Interviewing the Interviewer: Tony Ambrogio Shares His Experience In Sport Media

1Tell us about your role as a Freelance Story Editor? What does a typical day look like for you?

As a story editor, my role is to do whatever I am asked to do for the Sportscentre shows. So I could pick the highlights to use for a highlight pack in a hockey game, write the highlight pack and make sure the on air hosts reading the highlight pack has a script.

As a story editor, our job is to put the video pieces you see on Sportscentre on the air. So it might include stings, bumpers or reporter stories. A sting is a quick montage of video that recaps something rather quickly.

One of the cool things about being a story editor is there is NO typical day.

Some days you may be asked to do a sting or even a pair of stings. Maybe you are asked to work with a reporter to put together a report he or she has written.

Your job is to find the appropriate video and the sound that goes with that report.

You may be asked to do a bumper for a Sportscentre show. That is a quick 15-second piece that promotes what story is coming up after the commercial break.

As you can see what you do and what sport you might be working on can constantly change day to day.

2Tell us about yourself and your journey in sport!

I am from London, Ontario and have been a Toronto Maple Leafs and Pittsburgh Steelers fan for as long as I can remember.

Growing up, Darryl Sittler and Jack Lambert were two of my favourite athletes. I love ALL sports but Hockey and football are my favourites.

I currently live outside of Toronto and I work at TSN in the newsroom as a story editor (I have also hosted radio shows on TSN 1050, written stories for TSN.CA and been a field producer for TSN).

I also do the Public Address for the Mississauga Steelheads of the Ontario Hockey League and I teach at the College of Sports Media.

3What was your original inspiration to work in sport?

When I was young, I realized I never would be much of an athlete. But as much as I enjoyed watching and playing sports, I enjoyed talking about sports just as much!

During elementary school, I realized I wanted to be a sports broadcaster. Whether it was a play by play announcer or a TV anchor or a reporter, this was my dream from an early age.

When I was in grade 8, we were asked to do a speech. I did mine on wanting to be a sports broadcaster.

My classmates and my teacher were impressed (I think. LOL) and they encouraged me to follow the dreams outlined in that speech and turn it into a reality!

Then during high school football games, I would watch on the sideline and do play by play with my friends. And when I got home, with the TV on, I would do the play-by-play of whatever sport was on.

This was such a passion that I was determined to make sports broadcasting part of my life!

I enrolled in the Fanshawe College broadcast journalism course and after I graduated from there, I did newscasts and was a reporter for a radio station in Owen Sound, Ontario.

During that time I was able to do some sports updates, and some play by play while eventually hosting a sports talk show on the radio! I started out doing news, and was able to do some sports on the side.

4Using your experience from working at The Score and Sportsnet, do you feel it helped with the transition into TSN?

I find going from The Score to Sportsnet and now TSN has been a seamless transition.

Each of the stations had different ways of putting stories together and how they put highlights together, but it is all about story telling!

That is the biggest thing I learned at the Score and at Sportsnet and certainly at TSN: You need to tell great stories!

You also realize when you work in sports tv, that it really is a team!

Everyone needs to work together to make the end product look so good. I have been so fortunate to have worked with so many great, talented and wonderful “teammates” that one of the big things I learned early in my days in broadcasting is the importance of working together and being a great teammate.