Your Favorite Sunday NFL Telecast -- Brought To You by Mike Arnold

© John Filo/CBS, 2004

By Rilwan Ameen SYRACUSE -- Mike Arnold is a six-time Emmy Award winner who has been with CBS since 1981. He has been the lead game director for the NFL on CBS’s game day coverage since 2004, while also directing NCAA Men’s Basketball games in that time.

As the lead game director, some of the things that Arnold deals with are the overall presentation of the telecast, live shots and player replay angles.

 Getting ready for a trip to South Africa, to visit his son Marc in Cape Town, I spoke with Arnold over the phone as he shared some insight on his career in sports media.

He was born and raised in New York City, going on to major in Radio and Television at Arizona State University. After college, circumstances led to Arnold breaking into the industry 32 years ago, starting out as a twenty-five dollar a day assistant for ABC sports.

His main tasks at the time as he recalls, were primarily running errands for the production crew.

When describing his role with the NFL on CBS presents, Arnold says he has one goal each week in reaching millions of football fans every Sunday.

“The producer is the head coach of our broadcasts, he or she kind of shapes the way the broadcast is going to look,”Arnold said. “My job is the like quarterback; I execute what the producer’s vision is for the game.”

There’s more to a broadcast, than what just happens out on the gridiron. As Arnold explains, getting the action from the playing field to your television screen happens in one place: Behind the scenes.

Interview with Mike Arnold:

RA: As the lead game director for the NFL on CBS, what is a typical day for you like at work? 

MA: What we do is leading up to the game, we watch types of the two teams that we’re about to see. So if we’re going to do Denver at New England, we watch the last Denver game on TV… from their week prior game and we watch the last New England game from their week prior game… to see if there’s anything from those games that we would want to show in our game… Like a player who is hurt, is he going to wear a special wrap around his ankle or leg or something like that? We look for little things like that at the previous games. And then we go out on Friday and visit the home team. Let’s say that’s New England… and we’ll watch practice and interview coaches and players after practice. And then Saturday we’ll get the Broncos when they arrive in New England… and we’ll talk to coaches and players after they arrive… and then Sunday we’ll produce and direct the game.

RA: A lot of effort and work goes into a broadcast, what would you say Mr. Arnold defines a great broadcast to you?

MA: I think a great broadcast is something that is something that’s fairly balanced for both sides and… we have all the right replays and the right graphics… and the announcers are spot on in their commentary. 

RA: People do not normally hear or learn about the people behind the scenes during games, what would you say best describes your role during a production of a game?

MA: I like to think that I’m the quarterback of the telecast. The producer is the head coach, and he kinds of has an idea of how he thinks the telecast should look and what subject matters we should cover… and I’m the quarterback that executes what the producer wants to do as the director. That’s what I feel my role is and I think I’m kind of the bandleader of what I call ‘organized chaos’ in the TV truck.

RA: During this ‘organized chaos’ in the TV truck, throughout you career is there one memorable moment that you can point to… that you can recall looking back on and thought this is why I got into the business?

MA: For me my most memorable game in my TV career was the Duke/Kentucky basketball game in the NCAA tournament; when Christian Laettner hit a basket with no time remaining to win the game for Duke against Kentucky. A lot of people thought that was the greatest basketball game ever played… that would be the highlight of my career

RA: Upon Laettner hitting that shot, do you remember your exact reaction?

MA: I don’t remember what my reaction was because I was just trying to get the various shots that we had up on the air. The elation of the Duke bench, Laettner’s reaction, the Kentucky players’ reaction and Rick Pitino, the Kentucky coach’s reaction. So I don’t remember exactly what my thoughts were at that time. I just remember it was an amazing scene.

RA: In the production phase of a sporting event, and all the preparation that goes into it. How much do you think storylines of a particular game play into the type of shots that your broadcast team tries to get?

MA: Storylines can play a great deal into the shots I get. If you’re doing a New England game this year, there’s a lot of question about Rob Gronkowski’s health going into the season. A lot of my shots may be of Gronkowski on the bench… or trainers looking at him… replays during the game… is Gronkowski favoring his arm or his back… He’s has back issues and multiple surgeries on his arm, so I think storylines can play a big part in the shots that I’m trying to get.

RA: Working in a wide range of sporting events throughout your career, in what way do you think your background in sports production helped to take on various types of events?

MA: It’s good obviously if you’re a director in sports television to have a love of sports and to be familiar with a lot of sports. I’d like to say that I know a lot about a few sports, and a little about a lot of sports. That just helps me in trying to get the best telecast done for the viewer.

RA: Lastly, what advice give a student such as myself, looking to break into the industry?

MA: I would advise you to take any job you can get right from college. No job is too small. I started out as a $25 a day runner for ABC sports as a 'Go-fer'... Go for this, go for that... go buy cokes for the production people... go pick up the producer at the hotel. You just have to break in any way that you can. Keep at it, work hard and make sure that people like you and you do your job and hopefully good things will happen for you.

For Audio of This Interview -- Click Below: