on a mixer right, and doing all the patching to the, to the wherever the client is, and so forth. But the A2, they're actually the ones that are in the arena connecting the microphones and setting up monitors and and making sure all of the patching works in the different locations. So, and not every A2 wants to be an A1. It's just totally different. So it's just learning. For me, it was just learning what everybody does. Yeah.

Angela Tuell:

How big is a crew on a certain production?

Gary Bender:

I have a production on Saturday that's 18 people for a hockey show, but then there's a basketball show the next day that's like 14. But then a client like the New York Knicks come in town and they have over 22 people. It just every client's different. Every client's needs are different and part of it is if they're doing some of the production in their home studio. Yeah. So some, some teams and networks have their graphics, their score, bug operator, um and other positions back at their home studio Okay, Whereas others it's all on site. Yeah.

Gary Bender:

So? And if it's all on site, are they traveling in people, are they not? So every show is different, it's different.

Angela Tuell:

What happened before companies like Program Productions? Was it all done by the network?

Gary Bender:

or the teams, I think it was all done by the networks and even now some of the networks still do it themselves, right, um, but you know, we, our company, started in Chicago. Um, and now I mean every, every event in that town is now a program productions event. Um, our, our uh leadership. Um, bobby and Joey Carzoli, they still will show up and get on camera at Wrigley Field. Okay, and run a camera, because that's what they love and that's how they got started. That's awesome.

Angela Tuell:

Are we able to tell, when we're watching a sports event, if it's done by the company? No, okay, there's no way. Yeah, you never know. So I have to ask what are you most proud?

Gary Bender:

about in your career so far. I think just that if you were to go talk to people I've worked with that, they would all say that I'm a good person and you know, I don't feel like I've screwed anybody over in my days, but you know, when it comes down to it, I think that's, that's just a lot of what it is. It's just being nice and being, you know, understanding, um, you know, and now it's, it's for me it's juggling the client, who has their needs, and they're also people and they're also a company that's paying a lot of money. But then the technicians, who have families and have other obligations and have things, and you know you can't take it, you can't always take things personally, um, so it's just. I think it's just, you know, keep on trying to be a nice person yeah, that's what we all need to strive for.

Angela Tuell:

Number one, right, yeah, what do you hope the future holds for you professionally?

Gary Bender:

This company is growing every single day and I would just love to grow with it and see what's around the corner. Our company grows every six months and we're a different company as our leadership keeps selling us and it's true, but it's for the better. We keep growing and keep bringing on more clients and doing more jobs. So I think you know I'm excited just to see where this takes us.

Angela Tuell:

Yeah, and I'm sure things change pretty often with technology as far I mean we know it has since we started in journalism and broadcasting.

Gary Bender:

but so, going back to like the kids in Maryland, right, they're using state-of-the-art cameras and you know TD boards and switchers, and if they were to go work in a production truck, they have to go backwards 20 years almost. Wow, yeah Like the cameras aren't the same right. The cameras off a production truck are the big long lens cameras you see, in stadiums. The ones in Maryland are sort of just smaller, but I mean, so it's. The technology is sort of ahead of some of what's actually being used.

Angela Tuell:

Yeah, yeah, that's so exciting. Yeah, how can our listeners connect with you online?

Gary Bender:

Is LinkedIn the best? Yeah, the best way is LinkedIn. I try to keep the rest of it to myself.

Angela Tuell:

Great. Well, we will add that link in our show notes. Thank you so much, Gary Of course.

Gary Bender:

Thanks for having me.

Angela Tuell:

That's all for this episode of Media in Minutes, a podcast by Communications Redefined. Please take a moment to rate, review and subscribe to our show. We'd love to hear what you think you can find more at communicationsredefinedcom slash podcast. I'm your host, Angela Tuell. Talk to you next time.