Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

2024 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Famer Charlie Carlucci Profile: A Legacy Unlike Any Other as a CBS Sports Graphics Operator

12/11/2024

2024 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Famer Charlie Carlucci Profile: A Legacy Unlike Any Other as a CBS Sports Graphics Operator By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director

Tuesday, November 12, 2024 - 10:03 am

Print This Story | Subscribe

Story Highlights

On December 17, 2024, 10 new inductees will be formally enshrined in the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame in New York City. This is the first of 10 profiles of those inductees, as we celebrate their careers, their impact, and the many ways they changed our industry forever.

2024 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Famer Charlie Carlucci spent more than 35 years redefining the role of graphics operator for CBS Sports. And while, yes, the core of what he did was all about fonts, statistics, colors, and images his key to success, and becoming a Hall of Famer, was his ability to be a good listener.

That was huge, he says. And also important was helping the people sitting next to me. I could never let someone sink I would always help them and let them know I've done this a lot, and this is what we should do.

Those efforts in leadership were not lost by those at CBS Sports, including at the highest level where CBS Sports President David Berson, says Carlucci is in a class by himself as a graphics operator.

Among the many things that stood out about Charlie were his incredible sports knowledge, his ability to continuously adapt to and integrate new technology, and a personality that created calm in the most stressful of situations, he says. Charlie worked across nearly every property at CBS Sports - including the Super Bowl, Masters, Final Four and US Open - and did so at the highest of levels.

Adds Craig Silver, CBS Sports, coordinating producer: Charlie was the most skilled operator of his time. He was expert at the technology of the equipment, and he knew and loved sports as well as anybody. But most of all, he understood PEOPLE. His expertise mixed with his incredible charisma and humor created an atmosphere for success in the graphics room, and helped the members of his team perform at their very best!

Born in Brooklyn in 1954, Carlucci and his family lived there until he was 14 when they then moved out to Wayne, NJ. It was there where he started high school and also his older brother was hired by one of the cable companies in North Jersey. For Carlucci, his brother's career in cable TV opened the door to a career in sports production.

During high school I would work there for him and with him, and that's where my first experience in playing television' as I was covering high school sports and other things for local cable, says Carlucci.

He then attended Manhattan College as an English major, wanting to be a sports reporter. But when he had a chance to spend his summers working for WPIX and two winters in the mid-70s working for Madison Square Garden network while at school he realized he wanted to work behind the scenes. Given that he found himself working on professional productions of professional sports teams while in college led to the occasional awkward moment.

I remember telling the media department professor that I can't make class next week because I'm doing camera at Shea Stadium and I thought he was going to fall off his chair, recalls Carlucci. He goes, what?' and I said, yeah, I got hired by WPIX. So, I would go do a Yankee game at night and then then next day go to school. That was the beginning.

It wasn't long before WPIX hired him permanently and in the mid- to late-70s his goal was to get as much experience as he could. At the time WPIX was home to the New York Yankees, giving Carlucci a chance to work on Yankee games (and while being a Yankee fan) during some of the most exciting years in the history of the franchise. He was doing everything for WPIX, including learning how to be a technical director as well as, yes, operate graphics equipment.

It was a big thrill for me, he recalls of his time working on Yankee broadcasts. I had a chance to do everything, and it was a great place to work.

In 1980, after five years at WPIX, he would have his chance to go to CBS as an opening for a Chyron operator became available. He learned of the opportunity while working at Yankee Stadium when he heard someone had turned down the job.

I asked why they turned it down and it was because there was travel involved and I jumped out of my chair and called my brother who was at CBS News, he recalls. It was 1980 and I asked him who do I talk to? Who do I call?' And that's how I got the job and began a 36-year career as a Chyron operator.

Carlucci's long career in graphics allowed him to be part of the amazing developments that took place due to technical innovations like the move to Windows which transformed graphics devices into computer graphics devices.

I was never a big computer guy and I'm thinking, oh boy, I'm lost I'm done, he says. But that's when it totally changed, and it was a whole different technology. But the job was still the same.

That job, and where Carlucci excelled, was not just operating the graphics devices and making them jump and sing but rather anticipating and understanding what graphics are most important given the context of what is happening on the field of play.

A lot of operators would have no clue what the yardage to go was on third down and that's what I did best, he adds. And I would teach the people next to me who just got out of college how to listen to six different people at the same time and and put up graphics that made sense. But it was such a different process back then, it was much more manual, and I had to be able to anticipate what was going to happen.

When he joined CBS Sports, Carlucci found himself working on the NFL A game which back then featured Hall of Famer sportscasters Pat Summer
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2024/11/12/2024-sports-broadcasting-hall-o...
See more stories from svg

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

02/05/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Search, Faster Editing, and an AI-Ready Foundation for Modern Media

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

01/05/2026

NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to Integrate Dolby's Full Suite of Premium Picture and Sound Innovations

January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...

30/04/2026

PWHL Reports Record Growth in Third Regular Season as Playoffs Begin April 30

The Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) concluded its third regular season on Saturday, reporting growth across attendance, viewership, digital engage...

30/04/2026

NBC Sports Launches National Sunday MLB Coverage Beginning May 3

NBC Sports will air national MLB coverage on Sundays beginning May 3, with MLB Sunday Leadoff on Peacock and NBCSN at 12:30 p.m. ET, followed by the debut of th...

30/04/2026

Clear-Com Appoints Brian Grahn and Ben Turnwell to New Roles

Clear-Com has appointed Brian Grahn as Market Outreach Manager of the Americas and Ben Turnwell as Business Development Manager for EMEA live. Grahn joined Cle...

30/04/2026

ARRI Introduces cforce MAX Lens Motor for Hi-5 Lens Control System

ARRI has introduced the cforce MAX, a new lens motor for the Hi-5 lens control system. The cforce MAX is twice as fast as the cforce plus motor it replaces whil...

30/04/2026

Knuerr, Voxtronic, and IHSE to Present Integrated Control Room Solution at Airspace World

Knuerr, Voxtronic, and IHSE will jointly present an integrated control room solu...

30/04/2026

The CW Network and ESPN to Stream CW Sports Live Events on ESPN App

The CW Network and ESPN have announced an agreement to make the ESPN App the exclusive streaming home for all CW Sports live events. CW Sports will continue to ...

30/04/2026

Sennheiser Spectera Deployed on Ed Sheerans The Loop Global Stadium Tour

Ed Sheeran's The Loop' tour launched in Auckland in January 2026 before moving on to Australia, with South America and the United States to follow late...

30/04/2026

Audinate Launches Dante Preset Creator for Offline Network Configuration

Audinate has announced Dante Preset Creator, a free online tool for configuring Dante network settings before hardware is available on site. Presets created in ...

30/04/2026

Yahoo Sports Appoints Jarrod Schwarz as General Manager

Yahoo Sports has announced the appointment of Jarrod Schwarz as General Manager of Yahoo Sports. Schwarz will oversee product, design, and technology; revenue a...

30/04/2026

Nielsen: U.S. Viewers Spent 79.8 Billion Minutes Watching Soccer in 2025

Nielsen has released a new report, Get Ready with Media Intelligence: 2026 FIFA World Cup Edition, examining U.S. soccer viewership trends, fan engagement, and ...

30/04/2026

USA Lacrosse Names SportsEngine Preferred Youth Sports Management Platform Partner

USA Lacrosse and SportsEngine have announced an expanded partnership, naming Spo...

30/04/2026

Telos Alliance To Appear at MPTS 2026 Across Multiple Partner Booths

Telos Alliance will participate in the 2026 Media Production and Technology Show (MPTS), taking place May 13-14 at Olympia London. Rather than exhibiting from a...

30/04/2026

DAZN Bolsters U.S. Ambitions With ViewLift Acquisition, Targets Evolving Regional Sports Landscape

The global streamer buys the U.S. DTC platform solutions provider for a reported...

30/04/2026

Tigo Sports Upgrades Video Infrastructure with Ateme Technology

Tigo Sports, Paraguay's leading sports broadcaster, has upgraded its video infrastructure with Ateme solutions for live encoding, multiplexing, and signal c...

30/04/2026

World Rugby and IMG Announce Long-Term Media Rights Partnership

World Rugby and IMG have announced a long-term media rights partnership focused on growing rugby in the United States ahead of the Men's and Women's Rug...

30/04/2026

NWSL & Overtime Re-Up Gen-Z Focused Content Partnership

For the second year in a row, Overtime and the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) are teaming up through a renewed content partnership to bring fans even...

30/04/2026

ESPN Executive Vice President David Roberts Set To Retire

The 22-year ESPN vet's responsibilities will reportedly be taken over by SVP Mike Foss...

30/04/2026

SVG GameDay, Ep. 13: Anaheim Ducks' Scott Fausneaucht - Skating with the Ducks of Orange County

In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...

30/04/2026

Prime Video Announces Multiyear Agreement with Duke Mens Basketball

Amazon and Duke University have announced a multiyear agreement for Prime Video to present exclusive coverage of three Duke Blue Devils men's basketball neu...

30/04/2026

Ratings Roundup: NBA Playoffs Return to NBC Sports up 38%; UFL Viewership up Midway Through Regular Season

Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...

30/04/2026

Introducing Verified by Spotify, a Signal of Authenticity and Trust for the Artists Behind the Music

Music is evolving, and so are the ways you discover and connect with artists. In...

30/04/2026

First-Ever Stockholm Music Week Celebrates the Industry's Present and Future

Between April 22-29, the first inaugural Stockholm Music Week brought together thought leaders and partners across industries including music, tech, government,...

30/04/2026

API launch the Vision+ console

Iconic large-format console upgraded API's iconic Vision console has just been treated to an overhaul that aims to meet the demands of today's profe...

30/04/2026

Lewitt introduce the LCT 440 Pure stereo pair

Comes complete with miking accessories The LCT 440 Pure has proven to be a popular member of Lewitt's mic line-up, offering impressive technical perform...

30/04/2026

SynthFest UK 2026 Announced

24 October 2026 at The Octagon, Sheffield Now in its eighth year, SynthFest UK is the largest event of its kind in the UK, bringing together the top keyboar...

30/04/2026

SBS & NITV LEAD NATIONAL RECONCILIATION WEEK 2026 WITH LANDMARK GULPILIL DOCUMENTARY

SBS & NITV LEAD NATIONAL RECONCILIATION WEEK 2026 WITH LANDMARK GULPILIL DOCUMEN...

30/04/2026

Rohde & Schwarz equips new Terminal 3 at Frankfurt Airport with security scanners

Rohde & Schwarz equips new Terminal 3 at Frankfurt Airport with security scanner...

30/04/2026

Jennifer Ehle and Alex Hassell join the cast of ITV's propulsive lunar thriller First Woman

Jennifer Ehle (Contagion, Zero Dark Thirty) and Alex Hassell (Rivals, Wasteman, ...

30/04/2026

L3Harris Technologies Reports Strong First Quarter 2026 Results

MELBOURNE, Fla., April 30, 2026 - L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) reports first quarter 2026 results. Highlights Orders of $7.8 billion; book-to-bill of 1....

30/04/2026

Golf Craft Interview: A1s Florian Brown and James Deason

Behind the Broadcast: The Sound of Elite Golf Golf is gaining popularity; the 2025 Ryder Cup achieved record-breaking viewing figures in the UK specifically, wi...

30/04/2026

CPI Media Leverages QuickLink StudioCall for Integrating...

STA VENERA, MALTA, APRIL 29, 2026 CPI Media, a voluntary organization within the Missionary Society of St Paul (MSSP) and a leading media house dedicated to p...

30/04/2026

Hitomi Broadcast Presents UK Debut of MatchBox Panorama a...

New software platform delivers comprehensive timing measurement across production workflows...

30/04/2026

Cutting edge British innovation leads at BroadcastAsia 20...

Once again, the UK Pavilion in Hall 5 of BroadcastAsia 2026 will feature the latest and best in technology specifically developed and tailored for modern media ...

30/04/2026

Avid powers faster workflows and next-generation immersive audio with latest Pro Tools release

Avid powers faster workflows and next-generation immersive audio with latest Pro...

30/04/2026

Ocean Blue Software Launches ATSC 3.0 Inspector for Smart TVs

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

30/04/2026

Digital Azul positions Lisbon as a remote production hub...

Scalable broadcast-grade production over public internet, replacing traditional OB workflows...

30/04/2026

V Nova Brings DTV Deployment LCEVC Ecosystem Progress and...

Live demonstrations highlight LCEVC ecosystem momentum, AI-powered video pipelines, and expansion across broadcast, streaming, and social media. DTV (TV 3.0) ...

30/04/2026

Student Spotlight: Matthew Leon

Student Spotlight: Matthew Leon The dual major shares his path from community college to Berklee, and how his heritage influences his work. April 29, 2026 B...

30/04/2026

Berklee Artists to Perform at Major Global Music Festivals

Berklee Artists to Perform at Major Global Music Festivals As part of the Berklee Popular Music Institute, students will perform at Lollapalooza, Governors Ba...

30/04/2026

Study: Rokus Low-Cost, Ad-Free Howdy Streamer Hits 1 Million Subs

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

30/04/2026

MLS Innovation Lab Selects AI Partners

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

30/04/2026

NRB Files FCC Complaint Over Jimmy Kimmel Live!' Monologue

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...