A team of students and faculty banded together to produce their first live broadcast of the Tournament of Roses Parade on Jan. 1, marking a milestone in Lancer Radio history,With a remote site set up on the outskirts of campus, across the street from Carl’s Jr., the team assembled its equipment and used a tie line system that helped connect to the studio from off campus.
“We got to PCC at 3:30 in the morning and I just thought this day was going to be special,” said student Zack Elkhaldy, who was one of the Hall of Fame field reporters.
The team arrived on campus in the early morning, setting up equipment and preparing for the live broadcast. The broadcast started at 7 a.m., two hours before the parade began, as parade-goers tuned in to Lancer Radio with mini radios provided by the production team.
Lancer Radio student volunteers worked together in dividing production tasks that ranged from field reporting on the parade route to operating the sound system back in the studio on campus.
Lancer Radio teaching assistant, Valentino Rivera, described the project as a last minute production.
“The idea was proposed in Sept. but not taken seriously until Oct.,” said Rivera. “By Nov. we started recruiting [students] and started preparing for it.”
Rivera, also the executive producer of the project, began preparation for the live broadcast as the team met during the winter break to rehearse and make recordings for the parade.
“To get ready for the broadcast, we had to record the voice-over for the floats and bands and practice with the remote unit and microphones and gain chemistry with each other,” said student Jesse Lopez, who operated the sound board back in the studio.
According to the Rivera, numbers as high as 100 tuned in to the live broadcast on New Year’s Day.
“We are hoping to make this a tradition,” said Rivera.
- EDITORIAL: Apologize about the real problem - April 23, 2014
- STATEMENT: District apologizes to Oscar winning alum - April 21, 2014
- EDITORIAL: The Forgotten Students - March 26, 2014
