Long-time Turner Sports Engineering Legend Ernie Watts Passes Away

Long-time Turner Sports Engineering Legend Ernie Watts Passes Away For 40 Years Watts played major role in keeping the engineering side of things operating at top efficiency By Ken Kerschbaumer

Sunday, August 18, 2024 - 1:23 am

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Ernie Watts, who worked for Turner Sports for 40 years, passed away last week. A celebration of life will be held on August 20 at 11 am at Believer's Bible Christian Church at 2689 Campbellton Rd., SW, in Atlanta. A public viewing will be held on August 19 from 4-7 pm at MD Walker Funeral Home, 4552 Jonesboro Rd, Forest Park, GA.

Ernie Watts with his wife Sheilah. Sheila passed away earlier this year and Ernie passed away last week.

A Philadelphia native, he attended high school in Detroit, attending Central High School and graduating in 1969. He then attended Cheyney University of Pennsylvania and studied Industrial Arts Education. It wasn't long after that he began his career at Turner Sports in 1977 in the engineering department working as an EIC and technical manager for field operations. After a quick retirement he returned to Turner in 2017 looking to complete 40 years at the company. For three years he was Turner Broadcasting, TOC Manager, and then retired again to form his own company, MegaWatts B/IT.

Ernie was always a strong supporter of SVG, and in our early days he played a key part in one of our first initiatives for the industry: the creation of a database of contacts at venues so that remote production professionals could find out who to call in order to find out where to park and power a TV truck, says Ken Kerschbaumer, SVG, co-executive director. He was one of the early believers in SVG that gave us the direction and energy to make the organization bigger and better. We, along with many others in the industry, will miss his smile, kindness, and commitment.

Ernie's wife, Sheilah, passed away in April of this year. He is survived by his daughter, Erin, and son, Taylor.

Former SVG Chairman Tom Sahara worked closely with Ernie from 1998 to 2021 while he was at Turner Sports.

We spent so many hours together figuring out how to make something that seemed impossible to happen, says Sahara. And more likely than not, we were successful at pulling it off. We worked hard and had fun doing it and that is what made Ernie so special: he could see past the pain and bring joy to even the most daunting of situations. I miss you, Ernie and know that you will have that TV compound humming along when it is my time to join you and Sheilah.

LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2024/08/18/long-time-turner-sports-enginee...
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