Coverage Producer

Position Summary: (required)

The Coverage Producer I will be responsible for strategic, editorial and logistical planning of coverage. This position will play a significant role on the team whose mission is to bring all platforms together to produce the best content possible. The role is responsible for establishing the daily needs of an assigned sports team, delegating tasks to team members, including game feeds, press conferences, TVU movement, etc. The Coverage Producer coordinates the efforts of freelance and staff producers and associated production/technical personnel to provide video and audio sports/news material for ESPN platforms. This person will identify and fulfill coverage needs, including establishing and ensuring the successful execution of coverage plans. The Coverage Producer acts as the liaison between the Bureau staff, Shows, Talent Producers, Media Operations, and Transmission. Gathers and communicates content for use on ESPN platforms, working with ESPN staff and vendors, social media, affiliates and other networks. Shifts will include nights and weekends.

Responsibilities: (required)

• Have a basic ability to help identify creative coverage opportunities and strategically plan content and coverages (short and long term), utilizing the best available technology, people and content.
• Proactively gathers short and long-term coverage needs from shows and other platforms, and determine the most creative coverage solution to ensure a complete, compelling and efficient form of content that services all platforms and utilizes the best available technology.
• Collaborate in the process of determining, evaluating and implementing coverage effectively, efficiently and in a timely fashion. Leads group in making urgent, critical decisions surrounding coverage and content gathering.
• Works with Bureau Producers, Reporters and senior leadership on scheduling assignments.
• Coordinates among senior production staff across all platforms to ensure coverage response meets established best practices.
• Implements coverage with financial and editorial judgment; plans more complex assignments, including large scope, high profile or major impact coverage or major sporting events, stories, breaking news, and unique stories from digital platforms, which play well on TV.
• Regularly pitch shows segment ideas and storylines related to your areas of focus and when notable items cross the Assignment Desk.
• Provides feedback on coverage, to members of the Assignment Desk, shows and those working in the field.
• Organizes, structures and leads meetings to develop the coverage response for assigned news stories; prioritizes resources to cover breaking news, determining appropriate coverage response to news and all show coverage needs.
• Communicates information gleaned from multiple sources (sport-specific shows, digital editors, social producers) to relevant parties.
• When appropriate, leads coverage in the field.

Qualifications: (required)

• A minimum of 5 years of progressively complex related studio or related production experience.
• Ability to days, nights and weekends, as it best fits the designated assignments.
• Established a significant knowledge of current sports and sports history.
• Experience leading individuals and/or a team, pursing team goals and contributing to career growth.
• Has good production skills related to sporting events.
• Familiar experience navigating YouTube and a wide variety of social media websites.
• Strong organizational and communication skills.
• Good writing and copy editing skills.
• Knowledge of televisions production and video editing in digital and analog environments
• Has working mastery of the sports production processes and the ability to research and create compelling news stories and features for ESPN’s sports news programs
• Working mastery of real-time sports news productions processes
• Has good knowledge of what news stories and features to use for sports news programs

Preferred Qualifications:

• Good understanding of ESPN’s marketing, strategies and goals.
• An appreciation of popular culture, and assists with defining the tastes of ESPN’s viewers
• Detailed technical knowledge required, must have knowledge of what “works” on television and what is realistic to accomplish in time allotted for show production
• Specific knowledge of television production technique used in a digital control room
• Has good expertise to interpret and create compelling news stories and features for sports news programs; able to create and execute compelling news stories and features, from inception to execution.
• Established a high level knowledge of current technology used on remote sites and is committed to learning new technologies and sharing that information to help the group benefit with potentially new coverage plans.