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| Joe Gorchow is a sports anchor/reporter for WIS in Columbia, South Carolina. Photo courtesy of Twitter. |
SYRACUSE, N.Y.— Syracuse alum Joe Gorchow says he believes small markets are more than meets the eye. The sports anchor/reporter has been working at WIS in Columbia, S.C. for the past five years.
Columbia's number 78 market may be overshadowed by Top 25 market Charlotte but that didn't stop Gorchow, he says.
"This market year is unique, although it is not a major market it plays like it in coverage."
Gorchow had the opportunity to cover the Carolina-Denver Super Bowl for the South Carolina area away from Charlotte. He also reports on the nationally ranked Clemson Tigers collegiate football team.
It may not be a pro sports market in a major city but Gorchow gets to cover nationally known college teams and PGA tournaments.
"If you're pursuing a career in sports and you want to cover major events and games why would you leave this market unless you're going to a pro sports market," Gorchow says.
You can listen to the full interview here.
Brianna: Just state your name and how to spell it
Joseph: Yeah Joseph Gorchow G-O-R-C-H-O-W
Brianna: Where do you work currently?
Joseph: Columbia, South Carolina WISTV NBC Affiliate.
Brianna: And you are the sports anchor or reporter?
Joseph: Yes, sports anchor/reporter, both.
Brianna: And for South Carolina what do you usually cover, especially in the summer?
Joseph: In the summer, it’s a combination of anything and everything, and usually in the summer months for me anyways at my station it’s a lot of time off. After working pretty much 11 months straight out of the year it feels like with no break. But with the summer it’s a combination of our minor league baseball team, collegiate baseball team, different media days that we have for football, high school football training camps, golf tournaments/PGA golf tournaments, you know what ever is kind of happening. In the fall, winter and spring it’s more organized and geared towards high school football and college athletics. South Carolina and Clemson are primary schools that we cover.
Brianna: So Clemson plays Syracuse soon and I saw the ACC preseason poll they said that Clemson is going to place first.
Joseph: No Syracuse isn’t playing Clemson. I mean, it’s going to roll over and die. But that’s not really playing, they’re going to get slaughtered by 50 [points] so I mean they’ll show up. They’ll be there in uniform. I don’t know if they’re actually going to play.
Brianna: Oh no it’ll be interesting. I’ll be down there too, I got to cover that game it will be, uh, fun to see.
Joseph: Death Valley is a great experience. It is one of the more unique venues in the country. It’s a lot different watching a football game there than at Syracuse. Syracuse basketball is exciting for the environment but SEC and ACC football are totally different than what you’re used to up in Syracuse, I can tell you that.
Brianna: So did you—I’m not sure where Columbia is—is that near Coastal Carolina?
Joseph: I felt the same way five years ago when I took the job.
Brianna: Did you cover anything with the World Series for Collegiate baseball because I know Coastal Carolina was in it.
Joseph: Yeah we didn’t cover it, our sister station covered it. We cover the Gamecocks primarily but we followed it. We had local kids on the team so we didn’t cover them. But we sent out guy from the NBC station over there to, um, cover the College World Series because we’re affiliated with —so we sent one representative over there to cover at the network. I covered the Super Bowl this year that’s probably the highlight of my career so far.
Brianna: Oh you really did get to go to the Super Bowl.
Joseph: Yes, I did they sent one person outside of Charlotte we have a station there but they were all going to be about Charlotte but they weren’t going to help out the other stations that are affiliated with the Carolinas so they sent one representative up there. I was the one representative to cover for seven stations.
Brianna: How was that?
Joseph: Busy. Really busy for the few days that I was there. That’s for sure.
Brianna: Especially media day, how was that? Because I know that’s supposed to be absolutely crazy.
Joseph: I went a little bit after media day they didn’t fly me out at the beginning to save money. I got there Thursday and reported Thursday through the end of—through Monday morning. Yeah, Super Bowl night I went from I guess from the end of the game to the morning shows. So you’re talking about 11 to 11:30 p.m. then I went from 4:30 a.m. until 7:30 a.m. for the morning shows.
Brianna: That’s grueling but that must be the highlight of your career so far.
Joseph: Well that and I also covered the Masters and NCAA championships. So I’ve had a tremendous—this market year is unique although it is not a major market it plays like it in coverage. Very few markets you’re going to cover major sporting events year round. That’s just because we have the two major programs in the SEC and the ACC right in our market and we’re right near Augusta so that’s the Masters. NASCAR comes right to our state so I mean it’s pretty much a major player for the most part for what it does. I would equate it to a top 50 sports market which is why I have not quite left yet. I’m waiting for probably a much better job in a bigger city. I’ve been offered other jobs in the 30s in terms to market size but they don’t play like this one. So it’s really tough to leave. That’s why it’s always when you’re young, aspiring sports journalists you have to look at exactly what market you are in and what you are covering before you just make a move.
Brianna: What made you say—within the first two years you didn’t have a Super Bowl covered under your belt in the first two years—what made you actually stay and not try to pursue bigger markets?
Joseph: Well it’s not like I’m not actively pursuing; you’re always looking for a different opportunity. It’s really tough to want to leave unless you get a really good job offer somewhere else. I’m not going to say the money is the greatest thing here but again if you’re pursuing a career in sports and you want to cover major events and games why would you leave this market unless you’re going to a pro sports market. It would have to be something like Atlanta or Houston even in Charlotte, it would have to be a pro sports market. Otherwise you’re not benefitting from your career at this point. Going to a—just because you’re in a higher market doesn’t mean you’re covering what I’m covering here. Like West Palm offered me a job and there’s nothing to cover in West Palm. You don’t cover the Dolphins, they don’t cover the Heat, they cover a bunch of high school stuff. And that’s a huge drop off for me for what I’m covering now so there’s no reason to leave. Even though West Palm is a bigger market and a nicer place to live. Just got to wait for the right opportunity. Everyone’s always in a rush. Matt Barrie of ESPN actually worked in Columbia for five years before he went to Dallas and then he went from Dallas to ESPN. So this is a very good market to work in.
Brianna: Thank you, that’s all I got for you. Thank you for your time. If I need anything more I can just—I’ll email you about that but otherwise thank you very much.
Joseph: No problem, glad I could help. Have a good one.
Brianna: You too, bye.
Joseph: Bye.
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