Skills and techniques learned in Sports Communication courses are immediately applied in student productions at the national award-winning Southeastern Channel, which has won over 400 national, international, and regional awards since 2003 – including Emmy recognitions totaling 22 awards and 69 nominations. The channel’s live, 24-hour broadcast can be seen throughout the Northshore area on Charter/Spectrum cable 199 as well as Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and thesoutheasternchannel.com, which also includes video on demand.
THE SOUTHEASTERN CHANNEL
NETWORK SPORTS TRAINING
Students gain network-level training on actual ESPN productions of Division 1 sporting events as well as a live, student-produced sportscast. Students are able to gain real-world, hands-on experience in all of the key positions on these productions from their very first semester in college.
NATIONAL AWARD-WINNING PRODUCTIONS
Our game broadcasts and weekly sportscasts have been recognized among the best in the country, honored with distinctions such as first place for live game broadcast and student sportscast by College Broadcasters, Inc., and multiple national awards given by the College Sports Media Awards, Broadcast Education Association, and Society of Professional Journalists. The broadcasts have also won first-place awards from the Suncoast Emmy Awards and the Associated Press College Broadcasters.
CAREER OPPORTUNITIES IN SPORTS
The Southeastern Channel provides an excellent opportunity to create demo and portfolio elements designed to gain entry into the exciting world of sports communications and media.
- Sports anchors
- Sports reporters
- Sports talk show hosts
- Sports directors
- Sports broadcast producers
- Sports podcasters
- Sports digital journalists
- Sportswriters
- Sports videographers
- Sports video editors
- Sports graphics and web designers
- Sports video coordinators
- Sports marketing producers
- Gameday stadium scoreboard producers
- Sports event planners
- Sports information directors
- Sports community relations directors
- Sports media entrepreneurs
A DEGREE IN SPORTS
Students in the Sports Communication concentration earn a four-year bachelor’s degree in Communication from the Southeastern Louisiana University Department of Communication and Media Studies.
This course of study includes the study of live game broadcast production, sports reporting, and anchoring, live weekly sportscast production, sports broadcast journalism, digital journalism, sportswriting, sports podcasting, and sports marketing and advertising.
The Sports Communication curriculum includes training in the following hands-on courses:
- Comm 425- Live Game Broadcast Production
- Comm 402- TV Sports Show Production: “The Big Game”
- Comm 328- Survey of Sports Communication
- Comm 257- Intro to Television Production
- Comm 260- Field Production and Video Editing
- Comm 449- Advanced Field Production and Video Editing (After FX, etc.)
- Comm 424- TV and Video Commercial Production
- Comm 363- TV Reporting
- Comm 357- TV Studio Production
- Comm 409- TV Feature Story Reporting
- Comm 408- On-Camera Performance
- Comm 256- Audio Production
- Comm 359- Podcasting
- Comm 476- Social Media Communication
- Comm 359- Internship
- Comm 498- Senior Portfolio Project
LIVE GAME BROADCASTS
While enrolled, students learn to produce regular Division 1 football, basketball, baseball, softball, soccer, and volleyball game broadcasts that stream live on ESPN+. These presentations depend on student participation for all important crew positions, including play-by-play announcer, color analyst, sideline reporter, broadcast producer, director, technical director, replay operator, graphics operator, audio mixer, and camera operator.
These student broadcasts have been honored with first place in the nation distinctions by College Broadcasters, Inc. at the National Student Production Awards and have also won top honors from the Suncoast Emmy organization and national awards from the Broadcast Education Association and College Sports Media Awards.
WEEKLY SPORTSCASTS
At the Southeastern Channel, students produce “The Big Game,” a live, professionally formatted sportscast focusing on Southeastern Athletics as well as coverage of the Saints, Pelicans, and other regional athletic events and activities.
Reporters are able to research and write their own stories, record on-camera stand-ups, conduct interviews with players and coaches, deliver “live shot” stand-up reports, and shoot and edit game highlights for their own features. Students also have the opportunity to cover Saints and Pelicans games in person where they attend press conferences and often have the opportunity to interview athletes and coaches.
Student producers format and write each sportscast, assigning stories, creating graphics and overseeing sports talk segments. In the studio, the “Big Game” is entirely student-driven, with channel staff acting as director, technical director, audio mixer, teleprompter operator, graphics operator, video playback, camera operator, and floor director.
On multiple occasions “The Big Game” has won first place in the nation for “Best Student Sportscast” as selected by College Broadcasters, Inc. at the National Student Production Awards. The sportscast has also won national awards from the College Sports Media Awards and multiple awards from the Associated Press College Broadcasters.
SPORTS TALK SHOW
Students also produce “Lion Tracks,” a sports-oriented talk show consisting of in-depth studio interviews with coaches from all Southeastern sports.
SOUTHEASTERN ATHLETICS
In cooperation with Southeastern’s athletic department, students can gain experience in creating promotional and “hype” videos for specific teams and events. Some class assignments even entail the creation of video and graphics content for scoreboard display at all university venues. These projects are designed to provide hands-on experience with sports-oriented promotion and public relations as well as principles associated with event planning, social media, and fan engagement.
ALUMNI
Southeastern graduates in Sports Communication have landed jobs working as sports reporters, producers, anchors, directors, videographers, editors, graphic designers, marketing directors, community relations, sports information, gameday scoreboard production, and game event planning for:
ESPN
ESPN Radio
NBC Sports California (San Francisco)
FOX Sports Network
SEC Network
Cox Sports Television
Southland Conference Television
New Orleans Saints
New Orleans Pelicans
Cleveland Cavaliers
Baltimore Orioles (minor league)
Southeastern Athletics
Tulane Athletics
WAFB-TV (Baton Rouge)
WBRZ-TV (Baton Rouge)
WVLA/WGMB-TV (Baton Rouge)
FOX 8-TV (New Orleans)
WDSU-TV (New Orleans)
WGNO-TV (New Orleans)
WLBT-TV (Jackson, Ms.)
WXXV-TV (Gulfport/Biloxi)
KLFY-TV (Lafayette)
KARD/KTVE-TV (Monroe)
KALB-TV (Alexandria)
KLAX-TV (Alexandria)
KTAL-TV (Shreveport)
KLTV-TV (Tyler, Tx.)
WMBF-TV (Myrtle Beach, S.C.)
INTERNSHIPS
Sports Communication graduates have had sports internships at all Baton Rouge and New Orleans television stations, networking daily with sports professionals and developing additional career opportunities. Internships are also possible within the Southeastern Channel and Southeastern Athletics marketing and sports information departments.
EARN WHILE YOU LEARN
In addition to coursework, the Southeastern Channel provides a limited number of positions within the sports department. Student staffers can total up to 25 hours per week as either a state or federally-funded worker. For more information contact the Southeastern Channel directly.
FACULTY
Sports Communication faculty and Southeastern Channel staff members include Emmy-winning professionals with decades of experience with all aspects of professional content creation.
FACILITIES
The Southeastern Channel offers a fully-equipped and cutting-edge high-definition television studio. For Sports Communication students, this includes a NewTek Tricaster 8000 switcher, a NewTek 3-Play instant replay system, an ESPN-approved AJT LiveBook for graphics, a Clearcom intercom system, and high-quality SONY broadcast cameras. For a guided tour, contact Southeastern Channel