David Smith '22 idolized Tom Brady growing up. He would hang on every New England Patriots' play on Sunday, then dissect the big moments with his friends the next day. It used to be just for fun; now it's credit-bearing career prep.
Smith has always wanted to work in sports or talk about sports. Sports talk radio is a career that pays to do both. Smith recently completed his second internship with WVCR, 88.3 the Saint. He plans, organizes, produces, and hosts his own hour-long sports talk radio show called "The Cheap Seats" - which airs weekly on Saturday nights at 6:00 p.m.
Smith still has hot takes on Brady (now the quarterback of Tampa Bay) - and he still talks about the big Sunday moments with his friends. The only difference, his friend - Jared McCabe - is his co-host, and there's an audience of thousands (35,000 watts from campus in any direction) listening in.
Smith and McCabe record their episodes over Zoom, which Smith then downloads through Adobe Audition, and uploads into the studio system for playback. This semester, Smith expanded his show into a podcast as well, "Our View from the Cheap Seats." Smith created social media accounts to promote the show and used a tool to capture questions from fans for a mailbag segment.
Through his WVCR internship, Smith also recorded voice overs for public service announcements aired in three states. A voiceover for the New York Army National Guard was also used by other colleges and played by other radio stations. Smith also learned to upload the music schedule into the NexGen program using a system called PowerNote.
Smith's sports talk show is a nod to stadium seats farthest from the action. The cheap seats. But for any student interested in sports communications, Smith is already broadcasting from a seat right in the middle of the action.
"I've sharpened so many important skills through this internship that will no doubt help me in the future. For example, I've worked on my oral communication skills, networking, producing, and creative writing. I was also able to gain valuable experience using electronic systems like Zoom and Adobe Audition, which will help me greatly in the future. I would recommend this internship to everyone interested in radio or sports communications."
David Smith '22
