Former NESN EP Howard Zalkowitz Launches SportsZalk Media Consulting Company

Former NESN EP Howard Zalkowitz Launches SportsZalk Media Consulting Company Taps into storytelling skills developed during 30-year career working at NESN, Turner Sports, and CBS Olympics By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director

Tuesday, January 21, 2025 - 9:37 am

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A new production and content consulting company has been launched as former NESN Executive Producer Howard Zalkowitz has founded SportsZalk Media. And Zalkowitz, who left NESN last year looking for new challenges, says he hopes to get involved with projects that tap into his wide range of skills acquired over a career that has spanned more than three decades.

Howard Zalkowitz, formerly of NESN and prior to that Turner Sports, has started a new consultancy company called SportsZalkMedia.

My recency bias is the RSN world and the fundamentals of building seasonal plans, coaching people, and doing a lot of tent pole events during a local sports season, he says. But I was very fortunate in my Turner days to be a part of a lot of premium projects, and I've also been involved with producing or overseeing production of a lot of cool sports, whether it's Irish hurling at Fenway Park or boxing or show jumping equestrian.

Zalkowitz says he offers three types of services: consulting (either end-to-end for one company or on event projects); ideation workshops to take ideas from blue-sky and making a business case; to short-term executive producing for a launch, project or event.

With respect to his production philosophy, Zalkowitz points to what he learned from the late-great Sports Broadcasting Hall of Famer Mike Pearl who influenced so many in the industry while at CBS Olympics and Turner Sports. He began working with Pearl at CBS Olympics and Pearl brought him down to Turner Sports, giving Zalkowitz a chance to work on everything from the Olympics to Wimbledon and, of course, the NBA where Zalkowitz was part of the core team responsible for the move of NBA Digital and NBATV from Secaucus to Atlanta.

Mike was a real big proponent of there is a story in every sport and there is a production challenge in every sport, he explains. Every sport deserves your most attention because it is the most important thing to the athletes and the stakeholders and the fans of that sport. He had an incredible perspective and would treat a men's cross-country skiing relay) Olympic event as if it was the Super Bowl. And I have carried that mentality with me throughout my career.

Howard's career took off during his time as a production executive at Turner Sports (now TNT Sports), where he played an integral role in numerous groundbreaking cross-departmental initiatives, including the Turner and CBS NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Launch, NBA on TNT All-Star Weekend, and MLB postseason.

At NESN, Howard spearheaded the production, content, and program planning for Red Sox and Bruins coverage, including Red Sox Spring Training, Bruins training camps, regular season games, and NHL Playoffs/MLB Postseason. He was also a member of the Sports Video Group Regional Sports Network (RSN) Advisory Senior Committee and contributed to the development of customizable broadcasts during the pandemic as a member of the NHL and MLB Broadcasting Committees. As part of the NESN senior leadership team, Howard played a key role in the launch of SportsNet Pittsburgh, the RSN of the Penguins and Pirates that is run by NESN.

My background in the international, national and regional space and my background in leading productions for games, live studio shows, edited specials, and platform-agnostic short-form content plays means I can add a lot of value to the ecosystem, he adds. My goal is to help companies and provide an outside eye and I also want to help young people who are trying to do things that are interesting and innovative in the sports space.

For more on Zalkowitz and his services, please visit SportsZalkmedia.com

LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2025/01/21/former-nesn-ep-howard-zalkowitz...
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