Sports fans know their television broadcasters, but rarely do they get an inside look at how those sports TV personalities prepare for each broadcast. YES Network, which carries New York Yankees games, has sought to give fans that rare access beyond the booth and into the network’s meeting rooms.
The network has broadcasted on Facebook Live its production meetings, in which on-air talent and supporting staff go over upcoming Yankees games and series. According to SportsBusiness Daily, the meetings often include studio talent Bob Lorenz and Jack Curry; coordinating producer Jared Boshnack, who runs the meetings; and a crew of professionals in charge of graphics, research and other aspects of the broadcast.
The live stream of these meetings gives fans an insider perspective not only into how YES staffers prepare for pregame shows, live game calls, and post-game shows, but also into the staff dynamics. Any given stream shows a laid-back environment in which the network pros share jokes and throw around talking points about the Yankees and their opponents. Boshnack often begins the sessions with information on the coverage; while YES puts on the pre- and post-game shows, partner stations like WPIX sometimes air the game itself.
“We’ve been experimenting with Facebook for a little while now, but our big question was how do we use this to go behind the scenes and create something the viewer literally can’t get anywhere else,” Michael Spirito, VP of business development and digital media for Fox Regional Sports Networks, YES’ parent company, told SportsBusiness Daily.
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Throughout the meeting, Boshnack calls on the various staffers to present information they’ve found and interviews they’ve conducted with coaches and players. Viewers get to see first-hand the intense preparation the entire broadcast team engages in to find storylines that are based not only on player stats, but on managerial decisions and other aspects of baseball. Graphics decisions also account for some of the discussion.
Also on the agenda each meeting is the rundown of how each show will work, including what broadcasters and reporters will say and when. On the stream for the June 1 meeting, viewers can witness the production staff debating the merits of discussing Los Angeles Angels slugger Albert Pujols’ hitting 600 career home runs for a segment of the pregame show.
According to SportsBusiness Daily, YES is looking to expand the streaming initiative and is looking for a sponsor for the effort; the live-streamed meetings have so far racked up 10,000 views each.
“We’ve seen very high levels of engagement for the Facebook Live content, and with our other digital content, it has done a lot to extend our reach off the air and into other parts of the day,” Spirito told SportsBusiness Daily.
Armed with a new medium to reach fans and provide a fresh look at how full sports broadcasts are created, YES Network seems poised to offer the innovative content for the foreseeable future.