Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Legends Behind the Lens: Jack Weir

19/05/2020

Legends Behind the Lens: Jack Weir In the world of transmission for high-end live sports production, few - if any - had a greater impact By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital

Tuesday, May 19, 2020 - 12:00 pm

Print This Story | Subscribe

Story Highlights

The story of American sports television is engrained in the history of this nation, rising on the achievements of countless incredible men and women who never once appeared on our screens. During this pause in live sports, SVG is proud to present a celebration of this great industry. Legends Behind the Lens is a look at how we got here seen through the people who willed it to be. Each weekday, we will share with you the story of a person whose impact on the sports-television industry is indelible.

Legends Behind the Lens is presented in association with the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame and the SVG Sports Broadcasting Fund. In these trying times - with so many video-production professionals out of work - we hope that you will consider (if you are able) donating to the Sports Broadcasting Fund. Do so by visiting sportsbroadcastfund.org.

___________________________

There was a time when broadcasting decisions had to travel through numerous channels at a network. There was a time when television transmission was done over phone lines. There was a time the Olympics were a just modest program offering.

Then came Jack Weir, whose 40-year career at NBC changed all that.

From an operations point of view, Jack was a complete innovator, says Ken Aagaard, EVP, Operations and Production Services, CBS Sports. He never got the credit that he should have for all of the work that he did. As an operations guy, he was very important in my career because he taught me so much.

Weir was a mentor to many behind the camera and in the trenches of some of sports television's most established broadcast entities.

Weir graduated from Emerson College and served in the Army before beginning his career at NBC as a page in 1952. It didn't take long for him to emerge from the entry-level ranks and begin having a significant impact on the network's broadcast operations.

In the mid 1950s, Weir and colleagues Don Kivell, and Frank Badami sold NBC technical management on the concept of a central department where instant on-air management decisions would be made. From that was born the BOC (Broadcast Operations Center), the go-to place for all operational decisions on breaking news, sports, and other programs.

That was just the beginning for Weir and his innovative friends. In 1962, Weir and Kivell were key to one of broadcasting's most transformative technological developments: TV broadcasting's move from terrestrial transmission over telephone lines to satellite.

Vince Vacca, a colleague and close friend of Weir's for more than a half century, recalls the first NBC satellite transmission vividly.

Jack was as great a broadcasting pioneer as he was a true gentleman of the industry. He was the unquestioned leader in changing the network distribution model from terrestrial to satellite. Mike Meehan, SVP, Operations for NBC Sports

Jack, Don, and I were in the BOC when Don uttered the oft-quoted Cue the buffalo,' referring to a film segment in the program that showed a herd of buffalo stampeding across a western plain, Vacca says. This inaugural program featured transmissions from Eurovision in Brussels. Each of the U.S. networks and the BBC initiated TV's entry into the satellite age.

Weir and Kivell became the leaders in converting affiliated stations to a satellite-network distribution system and made NBC the first of the three major television networks to accomplish that feat.

If you ask any of his colleagues, they will tell you Weir also executed the first live satellite uplink for network news out of Selma, AL, during the days of the civil-rights movement.

Jack was as great a broadcasting pioneer as he was a true gentleman of the industry, says Mike Meehan, SVP of operations, NBC Sports. He was a visionary here at NBC and was the unquestioned leader in changing the network distribution model from terrestrial to satellite. He will be remembered for his integrity and dignity in a life well lived.

It's fitting that, in 2012, the year of television's most successful Olympic Games ever, Weir would be recognized by the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame. Even two years after his passing, his influence is still felt throughout the NBC compound.

For me, he was the father of Olympics, engineering- and operations-wise, at NBC, says Dave Mazza, SVP of engineering, NBC Olympics, who worked with Weir on Seoul in 1988 and Barcelona in 1992. He was a consultant to us during the Atlanta Games [in 1996]. He had already retired, and we had a bunch of young kids on the job like me, so we were looking for an elder statesman to make sure we didn't get too far adrift.

During his tenure, Weir helped build NBC's Olympics coverage into the juggernaut it is today. He was in charge of operations and developed his reputation of pushing the technological envelope while remaining cool under pressure and respectful of his employees.

Says Mazza, He was always even-tempered and could be counted on to have an even keel - especially when the situation required a little perspective and wisdom.

The video in this profile was originally produced in 2012. For more on the life and career of this industry legend, visit their profile at the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame.
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2020/05/19/legends-behind-the-lens-jack-we...
See more stories from svg

More from Sports Video Group

18/04/2024

Ping Pong for the Masses: Bringing an Old Sport to a Brand New Audience With World Table Tennis

Ping pong for the masses: Bringing an old sport to a brand new audience with Wor...

18/04/2024

Fanatical Fans: IMG on Bringing the World of Table Tennis to a New Global Audience for WTT

Fanatical fans: IMG on bringing the world of table tennis to a new global audien...

17/04/2024

Live From NAB Show 2024: Zixi CEO Gordon Brooks on Live Cloud Production with the NHL and Version 17 of the Zixi Platform

Live From NAB Show 2024: Zixi CEO Gordon Brooks on Live Cloud Production with th...

17/04/2024

SportsTechBuzz at NAB 2024: Wednesday's Latest From Vegas

SportsTechBuzz at NAB 2024: Wednesday's Latest From Vegas By SVG Staff Wednesday, April 17, 2024 - 3:00 am Print This Story The NAB Show is in full sw...

17/04/2024

Live From NAB Show 2024: Zixi CEO Gordon Brooks on Live Cloud Production with the NHL and Version 12 of the Zixi Platform

Live From NAB Show 2024: Zixi CEO Gordon Brooks on Live Cloud Production with th...

16/04/2024

SportsTechBuzz at NAB 2024: Tuesday's Latest From Vegas

SportsTechBuzz at NAB 2024: Tuesday's Latest From Vegas By SVG Staff Tuesday, April 16, 2024 - 3:15 am Print This Story The NAB Show is in full swing,...

16/04/2024

Live From NAB Show 2024: Calrec's Henry Goodman, Solid State Logic's Tom Knowles on Audio in the Cloud

Live From NAB Show 2024: Calrecs Henry Goodman, Solid State Logics Tom Knowles o...

16/04/2024

Live From NAB Show 2024: The Switch's George Lopez on Remote Production, The Cloud, and the Future of Connectivity

Live From NAB Show 2024: The Switchs George Lopez on Remote Production, The Clou...

16/04/2024

Live From NAB Show 2024: LiveU's Steve Wind-Mozley on IP, REMI Solutions for Light Weight Production

Live From NAB Show 2024: LiveUs Steve Wind-Mozley on IP, REMI Solutions for Ligh...

16/04/2024

Live From NAB Show 2024: Blackmagic Design's Bob Caniglia on Upgrades to ATEM Production Switchers, Recent Work in Replay and IP

Live From NAB Show 2024: Blackmagic Designs Bob Caniglia on Upgrades to ATEM Pro...

16/04/2024

Live From NAB Show 2024: Canon's Staff Gives a Tour of New Lenses, Multi-Camera Control App, Enhanced Use of Free Viewpoint

Live From NAB Show 2024: Canons Staff Gives a Tour of New Lenses, Multi-Camera C...

15/04/2024

SportsTechBuzz at NAB 2024: Monday's Latest From Vegas

SportsTechBuzz at NAB 2024: Monday's Latest From Vegas By SVG Staff Monday, April 15, 2024 - 3:00 am Print This Story The NAB Show is in full swing, a...

15/04/2024

Live From NAB Show 2024: Vizrt's Nicholas Jameson on the Democratization of High-End Graphics Tech

Live From NAB Show 2024: Vizrts Nicholas Jameson on the Democratization of High-...

15/04/2024

Live From NAB Show 2024: Sony's Hugo Gaggioni on the Power of Sharing and Connecting Live Production Resources

Live From NAB Show 2024: Sonys Hugo Gaggioni on the Power of Sharing and Connect...

15/04/2024

Live From NAB Show 2024: Lawo's Andreas Hilmer Walks Through HOME Apps, Dishes Latest on IP

Live From NAB Show 2024: Lawos Andreas Hilmer Walks Through HOME Apps, Dishes La...

15/04/2024

Live From NAB Show 2024: AWS' Julie Souza on the Maturation of Live Sports Production in the Cloud

Live From NAB Show 2024: AWS Julie Souza on the Maturation of Live Sports Produc...

15/04/2024

Live From NAB Show 2024: FUJINON Lenses' Stosh Durbacz on the Debut of the Duvo HZK14-100mm Lens, Adding Cinematic Feel to Broadcasts

Live From NAB Show 2024: FUJINON Lenses Stosh Durbacz on the Debut of the Duvo H...

14/04/2024

SportsTechBuzz at NAB 2024: Sunday's Latest From Vegas

SportsTechBuzz at NAB 2024: Sunday's Latest From Vegas By SVG Staff Sunday, April 14, 2024 - 12:41 am Print This Story The NAB Show kicks off today, a...

14/04/2024

Live From NAB Show 2024: Program Productions' Bob Carzoli on Investment Growth and Supporting Freelancers with the ProCrewz App

Live From NAB Show 2024: Program Productions Bob Carzoli on Investment Growth an...

14/04/2024

Live From NAB Show 2024: Appear's Thomas Bostrm Jrgensen, Alex Pannell, and Ed McGivern on Backing the Continued Growth of Live Sports

Live From NAB Show 2024: Appears Thomas Bostr m J rgensen, Alex Pannell, and Ed ...

14/04/2024

Live From NAB Show 2024: Amagi's Dan Marshall on Migrating On-Prem Data Centers to The Cloud and the Exciting Growth of FAST Channels

Live From NAB Show 2024: Amagis Dan Marshall on Migrating On-Prem Data Centers t...

14/04/2024

Live From NAB Show 2024: Ross Video's David Ross on Celebrating 50 Years with Major Product Intros

Live From NAB Show 2024: Ross Videos David Ross on Celebrating 50 Years with Maj...

14/04/2024

NAB 2024: NHL, Verizon Business, and AWS Roll Out 5G-enabled Cloud Broadcasting Solution

NAB 2024: NHL, Verizon Business, and AWS Roll Out 5G-enabled Cloud Broadcasting ...

12/04/2024

Inside the MultiVersus NHL Face-Off' Live Animated Broadcast With the NHL's David Lehanski and Keith Horstman

Inside the MultiVersus NHL Face-Off' Live Animated Broadcast With the NHL&#...

12/04/2024

NAB 2024: Suppliers Continue To Expand Networked-Audio Offerings

NAB 2024: Suppliers Continue To Expand Networked-Audio Offerings New and updated products boast IP and ST 2110, software systems, virtual control By Dan Daley,...

12/04/2024

Amazon Prime Video Chooses Onsite Production Path for Its 27 NWSL Matches

Amazon Prime Video Chooses Onsite Production Path for Its 27 NWSL Matches The streamer made its league debut with the 2024 NWSL Challenge Cup on March 15 By Kr...

12/04/2024

ESPN Rides Wave of Women's-Hoops Momentum Into WNBA Draft Production at Brooklyn Academy of Music

ESPN Rides Wave of Women's-Hoops Momentum Into WNBA Draft Production at Broo...

12/04/2024

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Mimir's Andr Torsvik on Enabling Remote Collaboration Through the Cloud

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Mimir's Andr Torsvik on Enabling Remote Collabor...

12/04/2024

Inside the MultiVersus NHL Face-Off Live Animated Broadcast With the NHL's David Lehanski and Keith Horstman

Inside the MultiVersus NHL Face-Off Live Animated Broadcast With the NHL's D...

11/04/2024

Case Study: Inside ESPN's Monday Night Football AR Graphics Launch

Case Study: Inside ESPN's Monday Night Football AR Graphics Launch By SVG Staff Thursday, April 11, 2024 - 8:18 am Print This Story | Subscribe Stor...

11/04/2024

All Love: Creative Media Producer Jhalen Wingate on Capturing South Carolina Women's Basketball's National Championship

All Love: Creative Media Producer Jhalen Wingate on Capturing South Carolina Wom...

11/04/2024

Miami Marlins Leap Into Artificial Intelligence With 2024 Team Open

Miami Marlins Leap Into Artificial Intelligence With 2024 Team Open The Famous Group played a pivotal role in its third consecutive project with the club By Kr...

11/04/2024

SPORTEL Rendez-vous Buenos Aires Four Weeks Away!

SPORTEL Rendez-vous Buenos Aires Four Weeks Away! By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director Thursday, April 11, 2024 - 10:46 am Print This Story | Subscribe...

11/04/2024

Sinclair Turns to Generative AI for Language Translation in Original Content

Sinclair Turns to Generative AI for Language Translation in Original Content Audio for Tennis Channel's Petko Unfiltered will be translated into Spanish By...

11/04/2024

In Final Masters for Sean McManus and Verne Lundquist, CBS Sports Aims To Provide a Grand Sendoff

In Final Masters for Sean McManus and Verne Lundquist, CBS Sports Aims To Provid...

10/04/2024

Viva Las Vegas: Inside the Design of CBS Sports' Super Bowl LVIII Graphics Package

Viva Las Vegas: Inside the Design of CBS Sports' Super Bowl LVIII Graphics P...

10/04/2024

WWE 30,000-Sq.-Ft. Studio Complex Opens; Sony Verona LED Wall Is Deployed for Virtual Production

WWE 30,000-Sq.-Ft. Studio Complex Opens; Sony Verona LED Wall Is Deployed for Vi...

10/04/2024

Inside Look at Sony's NAB 2024 Booth and What Advances To Expect in Cameras, Switchers, the Cloud, and More

Inside Look at Sony's NAB 2024 Booth and What Advances To Expect in Cameras,...

09/04/2024

2024 NCAA Women's Championship Blows Away Ratings Records, Is Most-Watched Hoops Broadcast of Any Kind Since 2019

2024 NCAA Women's Championship Blows Away Ratings Records, Is Most-Watched H...

09/04/2024

2024 Sports Emmy Nominations: ESPN Leads the Way With 58 Nominations; CBS Sports Nabs Four Nods for Outstanding Live Special

2024 Sports Emmy Nominations: ESPN Leads the Way With 58 Nominations; CBS Sports...

09/04/2024

Canon's Newest Portable Lens Sets New Zoom Standard for Form Factor

Canons Newest Portable Lens Sets New Zoom Standard for Form Factor By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director Tuesday, April 9, 2024 - 9:35 am Print This Stor...

09/04/2024

Setting the Foundation: How College Football Is Driving the Next Generation of Network Graphics Package

Setting the Foundation: How College Football Is Driving the Next Generation of N...

09/04/2024

ShotTracker Helps Big 12 Make Data Fun for Fans; Voice Commands Bring New Level of Control

ShotTracker Helps Big 12 Make Data Fun for Fans; Voice Commands Bring New Level ...

09/04/2024

SVG College Sports Media Awards 2024: Today is the Final Deadline to Submit Entries!

SVG College Sports Media Awards 2024: Today is the Final Deadline to Submit Entr...

09/04/2024

2024 NCAA Women's Championship Blows Away Ratings Records, Is Most Watched Hoops Broadcast of Any Kind Since 2019

2024 NCAA Women's Championship Blows Away Ratings Records, Is Most Watched H...

09/04/2024

2024 Sports Emmy Nominations: ESPN Leads the Way With 57 Nominations; CBS Sports Nabs Four Nods for Outstanding Live Special

2024 Sports Emmy Nominations: ESPN Leads the Way With 57 Nominations; CBS Sports...

08/04/2024

Live From NCAA Men's Final Four: Behind the Scenes With Purdue, UConn, Alabama, and NC State Creative Teams

Live From NCAA Men's Final Four: Behind the Scenes With Purdue, UConn, Alaba...

08/04/2024

Live From NCAA Men's Final Four: CBS Sports Debuts Live Camera Worn by Players at NABC College All-Star Game

Live From NCAA Men's Final Four: CBS Sports Debuts Live Camera Worn by Playe...