SVG Sit-Down: Program Productions' Robert Carzoli Stresses Diversity, Education in Sports-Production Workforce Crewing-company exec also sees alternative methods reshaping the broadcast industry By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor
Friday, February 8, 2019 - 8:00 am
Print This Story
Story Highlights
Few organizations are involved in more U.S. live sports productions than Program Productions. As the largest provider of broadcast-production labor services in the country, the crewing company plays a vital role in the live-sports-production ecosystem. In 2017, the company launched the ProCrewz App, a mobile version of its national enterprise resource-management system for its clients and freelancers in the live-event and broadcast-TV industry, and it is dramatically changing the way Program Productions does business.
However, like the rest of the industry, Program Productions faces its share of challenges, including adapting to the rise of at-home workflows and finding ways to increase diversity of and infuse new blood into an aging workforce.
SVG sat down with Program Productions President/CEO Robert Carzoli to discuss the current opportunities and challenges for his company, how technology and the popularity of the ProCrewz App play into his strategy, and what he sees in the industry's future.
Program Productions' Robert Carzoli: The at-home production model makes it harder for the next generation of technicians to gain real-world, hands-on experience.
What are the biggest labor- and crewing- related challenges facing the sports-production industry today?
There are certainly plenty of challenges that we face on the labor side of the broadcast business. There is a growing shortage of younger and highly skilled technicians. In addition, there is an ever-growing number of markets that have Paid Time Off statutes that create an undue economic hardship on clients. And there is a significant lack of diversity in the overall makeup of production crews.
What are the biggest opportunities for the future?
Every year, more and more [content creators] are coming on board, and each of them requires some complement of broadcast professionals. Despite a number of [productions] falling under the general heading of at-home, in total, the number of technicians required continues to rise.
How has technology - such as Program Productions' launch of the ProCrewz App - enhanced the way you, your freelancers, and your clients do business?
For us, the development and release of our ProCrewz Management System and its sister mobile application is dramatically changing how our events are managed, how field data is collected, and how we communicate with our clients and field production employees.
For our clients, it is providing real-time crew and financial data that better allows them to manage and budget each of their individual shows.
For our field employees, it gives accurate and up-to-date event features and information, such as call times, a direct-dial feature to the onsite production managers/POCs, turn-by-turn directions to employee parking, electronic collection of expenses, geo-fenced punch-in/punch-out capabilities, pay and benefit estimates for each event, one-to-one and one-to-all communication features, and a self-directed calendar function.
How is the growth of at-home production impacting the crewing industry, with more and more live shows (or portions of live shows) produced back home at the broadcast center?
The biggest impact of the at-home production model is that it makes it harder for the next generation of technicians to gain the real-world, hands-on experience that is necessary in the development of their broadcast skills. The real impact and, potentially, the most dire outcomes are still unknown.
The biggest question becomes, as the workforce continues to age, how will the current technicians be replaced with trained, experienced broadcast professionals if the number of overall opportunities continues to migrate to a handful of broadcast in-take facilities? This is still a significant unknown.
How is Program Productions working to address this issue and cultivate the next generation of crews?
What we know is that our organization's assets are its people. And, just like our equipment partners, [which] must continually invest in the maintenance of their physical assets, we are making huge investments in the training of the new flow of technicians into the broadcast-television industry.
Through our formal Program Productions Training Initiative and via partners like the Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences, we have established a paid-internship program, where we can not only direct the overall training of these newest employees but deploy them to the markets that require the most amount of new blood.
How are you looking to build diversity in the industry? Are your customers asking for more-diverse crews?
The single biggest way we can stave off the coming labor shortage in our industry is through building and supporting a substantially more diverse workforce. Look around the inside of any mobile unit or behind the camera. How diverse a workforce do you see? The truth is, our business is heavily, heavily weighted with middle-aged and older white men. Of course, there is a number of talented women and minority candidates, but how many of them do we actually see onsite on a regular basis? Not enough, that's for sure.
So we are making a regular, concerted effort to spread our opportunities to a more diverse group of people and ensure that a broad number of the candidates in our training initiatives are as diverse as possible.
And yes, a number of our clients are specifically asking to see a far more diverse workforce, because they know that having a broader range of people and life experiences contributes positively to the overall and fi
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
19/08/2026
As the cost of IP nears price parity with traditional SDI, Reynolds argues that ...
19/08/2026
A private 5G bubble was chosen instead of traditional broadcast RF for the race ...
19/08/2026
(L-R) Rafael Manuel and Isabel Sicat attend the Filipi ana premiere during the 2026 Sundance Film Festival at The Ray Theatre on January 23, 2026, in Park Cit...
19/08/2026
Studio owners invited to have their say on rates cuts
The Music Producers Guild (MPG) are inviting UK-based studios to take part in an in-depth survey that ...
19/08/2026
Vintage-inspired desktop interface revealed
Harrison's latest hardware offering sees them head into the world of audio interfaces, delivering a 10-in/12...
19/08/2026
Granular effect remains locked to scale and tempo
Described as your dream granular effect , Minimal Audio's latest creation is capable of turning any s...
19/08/2026
First polyphonic SWAM instrument incoming
Audio Modeling's latest physical-modelling orchestral instrument is just around the corner, and is now availab...
19/08/2026
World Cup Games Generate 84 Billion Minutes Across FOX, Fox Sports 1 and NBCU...
19/08/2026
July brought typical peak-holiday drops in viewership, driven primarily by viewers stepping away from screens and a visible decline in reach across both traditi...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Henry joins BCE as the company accelerates its commercial strategy and expands its international presence across the media, broadcast and technology markets. He...
19/08/2026
iWedia, a leading provider of software solutions for connected TV devices, today announced a major milestone in Android platform optimization with the successfu...
19/08/2026
NTP Technology announces that ST 2110-30 audio-over-IP connectivity with AES67 and RAVENNA capabilities is now available for the brand's world-class audio i...
19/08/2026
Net Insight has been selected to provide its Nimbra platform by the service provider Big Blue Marble, formerly ORS Group, as the core media transport solution f...
19/08/2026
LiveU has supported Coventry City FC and several other top-flight UK football clubs through one of their most demanding live production challenges of the year, ...
19/08/2026
Nature Seekers Documentary Shot with Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF
Brie Clayton August 18, 2026
0 Comments
Filming endangered turtles required camera...
19/08/2026
Neyrinck Brings D-Control Consoles Back to Life on Apple Silicon with D-Control ...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Riedel Communications today announced that Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Perth, Australia, implemented a comprehensive communications infrastructure that brin...
19/08/2026
QuickLink, a leading provider of award-winning video production and remote guest contribution solutions, will spotlight a major leap forward in remote guest con...
19/08/2026
Integrated platform melds media asset management, playout automation and newsroom workflows
EMAM, PlayBox Neo and SNEWS have officially launched Nuvex, a conne...
19/08/2026
Screen Australia releases the Private Investment Toolkit to strengthen screen in...
19/08/2026
Do Aussies truly value local content? Unpacking Screen Currency 2026 with Deirdr...
19/08/2026
There's an early Christmas gift for Bookish fans, as UKTV confirms the re-commission of the hit U&alibi drama, created by and starring Mark Gatiss. Viewers ...
19/08/2026
Wednesday 19 August 2026
Sky gives sports fans the chance to watch multiple liv...
19/08/2026
On Saturday September 5 Katie Taylor will step into the ring for the fight of her life against Flora Pili in front of 80,000 fans in Croke Park. A legendary fig...
18/08/2026
SportStream 2026, a free three-day virtual event, will take place September 15-17. One registration provides access to all three days of live programming and on...
18/08/2026
BeckTV will introduce BeckFlow to the European market at IBC2026, demonstrated on the Providius stand (10.F53).
BeckFlow is a web-based schematic documentation...
18/08/2026
Boland Communications will introduce a SMPTE ST 2110 input option for its 4K monitors at IBC2026, along with a new 55-inch super-narrow bezel display for video ...
18/08/2026
Dolby Laboratories and the Seattle Seahawks have announced a partnership integrating Dolby OptiView into the Seahawks' live streaming coverage, making the S...
18/08/2026
For BMG Executive Producer of Sports Production, Graham Taylor, producing live s...
18/08/2026
TMRW Sports has appointed Rufus Hack as President of Golf, a newly created role in which he will lead the company's golf businesses including TGL presented ...
18/08/2026
SMT will provide race technology for FOX Sports' coverage of the Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C. on August 23, when the NTT INDYCAR SERIES races ...
18/08/2026
The live, YouTube-native roundtables combine fan voices, credentialed reporters,...
18/08/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...
18/08/2026
The industry legend sounds off on replacing the Heat's iconic Medusa score...
18/08/2026
William F. Rasmussen, the sports fan-turned broadcaster and entrepreneur whose out-of-the-box idea of a 24-hour cable sports network, ESPN, changed forever the ...
18/08/2026
DAZN Group has completed its acquisition of ViewLift, a provider of streaming and digital solutions for sports content owners. The acquisition was first announc...
18/08/2026
The American Association of Professional Baseball (AAPB) has added SI TV, Sports Illustrated's 24/7 streaming channel, as a broadcast partner for the remain...
18/08/2026
The Esports Foundation has announced that the inaugural Esports Nations Cup (ENC), originally scheduled for November 2026 in Riyadh, will be postponed to Novemb...
18/08/2026
Diversified has announced a new Global Managed Services Practice, consolidating the company's managed services capabilities into one organization. Rob Mello...
18/08/2026
Appear has completed a proof of concept with Thoroughbred Racing Productions (TRP), demonstrating multi-camera remote live production over bonded 5G cellular an...
SVG Sit-Down: Program Productions' Robert Carzoli Stresses Diversity, Education in Sports-Production Workforce Crewing-company exec also sees alternative methods reshaping the broadcast industry By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor 
