Wednesday, October 24, 2007

A New Era In Blazers Broadcasts



Tonight was the first broadcast of Blazers basketball for the 2007-2008 season. It began a new era in broadcasting for the team. I had the chance to look around the new studio and control room at the Rose Garden. The home of Blazer Broadcasting has been rebuilt to suit the needs of High Definition (HD) and allow the team to produce programming in house. The last few years, the broadcasts were done in a TV truck in the loading dock. They will still use a truck, but the new control room will let them produce elements from inside the Rose Garden. Tonight was also the debut of three new members of the television broadcast team. Tony Luftman, Rebecca Haarlow, and Michael Holton join Mike Barrett and Mike Rice. Luftman and Holton will serve as the Pre and Post game host and analyst, while Haarlow is the teams new sideline reporter. The first pregame show went live at 6:30pm on KGW Northwest Newschannel 8. Tony and Michael set the table for the game against the Sonics. After the pregame show was complete, the broadcast was handed off to Scott Zachary and the fine folks who produce the game coverage. The Blazers rallied late to take the victory over the Sonics. A quick post game show followed and then they wrapped it up for the evening. I chatted with Bruce Williams, the Technical Manager for the Blazers about the new studio and the first show of the season. Bruce Williams Interview I want to thank some people who made this behind the scenes coverage possible. Jim Taylor, Cheri Hanson, Dick Vardanega, Scott Zachary, Bob Akamian, Bruce Williams, Chris McMurty, Tony Luftman, Michael Holton, Mike Janes, Jeff Curtin, and the staff at Blazers Broadcasting.

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