When searching for a university to call home and to advance a young sports broadcasting career, there are many things to consider. The Sportscasters Talent Agency of America (STAA) writes that there are three main factors to consider: Quality of Instruction, Campus TV and/or Radio Stations, and Alumni Involvement.
I believe that Oakland has a strong case in all three of these categories, with a unique flexibility that other programs may not offer.
Quality of Instruction
Just recently, Oakland began offering a broadcasting and digital media proactive specialization to their Journalism and Media Studies bachelor’s program. However, since this began shortly after my graduation, I cannot speak to the academic side of things.
What I can speak on is the incredibly valuable education gained from doing the work and learning along the way.
Oakland’s radio station, 88.3 WXOU, does not have the most state-of-the-art equipment. It’s serviceable, no doubt, but there are many times when the equipment is difficult to work with and issues arise before, during, and after a broadcast. That is where you have to opportunity to learn!
For example, there may be an issue with the connection between the sideline of the O’Rena and the board operator at the station. Maybe that issue takes away your ability to throw it to break during timeouts, forcing you to fill the time all by yourself!
Because of that, you now know to be better prepared with more notes on the game, give updates on other games in the conference, or throw in some news about other sports on campus, etc.
Now, if it happens again, you’ll be better prepared to handle it, instead of being paralyzed and caught off guard because it’s the first time.
Issues like this are very common in the entry-level or high school sports jobs you may find early in your career, because they also do not have the most reliable equipment, so you will be prepared for whatever comes your way.
In addition to learning lessons on the air, you will have a chance to work on every aspect of the sports media industry, which we will talk about next.
Campus TV and/or Radio Stations
Oakland University’s student radio station, 88.3 WXOU, has been on campus almost as long as there has been a campus! The station celebrated its 58th birthday this year, and it is a core part organization on campus.
It offers almost limitless creativity with the kind of content you want to create, whether it’s a weekly radio show, a prerecorded podcast, written articles, social media posts, photography, or in-person events.
Many stations of larger universities may be more structured in the kind and amount of content you can create on their platform, whether it is because of competition for airtime or regulation of the station, but WXOU usually has plenty to go around.
Zoning in on the sports side of things, WXOU has more rekindled its great working relationship with the athletic department since the pandemic, allowing access to many of their coaches and athletes for interviews and media credentials to cover Oakland and other Horizon League events.
For example, WXOU has been able to the Breslin Center and Little Caesar’s Arena when the men’s basketball team faces off against Michigan State, as well as Indianapolis for coverage of the Horizon League men’s basketball tournament among others.
In addition to the NCAA events, there is also the opportunity to cover club sports like football and hockey, which has recently been one of the best ACHA DIII teams in the nation. Clubs sportis are even more similar to the entry-level and high school sports you may cover outside of college in terms of available information, so it’s even better practice for the real world.
Finally, WXOU allows the opportunity to make connections with many greats in the local industry, especially at bigger events like the aforementioned Michigan State games, as well as the rivalry games against Detroit Mercy.
Alumni Involvement
I will admit, Oakland does not have a great volume of alumni like other programs do; what it does have is one of the biggest names in the state of Michigan: Neal Ruhl.
If you don’t know Neal Ruhl, in short, he is currently sitting as the Director of Broadcasting in Oakland’s athletic department and the main play-by-play voice for all Oakland games. He is also the play-by-play voice of Detroit City FC, host of Woodward Sports’ Big D Energy, and current president of the Detroit Sports Media Association.
He always preaches how valuable his time at WXOU has been to his career.
"It was everything. The reason I’m good at my profession is because of the time I had at WXOU," he said on The GioMoShow. "My time at WXOU laid the foundation for me as a broadcaster to be good in any situation."
Through doing play-by-play of Oakland games and hosting a weekly sports talk show, he learned just about everything he needed to be hired as Oakland’s professional play-by-play with Mario Impemba, and for him, the rest is history!
He has been and continues to be a great supporter of the station and is a great resource to have by your side in the O’Rena.
There are other alumni who have success in the world of sports broadcasting, such as 97.1 The Ticket producers, Kenny Kott and Dan Doebler, and Lake Superior State play-by-play broadcaster, Matt Pocket.
When you put it all together, Oakland University and WXOU provide a wide range of opportunities to build a foundation for a successful broadcasting career with access and flexibility that is hard to find elsewhere.