Career as a Sports Commentator: Howzzat!

The Lowdown

Detailed knowledge of the sport and excellent language skills with a dash of fortune can be your ticket to make it big, says Charu Sharma, cricket commentator.

A sports commentator is an expert reporting a live match on radio or television in real time. Commentary is about enhancing the viewer's pleasure by describing the scene of action pleasantly

Clock Work

8 am: Wake up

8.30 am: Read the newspapers

11 am: Watch sports news on television

2 pm: Lunch

2.30 pm: Leave for stadium to do commentary - this depends on match timings and the country it's played in

6 pm: Take a break

6.30 pm: Resume the commentary

9.30 pm: Give interviews/ participate in talk shows

10.30 pm: Call it a day

The Payoff

An average commentator earns anywhere between R5000 to R10,000 a day. But well-known faces command a better sum of R25,000 onwards a day. Your annual income depends on the number of days in a year you get work

Skills/Traits

• You must love the sport and follow it religiously
• You should have a thorough knowledge of the game and should love it
• Excellent command over the language
• Good voice, which should be exploited for perfect dialogue delivery
• You should have some visual acceptance, especially in case of commentary on television

Getting There

There are very few openings for sports commentators in India. Former national players have relatively brighter chances to make it to the commentary box. You can start from All India Radio or Doordarshan which are usually good platforms to start with and eventually (if you want) move on to private channels. You need a rich, long experience in the sports arena to get hired by a sports channel

Institutes

It is not a career, accessible through a classroom. There are no institutes which train people to become sports commentators. But you can do English, personality development and communication skills courses to gain an edge.

• R K Films & Media Academy - New Delhi, www.rkfma.com
• Dublin Business School, Ireland, www.dbs.ie

Pros And Cons

• You are seen/ heard by millions
• The money is good but you might not get assignments regularly. You might not get any work for six months at a stretch
• Sports commentary essentially happens at international matches and mostly former players rule the roost

 

Source: HT Horizons

Date: 3rd March, 2011

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