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Q&A with Jim Watson

Play-by-Play and Sideline Reporter

An Inside Look at Being a Full-time Freelance Sportscaster and Sideline Reporter

An important rule of thumb in Sports Television, you never know when your big chance is going to happen, so always be ready for it.

For Jim Watson, Freelance Sportscaster and Reporter, his big chance came in the 2000 Summer Olympics, “I was hired for Beach Volleyball but was told I would call all the matches up-to the ‘medal matches’. 3 weeks later the Americans had made a magical run to the men’s final four and NBC decided I was worthy of a shot to call the final matches.

"I called the Olympic Gold Medal Final on Live, primetime worldwide TV. The Americans won a thrilling match, NBC estimated the audience at 20-million, and better yet I didn’t poop my diaper on match point.”

When did you decide that you wanted to work in Sports TV?

I never wanted to do anything else. When I was a kid I was a sports-geek like most 10-year-olds. But instead of just playing and watching everything and memorizing stats and stadium seating capacities, I took it a step further. I would sit in-front of the television, turn on a game, turn down the sound and call the game. First into a hairbrush or soup ladle–then into a tape-recorder. I would then listen to the games that night in bed and critique my own work.

Jim Watson Sports TV “Stats”

Education: University of Hawaii & University of Southern California

Production Jobs held: Video Editor, Cameraman, Producer, Reporter, Sportscaster

Currently: Full-time, freelance sportscaster for Fox Sports Net, NBC, Mountain West Net, ProAngle Media (internet) and several other outlets

Best piece of advice:. Don’t be in a hurry.  You can’t plant seeds in the morning and drink wine that night.  It takes time to mature.

Where did you go to school and how much did it help you in your Sports TV career?

I went to 5 junior colleges, the University of Hawaii and finally graduated from USC.  9 years in all.  SC was my contact point.  Instead of getting internships with the big sports teams in town, I searched for one that offered practical experience.  I found an internship at a local cable system in South Gate, CA.

Two weeks in I was hosting a sports talk show and calling the HS football games.  I worked there for 2 years on sports, news, city council meetings and telethons.  I worked on-camera and produced, directed and ran camera.  Greatest experience I could have gotten.  I was lucky.

Where did you land your first job in Sports TV?

My first job was the one listed above in South Gate.  I worked as an intern the first year, then was hired the next year.  I made $12 an hour.  After that I worked as a Field Producer/Reporter for ESPN on the west coast.  When that failed to really launch my career I opened a bar in Beverly Hills.  That led to a connection at NBC and I took a job as an NBC Page working on The Tonight Show w/ Johnny Carson.  While working there I made another contact in NBC Ad Sales and landed a position in that department.  2 years later the VP of Sales took me with her to open E! Entertainment Television. I worked there for 2 years before taking an internship at a start-up 24-hour cable channel in Orange County, CA called OCN.  I worked for free for a year before they hired me to be a videotape editor and weekend sports reporter.  5 years later I was hired at Fox and 3 years later NBC hired me to work the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, AUS.

Would you do anything differently if you could go back to the early stages of your career?

Since it worked out alright for me I don’t know that I would change anything.  I did have to move to Seattle for 3 years in the middle of my career.  It was a lateral move and had a negative impact on my personal life but there were politics involved and I had to soil myself by playing the game.

What advice would you give someone looking to work in Sports TV?

Don’t be in a hurry.  You can’t plant seeds in the morning and drink wine that night.  It takes time to mature.

What is your favorite memory from working in Sports TV?

In 2000 I worked the Summer Olympics for NBC.  I was hired for Beach Volleyball but was told I would call all the matches up-to the "medal matches".  Those would called by the big guns at NBC.  But 3 weeks later the Americans had made a magical run to the men’s final four and NBC decided I was worthy of a shot to call the final matches.

I called the Olympic Gold Medal Final on LIVE prime time worldwide TV.  Bob Costas opened the show and threw to me, Mike Dodd  (’96 Olympic Silver) and NBA legend Bill Walton (our sideline reporter).  I had watched all 3 of those guys while growing up.  NBC estimated the audience at 20-million.

The Americans won a thrilling match and I didn’t poop my diaper on match point.  In fact, 4 years later NBC used my Gold Medal call in it’s promo for the 2004 Athens Olympics–which I also called.  Even the "Medal Matches".

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