Legends Behind the Lens: Doug Wilson One of sports TVs most creative minds took viewers on a 50-year journey spanning the globe By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital
Friday, July 10, 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.
___________________________
By P.J. Bednarski
When the Director's Guild of America gave Doug Wilson its Lifetime Achievement Award in 1993, the word Lifetime must have seemed adequate. By 2008, when he retired, it seemed an understatement.
Wilson worked on ABC's Wide World of Sports as a director or producer for 50 years - nearly the entire existence of the landmark show. He says he covered 51 sports for that show, traveling the globe.
He produced and directed for 10 Olympics Games for ABC and Roone Arledge. Most of all, though, he made his reputation for excellence directing figure-skating competitions. He says he witnessed 360 performances featuring some of the Olympics' most beloved American heroes: Scott Hamilton, Dorothy Hamel, Peggy Fleming, JoJo Starbuck.
I tried to make the camera part of the performance, he says.
He would go to rehearsals and, at the end of the day, ask the coaches if the skaters could talk to him rinkside. I'd have them play their music and start a stopwatch, and they'd draw what they are doing at certain points in the song on special paper I had made.
That worked to a point. But it was tough to decipher all those chicken scratches. So Wilson began watching the performances and speaking camera directions to his assistant. She would furiously write down what he said at what point in the music and in the routine. Later on, they would decipher them and, by the day of the performance, decode that into instructions for the crew.
It worked. One of his favorites, and one that brought him much acclaim, was Brian Boitano's Gold Medal performance at the 1988 Calgary Olympics. Chicago Tribune Olympics expert Phil Hersch, on the 20th anniversary of the skate, said, There may have never been a greater sports performance under pressure than what Brian Boitano did at the final at the 1988 Games.
Doug is a pioneer because he could do any sport. It could be a motorcycle jump. It could be the Olympics. Any sport you gave Doug, he'd figure out an innovative way to do it. He was one of the great storytellers of all time. CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus
Wilson's directed rendition of that performance has been seen over and over again.
Amazingly, after the Games, Boitano got in touch with Wilson who recalls that the skater declared, I want to skate on a glacier in Alaska.' I told him, Well, I don't think a glacier will be possible.' But ABC found a lake 3 hours north of Anchorage, amid mountains and wilderness and nothing else, and there Wilson produced a performance that he says was really a spiritual happening.
Boitano described it as the closest I'd come to being so touched I cried during a skating performance on a YouTube video of the event. It's worth watching.
Wilson's 2013 autobiography, The World Was Our Stage, recalls, Just by showing up for work I regularly saw people do extraordinary things.
Wide World of Sports revolutionized television, letting people learn about the real lives of the athletes they saw. It was a formula perfected by ABC's Olympics telecasts and carried over to ABC News when Arledge took the reins there, too.
The 84-year old Wilson has decades' worth of stories. Some just indicate how far television and technology have come. Today, live transmissions from Olympic sites are old hat. In 1964, pioneering satellite Telstar was orbiting Earth. I remember we had something like a 20-minute window to upload material, Wilson recalls, or we'd miss it.
And he remembers that sad Olympics in 1972. He didn't have a hand in covering what he repeatedly calls the horror but can't forget being in the control room when Jim McKay famously and sadly announced, They're all gone about the 11 Israeli athletes killed by Arab terrorists.
Whenever anybody tries to trace the history of terrorism, Wilson says, they trace it back to the 1972 Olympics. That was the beginning.
There are silly stories, too. Evel Knievel , though not a very good motorcyclist, was a shrewd businessman whose stunts often showed up on Wide World.
In 1975, he planned a stunt in which he would jump over a group of London buses at the 90,000-seat Wembley Stadium. Days before the jump, Wilson recalls, the stunt performer discovered that only 3,000 tickets had been sold. So, when he arrived in London, Knievel went on a rampage of insulting Britons to get them riled enough to show up to jeer him and hope for the worst.
He filled the stadium and successfully flew over 12 buses. Unfortunately, 13 were lined up. He fractured his pelvis and broke a hand, and Wide World and Wilson had a great story to tell.
Wilson arrived at WWS in 1963, two years after its debut, and was there at the end in 1998.
B
North America Stories
13/12/2025
In a move that will help it offer more flexible and less costly programming options, YouTube TV has announced that it will be launching YouTube TV Plans with mo...
13/12/2025
SINGAPORE Magna Systems has designed, built and completed what is believed to be the first full UHD and IP-based OB truck in Southeast Asia for a Singapore medi...
12/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Everything You Need to Know for Next Week's Big Sho...
12/12/2025
Hailey Gates at the Atropia premiere (photo by George Pimentel / Shutterstock for Sundance Film Festival)...
12/12/2025
CONWAY, Ark. In a notable example of how the elimination of Federal federal funding is forcing public stations to make massive cuts and changes in the way they...
12/12/2025
Wisycom and DPA Microphones announce the appointment of Ren Moerch as Group Product Director, Wireless, a strategic leadership role that will guide the combine...
12/12/2025
SMPTE , the home of media professionals, technologists, and engineers, in conjuncture with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the Entertainment Technolog...
12/12/2025
Keepit, the vendor-independent, cloud-native data protection provider, today announced a strategic go-to-market relationship in Poland with Ingram Micro, a lead...
12/12/2025
Atomos announced the immediate availability of a new firmware update for its Ninja TX GO and Ninja TX monitor-recorders, unlocking Open Gate 48P RAW recording w...
12/12/2025
Professional Wireless Systems (PWS) once again played a critical role in delivering flawless wireless coordination and support at the 2025 Latin Grammy Awards a...
12/12/2025
The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS), together with the Video Services Forum (VSF), the Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA) and the European Broadc...
12/12/2025
DHD audio will demonstrate the latest additions to its range of digital audio production solutions on Booth 321 in Hall B6 at Hamburg Open 2026. The show will b...
12/12/2025
Chaos today announces the release of V-Ray for Blender, update 2, bringing its award-winning rendering technology to even more Blender users by adding support f...
12/12/2025
Lighting specialist UltraLEDs has launched Precision LED Tape, a high-CRI lighting solution designed specifically for professional film, TV, and studio use.
P...
12/12/2025
Zixi, the Emmy Award-winning leader in live broadcast-quality video over IP, today announced that Roi Sasson has joined the company as Vice President, Engineer...
12/12/2025
BitFire (bitfire.tv), the leader in software-defined live production and IP transmission, today announced a strategic partnership with Appear, a leader in high-...
12/12/2025
LOS ANGELES The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) today said futurist Robert Tercek, creative technologist Jessie Hughes from Leonardo.AI and Emmy-winnin...
12/12/2025
HUDSON, Mass. BitFire and Appear have struck a strategic partnership aimed at offering broadcasters, sports leagues and streaming platforms a faster, more flexi...
12/12/2025
The broadcast industry is evolving faster than ever. #IPWorkflows #remoteproduction, and next-gen audio systems are reshaping how teams design, deliver, and sca...
12/12/2025
LOS ANGELES The payroll and production accounting platform Wrapbook has announced the acquisition of Cinapse, a modern scheduling platform for film and televisi...
12/12/2025
DEHLI Ross Video has announced that it is expanding and restructuring its commercial and technical teams in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation...
12/12/2025
LONDON Following the success of its UK launch in January 2025, Rise AV, the global not-for-profit initiative dedicated to supporting and advancing women in the ...
12/12/2025
SAN FRANCISCO Ad-supported streaming service Tubi next week will launch Matter Casting, a new casting standard that will enable seamless mobile-to-TV viewing di...
12/12/2025
LOS ANGELES The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) today said futurist Robert Tercek, creative technologist Jessie Hughes from Leonardo.AI and Emmy-winnin...
12/12/2025
In Las Vegas's T-Mobile Arena, fans of the Golden Knights are getting more than just hockey - they're getting a taste of the future. ADAM, a robot devel...
12/12/2025
Scripps Research team pioneers an efficient way to stereoselectively add fluorine to drug-like molecules A new method uses a novel catalyst and inexpensive fluo...
11/12/2025
ESPN's Aims for Spectacular With Heisman Trophy ShowEvent firsts include 1080p HDR production airing on both national broadcast and cableBy Dan Daley, Audio...
11/12/2025
SVG Students To Watch: Frankie Patton, University of ColoradoThe 2025 grad is hitting the ground running as a PA on national broadcastsBy Brandon Costa, Directo...
11/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Technology Exhibits Preview, Part 3By SVG Staff
Thursday, December 11, 2025 - 7:24 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
The 2...
11/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: What Makes Gen Z, X, and Y Fans Tick? Dave Gavant of WSC Sports Go...
11/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: 5G, MXL, Spectrum Loss, and Outerspace on Tap for Tues...
11/12/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: David Levy, Turner Titan and Master of Al...
11/12/2025
SVG Launches Follow the Money' Podcast: Go Inside the Sports Media Biz with...
11/12/2025
A Deep Dive Inside Game Creek Video's Bird and Magic Mobile Units, Home to A...
11/12/2025
How Sound Effects for Monsters Funday Football' Emulated the Sonic Soul of ...
11/12/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: CSP Mobile Productions' Len Chase on Upgrading Tr...
11/12/2025
New satellites for the SDA Tranche 1 Tracking program in production at L3Harris&...
11/12/2025
The Meadowlands system, a compact and mobile version of the CCS, uses ground-based radio frequency units to disrupt satellite communications....
11/12/2025
The L3Harris demonstration united tactical communications devices, counter-UAS c...
11/12/2025
Throughout 2025, L3Harris delivered innovative solutions to U.S. and allied warfighters across every domain.
With an unrelenting commitment to excellence, our...
11/12/2025
A Majority of the World's Population (51%) Identify As Soccer Fans
The 2025 MLB postseason notched 58.2 billion viewing minutes, up +24% from the prior y...
11/12/2025
WALTHAM, Mass. Video-over-IP software provider Zixi said Roi Sasson has joined the company as vice president, engineering....
11/12/2025
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. In a move that highlights the growing competition between broadcasters and CTV platforms for local advertising, LG Ad Solutions has announ...
11/12/2025
Boston Conservatory Earns Several Best of Accolades in 2025 Highlights include a faculty Grammy win, a seventh consecutive year on Playbill's list of co...
11/12/2025
RASTATT, Germany Lawo and the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) have partnered to launch the SMPTE ST 2110 Practical Lab, an immersive ...
11/12/2025
PHILADELPHIA Comcasts Xfinity operating brand has announced the launch of new national video plans with all-in pricing that the operator said will provide custo...
11/12/2025
After eight years of declines, MoffettNathansons new Cord Cutting Monitor for Q3 2025 shows that pay TV subscribers to linear TV packages rose by 303,000, the f...
11/12/2025
Happy Holidays from Berklee Enjoy this years holiday student-performance video.
December 10, 2025
By
Office of the President
Dear Berklee community,
As w...
11/12/2025
Back to All News
The Teaser Trailer and the Key Art of Motorvalley, the New Ser...
Legends Behind the Lens: Doug Wilson One of sports TVs most creative minds took viewers on a 50-year journey spanning the globe By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital 
