Best Station to Intern at

[JimmySand9 0]

Well, it's getting to be that time in my college career where I need to think about internships. My question is, where is the best place to intern, is it a local station, a network, somewhere else, and if so, is there a particular station, network, or company that is best to intern at. You guys are experts, or close enough to experts for my needs, do you have any leads?

[mbhcity 3]

Well, it's getting to be that time in my college career where I need to think about internships. My question is, where is the best place to intern, is it a local station, a network, somewhere else, and if so, is there a particular station, network, or company that is best to intern at. You guys are experts, or close enough to experts for my needs, do you have any leads?

 

If you are looking for a major market shop then come on down to Southern California and intern at KABC-TV ABC7, I've known quite a few classmates at my alma mater that interned there and they've had very good things to say about them, some of them even had been hired as assistants and assignment and web editors. I had one classmate who got a job at KFSN-TV the ABC O&O in Fresno through them and another land a production job at ESPN in Bristol CT.

 

You're best bet however is to ask as many questions as possible, and ask what you can get out of your experience, will you be able to write stories, follow reporters and producers on reports, and anything, the only problem with major markets are that most if not all shops are union and they can be very litigious about what interns can and cannot do. For example, no airtime for interns and most internships are unpaid.

 

Some markets like SF and Seattle pay their interns.

[JimmySand9 0]

If you are looking for a major market shop then come on down to Southern California and intern at KABC-TV ABC7, I've known quite a few classmates at my alma mater that interned there and they've had very good things to say about them, some of them even had been hired as assistants and assignment and web editors. I had one classmate who got a job at KFSN-TV the ABC O&O in Fresno through them and another land a production job at ESPN in Bristol CT.

 

You're best bet however is to ask as many questions as possible, and ask what you can get out of your experience, will you be able to write stories, follow reporters and producers on reports, and anything, the only problem with major markets are that most if not all shops are union and they can be very litigious about what interns can and cannot do. For example, no airtime for interns and most internships are unpaid.

 

Some markets like SF and Seattle pay their interns.

The paid internships sound like what I'm looking for. I do need enough for rent. Either that, or it's WFMZ for me. It's the only station close enough to parent's house.

[90stvland 1]

If you're looking for something sports production related, ESPN pays college interns. A lot of my classmates at my school enjoyed the experience there. I think the pay is somewhere between $8.25 (CT min wage) to about $9 a hour.

http://espncareers.com/campus/default.aspx

[caliwxdude 254]

A vast majority of TV internships are unpaid, so you need to be prepared for that. ABC used to pay interns at O&O stations, but I believe that was one of the first things to go shortly after the economic downturn in 2008.

 

That being said, I'd look first to intern at a non-union station. Most unions won't allow stations to have interns touching equipment that's used to put the broadcast on the air--so even things like touching a microphone can be construed as breaking union rules and you'll be asked to leave. This is why I spent more than a year interning at an NBC O&O while I was an undergrad—all are non-union and I was able to get a great deal of hands-on experience.

[ElliotJones 52]

What stations/station groups are union and non-union? Is there a way to tell?

[lazynetjunkie 34]

This is why I spent more than a year interning at an NBC O&O while I was an undergrad—all are non-union and I was able to get a great deal of hands-on experience.

 

 

Are you sure about that? WMAQ NBC 5/WSNS Telemundo Chicago is union.

 

 

Finding a paid internship will be extremely hard.. I would say at least 90% of the places that used to have paid internetships back around 2004 or so either went to being unpaid internships or just eliminated internships altogether. None of the Chicago stations have paid internships anymore. Plus, Chicago has some of the toughest union rules in the country since Chicago is the union capitol. Around here, doing something as simple as just plugging something into a wall outlet, replacing a lightbulb in your own desk lamp, or just moving furniture around in your own office is considered "breaking union rules." Pretty much, if it has nothing to do with your specific job, don't touch it. Alot of the rules are ridiculous but union/government corruption leads here in Chicago.. lol.

 

 

Also, in alot of union shops, you are not allowed to work under or for a union employee as an intern. I know in at least a couple Chicago stations, as an intern, you'll spend most of your time working with an actual non-union station employee and you'd have designated times you can actually "interact" with union employee. However, you wouldn't be allowed to touch any equipment or "try anything out". You can sit, ask questions, and listen. lol.. That's about it.

 

 

Let's say you've been given a task which is for a union employee. The union employee has to give that task to the non-union employee then the non-union employee can hand the task down to you. Upon completion, you are NOT ALLOWED to physically give the complete assignment back to the union employee even though everyone involved knows that's who the task is for. Even if it's just through the computer (via email, etc.), you still can't do it. You have to give it back to the non-union employee and then that employee can hand it off to the union employee it's for.

 

 

Various stations under various ownerships have different qualifications and rules for interns so your best bet would just be checking every stations' website until you find something that fits you. Most stations' that advertise their internships on their websites will say whether they are a union shop or not.

 

 

A big mistake I see alot of interns doing is not learning about the business aspect of things as they should be. Most interns are so tied up in learning/doing their specific job that they forget the financial situations stations are in now. New college graduate hires make up half the people that get laid off from TV stations these days. Do your own investigative learning on things you can do to keep your job. Like I've told some people, make your self stand out without really standing out. I'm noticing alot of schools are not teaching the business aspect about TV/broadcasting in school like they should be..

 

 

 

I just realized I had alot of editing to do in this message.. I must have accidentally deleted some stuff and copied and pasted something.. lol

[budtkaboy2000 0]

WTXF is the only non-union Philadelphia station.

[caliwxdude 254]

Are you sure about that? WMAQ NBC 5/WSNS Telemundo Chicago is union.

 

Hmm, I thought someone told me when I was a KNTV intern that all NBC O&Os were non-union shops. Interesting, I guess they were wrong. But regardless, you can just ask the intern supervisor whether or not they're a union shop.

 

I also would recommend trying out some other areas of the station as well. For example, I started off interning in the newsroom at KTVU, where I spent most of the time on the assignment desk answering phones (mostly talking to the crazy people who call in, especially on Saturday nights) and ripping scripts. (Aside: I learned to write in broadcast style by standing at the script printer, night after night, reading each script that came out.) I then went to creative services/community relations at KNTV, where I did a lot of the "fun" side of TV such as events, promos, etc. I think that internship kindof led me down the communications path and away from on-air TV news work, which in the end was the right path to take. I finished things up by interning for a summer on the KNTV assignment desk, which honestly felt like a major step down for me after I spent the previous year organizing Conan O'Brien's visit to San Francisco and producing/cutting promos and PSAs.

 

After that long and illustrious TV intern career, I'm now working for a pretty big software company and have zero regrets about not chasing my TV dream. The one key takeaway I had from every single internship experience was the sheer number of people I came across who told me, "Don't go into this business. Take my word for it, do not work in TV news."

[JimmySand9 0]

Hmm, I thought someone told me when I was a KNTV intern that all NBC O&Os were non-union shops. Interesting, I guess they were wrong. But regardless, you can just ask the intern supervisor whether or not they're a union shop.

 

I also would recommend trying out some other areas of the station as well. For example, I started off interning in the newsroom at KTVU, where I spent most of the time on the assignment desk answering phones (mostly talking to the crazy people who call in, especially on Saturday nights) and ripping scripts. (Aside: I learned to write in broadcast style by standing at the script printer, night after night, reading each script that came out.) I then went to creative services/community relations at KNTV, where I did a lot of the "fun" side of TV such as events, promos, etc. I think that internship kindof led me down the communications path and away from on-air TV news work, which in the end was the right path to take. I finished things up by interning for a summer on the KNTV assignment desk, which honestly felt like a major step down for me after I spent the previous year organizing Conan O'Brien's visit to San Francisco and producing/cutting promos and PSAs.

 

After that long and illustrious TV intern career, I'm now working for a pretty big software company and have zero regrets about not chasing my TV dream. The one key takeaway I had from every single internship experience was the sheer number of people I came across who told me, "Don't go into this business. Take my word for it, do not work in TV news."

 

Well, to be honest my ultimate goal is to be a game show host. My primary job right now is to get into a career that will get me down that path, such as TV news, or weather, sports, radio DJ, play-by-play, I'm keeping my options open provided it gives a steady paycheck (just in case I'm not allowed by the man to live my dreams).