A peek behind the TV cameras

Behind-the-Scenes

Broadcasting more than anchors, microphones

by Jason Arndt

STAFF WRITER

Chad Wuttke finds working in the broadcast television industry an experience unlike any other. Wuttke, an Elkhorn Area High School graduate, often encounters a demanding environment consisting of deadlines and split-second ramifications of helping with live productions.

“When you’ve got a deadline, going on the air at a specific time, you are going on there regardless whether you are ready or not,” he said. “It is nerve-wracking. It is exciting and it is like a drug in a way.”

But Wuttke isn’t holding the microphone, or appearing in front of television viewers, he spends most of his time packed inside a truck packaging and editing highlights from Wisconsin’s most prominent sporting events.

These include telecasts of Milwaukee Brewers, Bucks, other professional sports and Wisconsin Badger athletic contests.

“It is a very demanding environment, but you keep coming back,” Wuttke said.

“There is nothing like producing live television. Live television is where it is at.”

Wuttke, a freelance broadcast technician, acknowledged he serves as a small piece of a very large puzzle in delivering telecasts appealing to sports fan.

On any given day, inside a broadcast truck, Wuttke is just one of about 10 to 15 people producing a telecast for Brewers games.

This includes a producer, director, technical director, audio and graphics crews, engineer, among a series of other specialists.

“There is a lot of controlled chaos. Anyone walking in would be amazed at how organized it is,” Wuttke said.

The controlled chaos, he said, begins well before the first pitch of a baseball game, opening kickoff for football and tip-off in basketball.

Wuttke, a freelancer for Bally Sports Wisconsin, typically arrives to American Family Field in Milwaukee six hours prior to the Brewers taking the field for a 7 p.m. game.

“We get in about six before first pitch, then we start going through our checks and effect

Chad Wuttke, a freelance broadcast technician, returned to Elkhorn to start a family with his wife, Sarah. Pictured with Chad and Sarah are their 10-month-old daughter Tessa and 3-year-old son, Leo.

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to make sure everything is running OK,” Wuttke said. “Then we start to edit our pre-production elements.”

Pre-production elements, he said, include condensed highlights from the previous game.

Additionally, Wuttke and the rest of the production crew spends time preparing for any scenario, if a situation arises from a game.

“It is like a 10-hour day, give or take,” he said.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the Brewers production crew operates outside of American Family Field, instead of traveling with the Brewers for games.

“We produce away games from home now, which was never really the case, in years past when the Brewers were out of town, the director and producer and everyone would travel with the team to the site and work on the site,” he said. “Now, they have figured out how to take a signal and reproduce the games from home.”

Bally Sports Wisconsin, like other broadcasting entities, typically pares down staffing for road games. Unreal dream

Wuttke, born and raised in Elkhorn, would have never imagined working in the industry while growing up.

A member of the Elkhorn High School golf team, Wuttke also was part of the AV Club, and lent his voice to the morning announcements at school.

“I grew up going to Brewer games as a kid, but never pictured myself doing what I do now,” said Wuttke, who graduated from Elkhorn in 1997. “Even as I grew older, working as a regular

from top: Chad Wuttke, of Elkhorn, has worked as a broadcast technician for many Wisconsin sports telecasts such as Milwaukee Brewers games with Bally Sports Wisconsin; Wuttke spent time working behind-the-scenes at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics arranging video highlights of BMX and skateboarding events.

member of the broadcast crew seemed like a pipe dream.”

Recently, his dream became more surreal, when Wuttke received an opportunity as a contributor to the 2020 Olympic Summer Games in Tokyo.

His opportunity, Wuttke said, developed two years earlier in 2019 when he worked a speed skating job at Pettit National Ice Center in Milwaukee.

“It turns out that crew also covered the Olympics,” he said. “I must have made a good enough impression that I got a text over a year later out of the blue from the director, Nate Hill, asking me to go Memphis and then Tokyo.”

Wuttke, who is married to Sarah, an Elkhorn Area School District teacher, and father of two young children, initially hesitated because he wanted assurances from his wife.

“I was humbled and excited beyond belief. It was easily the biggest opportunity of my career,” Wuttke said. “I said yes right away, but I also had two very little children at home so I knew it was going to be tough, especially for my wife.”

But Sarah, he said, gave him her blessing and he took flight to Japan. Olympic coverage

Japan, under a national emergency because of the COVID-19 pandemic, restricted movement of broadcasters and athletes attending the Olympic Games in an attempt stem the spread of the virus.

“It was amazing to see what it was like on the other side of the world,” said Wuttke, who had never been to another continent up until his 15-day stay in Japan.

“I was there for 15 days, I was quarantined for 14 days, so it was the hotel, take a bus to the venue, take a bus back to the hotel,” said Wuttke.

Wuttke could only patronize one approved restaurant and convenience store during his stay.

“They were very protective of their country because they were under an emergency when the Olympics were going on,” he said.

But Wuttke kept working, primarily covering BMX and skateboarding events, both of which he described as fun experiences.

“Lots of cool tricks and very replayable highlights,” he said.

“We just wanted to get the job done.” Humble journey

Wuttke embarked on a long path to become a small part of Brewers, or any other Wisconsin sports team telecasts, since graduating in 1997 from Elkhorn.

Four years later, Wuttke earned an associates degree in Multimedia Technology from Madison Media Institute in Madison, where he earned his first job in the industry working for local ABC affiliate WKOW.

The job opportunity, he said, came about a week before he received his degree during a tour of WKOW building.

“They mentioned a job opening and I beat out five others for the job,” he said.

While at WKOW, Wuttke worked from 3:30 to 8:30 a.m. Monday through Friday, serving as editor and cameraman before becoming director of the news station’s morning show.

During his tenure, Wuttke learned about freelance opportunities from Steve Zimmerman, who helped him seek side jobs such as wrapping cables at volleyball and softball games or holding a parabolic microphone on the sidelines of football contests.

A parabolic microphone, which looks like a miniature satellite dish, collects field audio from sporting events and in other venues,

After 12 years, Wuttke moved from the Madison area to Milwaukee, where he took a leap of faith and became a freelancer. Starting a family

In 2013, Wuttke met Sarah, who was working as a teacher in Elkhorn.

“The stars aligned and after 18 years away, I moved back to my hometown and started a family,” he said.

Since then, the Wuttkes became parents to Tessa, 10 months, and Leo, 3.

When Wuttke has a night off from collecting and compiling footage, he spends his time at home, where he sometimes points out edited content he helped produce to his wife.

Wuttke, however, admits he offers his own perspective of telecasts he isn’t working on.

Wuttke, who cracked a smile, said his wife would become “playfully annoyed” whenever he notes flaws or techniques in other telecasts people don’t often recognize.

“It is like anything, if you are singer, you would think of it in a different way,” said Wuttke of how he views watching sporting events from home.

Although he admits having an interesting job, Wuttke said it isn’t about the attention.

“I am not a doctor. I don’t save lives,” he said, adding he feels fortunate for his opportunities. “My wife impacts more my lives than I do.”

Sarah Wuttke is an instrumental music and band teacher.

from left: Wuttke works behind the scenes at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in Japan; Wuttke works in front of an array of monitors at a recent sports broadcast.

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