Senior Kyle Stanley will produce and host a new collegiate sports show on NBC 7/39 with five other PLNU students. (Photo coutesy of Kyle Stanley)

Senior Kyle Stanley will produce and host a new collegiate sports show on NBC 7/39 with five other PLNU students. (Photo coutesy of Kyle Stanley)

By Katie Pedlowe
Staff Writer

NBC is giving a 30-minute time slot on its local channel, Universal Sports, for a show to cover UCSD, USD, SDSU and PLNU athletics. Unlike most news shows, it will be student-run, with those students coming directly from PLNU.

Kyle Stanley, a senior media communication major with an emphasis in performance, is the student behind the project. During his summer internship at NBC, he asked Derek Togerson, a sports anchor and sports director for NBC 7/39, to give him feedback on a video he made recapping 2009 PLNU fall sports.

“It just so happened that five minutes into it, the head of technology at NBC walked by and said [that] they’ve been looking for a show like this to put on Universal Sports,” Stanley said.

Dave MacKinnon, the head of technology for NBC 7/39, asked Stanley if he would be interested in starting a weekly sports show on local television.

“Without hesitation, I said yes,” said Stanley.

The show will dedicate about half of its time to PLNU sports and the other half to SDSU, USD and UCSD athletics. MacKinnon and Stanley recruited five interns from PLNU to help run the show: Mike Spear, Erika Scopelli, Dustin Kamon, Casey Wilson and Sarah Willer.

“When you have something like this on your resume, it’s invaluable,” said Togerson.

The show will either be called “College Sportswrap” or “University Sportswrap” and will air on Universal Sports (Cox channel 117, TWC channel 136 and OTA channel 39.3). Togerson said in his 12 years working in the television business, he learned the most from his internships.

“There are going to be mistakes made,” Togerson said. “What’s great about this is they get it out of the way now, not when they’re getting paid and their job is on the line.”

Stanley said he believes that this opportunity will reap rewards for the students involved.

“I think because of this, anyone who’s working on this will be set after college,” he said.

The show will also be an enormous challenge, Togerson said.

“I don’t know of any other professional television station that broadcasts a completely student-run show,” said Togerson.

Stanley and the five interns have gained a considerable amount of responsibility, but they have the ability to do well, MacKinnon said.

“I’m new to the TV business and I’m amazed by how technically capable folks under thirty are,” said MacKinnon. “We have a motivated, intelligent team.”

Togerson said he believes the team will pull through and make the show a success.

“Murphy’s Law is alive and well in television news,” Togerson said. “It’ll get to the point where it’s very good, but there are going to be growing pains and a learning curve.”

Russ Blunck, the associate athletic director at PLNU, will act as adviser.

“I will help with story ideas and just be there for them,” Blunck said. “Kyle is way out in front and did a great job with his internship.”

Togerson applauded Stanley’s effort to jump-start the show.

“He wanted to do this for himself and for the school and he’s done a really good job getting it done,” Togerson said.

The first air-date is set for Sunday, Oct. 11 and crew hopes to broadcast three times per week. Production begins at the NBC studio this Saturday.