Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Michael Weisman, Producer Extraordinaire By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Tuesday, November 21, 2017 - 8:00 am
Print This Story
Story Highlights
For most youngsters, the glamour of TV is theoretical. But, for Mike Weisman, whose father, Edward, was a publicist at ABC and then at NBC Sports, it was reality. He wasn't growing up on TV sets, but he did have the chance to be part of publicity shots for TV stars and even a publicity stunt at Madison Square Garden for Batman (along with his little brother, who played Robin).
I knew from my early ages that being in television was glamorous and exciting, he recalls. That was something that appealed to me.
It may have appealed to him, but it didn't stop him from leaving a home within shouting distance of that glamour to head to the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and find out what he wanted to do with his life. During his sophomore year, though, his life course changed abruptly: his father died of a massive heart attack at the age of 44, and Weisman returned home immediately and stayed there to be with his mother.
Michael Weisman
I told her I decided that I'm not going back to college, he recalls. I'll transfer to Queens College so I can be here with you and help you.' My mother started crying. I said, What are you upset for, Mom?' And she said, Because your brother came to me yesterday and he said the same thing.' And then we decided, between the three of us, that my brother should have the experience of going away; since I'd been a way a couple years, I'd come home.
Back home, Weisman had a couple of part-time jobs and finished his education at Queens College. Wondering what to do next he called up some of the people at NBC who knew his father. Their advice? Try the guest-relations program.
I didn't realize it at the time, but somebody said guest relations at NBC is harder to get into than Harvard, he says. So, instead of being in Carolina, I was in New York and able to get the job at 30 Rock.
It was there that his education in TV began: if he wasn't assigned to do anything as a page, he could sit in the audience at the Tonight Show With Johnny Carson, watch the musical acts rehearse, and more.
As a page, you wore a uniform, and you were invisible to most of the executives at NBC, he recalls. But the producer, Fred de Cordova, would see you, look at your name tag, and say, Hello, Mr. Weisman, and how are you today?' He treated us with respect and dignity, and, of course, I felt, like many others at the time, if I ever get into a position of import, I'm gonna be like this guy.
With his 13 months as a page ending, he planned to attend St. John's University and take courses to become a teacher. TV was simply not in the plan.
But, before leaving NBC, he stopped by to see Chet Simmons, who had hired his father to be publicist. His mother had told him that stopping by to say hello was the right thing to do.
I said he doesn't know me from Adam, Weisman recalls. I'll go up to his office and just say, Hey, I've been a page here, I just want to say goodbye, you knew my dad, whatever. I go up to the fifth floor, and Chet Simmons, who I recognized from pictures, is standing by the elevator on a Friday at 5:00 with his luggage. And I said, Mr. Simmons, I'm Mike Weisman, Eddie Weisman's son.' He said, I heard you were working here. How's it going?' I said, Well, frankly, I've been here 13 months; there's nothing going on. I'm gonna start on Monday at St. John's to get a teaching license, take a few credits.
The elevator came, but Simmons didn't get on. He asked Weisman what he wanted to do.
I said, Sports has always appealed to me,' and he said, Would you be interested in working in sports? We're getting ready to expand. Call [Executive Producer] Scotty [Connal] on Monday and tell him I told you to call.' Fast forward, I got the job and became the first assistant producer at NBC Sports.
In at the Beginning
Now, Weisman might have been drawn to the glamour of TV, but he is also the first to admit that he was not a sophisticated kid and was intimidated by his new role. He had flown on a plane only twice: going to North Carolina as a freshman and then flying home in 1969.
And now, as the first assistant to the producer, I am assigned to every telecast on every game: Saturday baseball, Sunday football, and Monday Night Baseball, he says. I'm working with all these producers and I watched, I learned. That was the start.
It's important to note that he was not the assistant to the producer. He was assistant to the producers - plural, three of them.
I learned different things from different people, he notes of that time. Roy Hammerman had such an engaging personality, and he was so warm, he made his meetings fun. Don Ellis was extremely creative and wanted to try things. They didn't all work, but Don said, Let's do it this way. I liked that about him. And Dick Auerbach was buttoned up. He knew all the equipment, he knew all the technology. And I worked with the different regional producers and the freelance producers. You learn from all of them.
As an assistant to the producer in 1975, Weisman had a front-row seat for arguably one of the most important moments in televised sports: Game 6 of the World Series between the Cincinnati Reds and the Boston Red Sox. It was one of the first night games ever in a World Series, and baseball had been struggling to the point where it was no longer a primetime event.
It was a do-or-die game for the Red Sox, and it featured plenty of drama within its official nine innings of play. But it was in the 12th inning, with the game tied at 6 when a singular moment changed sports production
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
28/11/2025
Nadia Fall attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Brides at the Egyptian Theatre on January 24, 2025, in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Donyale West/...
28/11/2025
It's easy to ignore those little red update available badges. But when it ...
28/11/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for the December Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, December 18, 2025 ...
28/11/2025
The Professional Fighters League is looking to super-serve fans of mixed martial...
28/11/2025
Fubo has released in beta on select Roku devices a new feature that lets users display up to four simultaneous streams at once....
28/11/2025
The WNBA playoffs and Week 4 of the NFL regular season highlight the list of live sports events airing on television this weekend....
28/11/2025
The 32nd class of honorees to the B+C Hall of Fame took to the stage at New York's Ziegfeld Ballroom on September 26 for a gala induction event. Click below...
28/11/2025
We hold in our hands the very last Next Text for Next TV, the weekly back-and-fo...
28/11/2025
DirecTV said it made a deal with EchoStar to buy EchoStar's video businesses, including satellite-TV provider Dish TV and virtual MVPD Sling TV, for $1 plus...
28/11/2025
The Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame, the premier industry event paying tribute to the influencers, innovators and shining lights of broadcast, cable and streami...
28/11/2025
Friday 28 November 2025
Sky Sports x Slawn drop limited-edition football jersey...
28/11/2025
Rohde & Schwarz shows resilience in a challenging environment, revenue exceeds t...
28/11/2025
Unwrapped: The Toy Show Appeal - airing this Sunday on RT One and RT Player- s...
27/11/2025
LONDON Vizrt has added several AI-driven advanced features offering improved speed, intelligence and accuracy in the newest version of its media asset managemen...
27/11/2025
Prime Video has launched AI-powered video season recaps in a beta version for select English-language Prime Original series in the U.S., a move Amazon is callin...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Netflix's Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders Marks a Grand...
27/11/2025
27 Nov 2025
GSMA brings M360 Eurasia 2026 to Samarkand in partnership with VEON...
27/11/2025
Tahar Rahim and Izuka Hoyle star in the gripping six-part Sky Original from Acad...
27/11/2025
Thursday 27 November 2025
Sky Arts Reveals the Nation's Greatest Basslines - and Queen Reign Supreme
The UK's most iconic basslines have been revealed...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things 5': Prepare for One Last Adventure With O...
27/11/2025
The media industry has a paradox at its core. It's an industry built on light, color and imagination, yet behind the scenes, it's powered by one of the ...
27/11/2025
Rating reflects rating progress across areas including policies, diversity & inclusion, health & safety and Net Zero leadership
Winchester, UK, 27 November 202...
27/11/2025
What are the industry standards for Retail Media? Kathryn explains that certification is based on the IAB Europe Retail Media Measurement Standards and the IAB ...
27/11/2025
World champion boxer and Irish sporting icon Katie Taylor will be in studio this...
27/11/2025
Roblox, one of the world's most popular online gaming platforms for primary ...
27/11/2025
Black Friday is leveling up. Get ready to score one of the biggest deals of the season - 50% off the first three months of a new GeForce NOW Ultimate membership...
26/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Prime Video EP Mike Muriano Previews Massive Black Friday Slate Fe...
26/11/2025
A cinematic snow sculpture at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival. Photo by Randall Michelson...
26/11/2025
Book podcasts are booming. On Spotify, you'll find everything from celebrity book clubs to deep dives with bestselling authors. And in markets where audiobo...
26/11/2025
Mumbai, November 24, 2025: In a first-of-its-kind initiative, JioStar, in collab...
26/11/2025
LONDON Factual content producer ITN Productions has launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins....
26/11/2025
MIAMI TelevisaUnivision said it struck a new multiyear distribution agreement with YouTube TV that includes distribution of TelevisaUnivision's U.S. network...
26/11/2025
OpenDrives, Inc., a leader in software-defined data storage and data services, today announced the launch of the Atlas Corporate Creative Solution. This new Atl...
26/11/2025
Disguise, the industry-leading company powering the world's biggest live performances, is partnering with pioneering LED wall manufacturer DVS to give atten...
26/11/2025
HighField AI, the pioneer in agentic and multimodal automation for broadcast and media production, today announced the expansion of its global channel partner n...
26/11/2025
As high-stakes Premier League fixtures approach and additional premium content launches, with MONO positioning themselves to dominate Thailand's sports stre...
26/11/2025
Hosting a wide variety of events from high-intensity NHL games to complex live music concerts and major entertainment productions, Montreal's 21,000 capacit...
26/11/2025
Vizrt, the leader in live production technology revolutionizing viewer engagement and experience, releases AI-driven advances focusing on speed, intelligence, a...
26/11/2025
ITN Productions, an award-winning factual content producer, today launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins. Responsible for delivering a leading...
26/11/2025
Ikegami reports ongoing advances throughout 2025 in developing and delivering coordinated television production solutions that maximize quality, versatility and...
26/11/2025
Following the Nov. 21 blackout of NBCUniversal channels on Fubo, the two sides have traded barbs about their inability to reach a new carriage deal....
26/11/2025
LONDON As TV sports rights become increasingly important for both broadcasters and streamers, Ampere Analysis predicts global investment in the genre will surpa...
26/11/2025
LOS ANGELES Vubiquity said it has achieved the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Media & Entertainment Competency as part of the AWS Partner Network (APN). This designa...
26/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement Bureau said it has entered into a consent decree with Comcast calling for the cable company t...
26/11/2025
Berklee Named to the Hollywood Reporters Top Music Schools List The publication highlights the college's screen scoring program, industry partnerships, and ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
Animated Series Love Through a Prism' Casts New Light on ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
NALIP Unveils Fifth Cohort of Director Incubator
Social Impact
26 November 2025
United States
Link copied to clipboard
The National Assoc...
26/11/2025
YouView Achieves Greenly Gold Certification for SustainabilityNov 26, 2025
YouView is proud to announce a Gold Certification award from Greenly for our perform...
Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Michael Weisman, Producer Extraordinaire By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director 
