Thursday, November 18, 1993
Broadcasting from Behrend
by Alicia Hartman
"...Our broadcast this morning
originating from station WPSE.
PSE, standing for Penn State-
Erie, the Behrend College in Erie,
Pennsylvania. It’s a beautiful
campus they have here and a little
later in the day I’ll be meeting
with some journalism
students..."
Those were the words heard
across the nation at 7:31 a.m.
when Charles Osgood broadcasted
his show from the studios of
WPSE.
WPSE was one of four CBS
affiliates that had Charles Osgood
broadcast his show "The Osgood
File" live from its station after
winning a network contest
"The Osgood File," which is
four minutes long, airs at 6:31,
7:31, 8:31 and 9:31 a.m. every
weekday on the CBS Radio
Network.
Osgood’s day began at 3 a.m.
when WPSE Station Manager
Fred Anzivino picked him and his
producer/engineer Phil Chin up
from their hotel.
After they arrived at WPSE, a
connection to New York City
was established at 4:30 a.m.
using Switch 56, a computerized
telephone line connecting two
broadcast sources.
Switch 56 allowed Osgood to
transmit his shows from Behrend
to New York. From New York
the show continued its journey to
a satellite and then came back
down to 450 affiliates.
Between the time Switch 56
was tested and the time Osgood's
first show was sent, Switch 56
failed twice.
Comrex, a system comprised
of two dial-up telphone lines,
was incorporated as a back-up.
WPSE and WJET chief
engineer Mike Kobylka said that
a disadvantage with Comrex was
that CBS could not communicate
directly with WPSE whereas they
could with Switch 56.
Osgood's fust show was sent
to New York by the Comrex and
by Hal D. Coffey
Nrm Editor
On Saturday, November; 15
Danielle AvOUo was crowned
Miss Penn State-Behrend in a
pageant organized by Kappa Delta
Rho fraternity.
Kappa Delta Rho held the
pageant as a fundraiser for two
charities, the Children's
Institution for Cancer and Blood
Disorders, their national charity,
and the Rape Crisis Center of
Erie County.
Markus Rodriguez, pageant
Craig Brown/Coilegian Photographer
Charles Osgood, CBS radio and television broadcaster and writer, broadcasted his show
The Osgood Fite" Ive from WPSE studios Friday, November 12.
the other three were sent by
Switch 56 once it was
reestablished.
Osgood was accompanied by
Chin and District Director of
Affiliate Relations Ivy French.
Student Station Manager Val
Engelleiter, who was operating
the board Friday morning, said,
"It was business as usual," even
though Osgood was across from
her in the production studio
working on his shows.
Following the production of
his four shows, Osgood talked to
two of Dr. Colleen Kelley's
speech communication classes at'
10 a.m.
A luncheon was held at 11:30
am. in the Reed Wintergarden for
the WPSE Community and
Policy Advisory Boards, WPSE
advertising clients, the Council
of Fellows, communication
fauculty, and students involved in
WPSE programming and sales.
The, guest of the luncheon,
Charles Osgood Wood, was bom
in New York, but raised in
And the winner is.
coordinator, said die event was a
complete success.
"It went better than any past
time, especially because it was a
sellout," Rodriguez said.
He said the reason for the
increased turnout was better
advertising and organizing.
The total profits amounted to
about $3OO, even after they gave
away $225 in prize money to the
contestants.
These profits were split three
ways among the two charities and
a fond for the 1994 pageant
A long with die activities of die
Baltimore and Philadelphia. He
now lives in Englewood, New
Jersey. He is 61 years old, is
married and has five children.
Osgood has a degree in
economics, but while attending
college he worked at a radio
station in the Bronx.
He then went to Washington
D.C. and became an announcer.
Osgood recalled that the time was
between the Korean and Vietnam
Wars.
He .was working at a station
one night when his dinner relief
came in wearing an "impressive"
uniform. The relief was the
far the Army band.
"I asked him when he was done
(with his job) and he said three
days," remembered Osgood.
Osgood replaced him and "then
I got to wear the fancy uniform,"
he boasted.
After two stints as a
manager/program director,
Osgood then worked at ABC for
five years.
He is currently with CBS and
contest, the band Phat Cannon
played during intramissions and
before the final announcement of
the winner.
Rodriguez said his fraternity
decided to establish the pageant
not only for charitable reasons,
but also to dispel the myth that
fraternities ignore women's issue.
"We felt that an event in which
women put a lot of work into
should give prat of its proceeds to
a women's organization like the
Rape Crisis Centra."
The winner, Avolio, a
sophomore chemical engineering
nuyor, said the pageant was "a
has been with them for 26 years.
The one thing Osgood doesn't
like about his job is getting up at
2:15 every weekday morning.
He often says to himself, "This
is crazy. Why am I getting up
when the rest of the world is
sleeping?"
When asked how "The Osgood
File" is produced, Osgood first
replied, "There are things that
you shouldn't know how are
made like sausage and certains
kinds of cheese. 'The Osgood
File' is one."
Osgood explained that the first
step occurs when producer
engineer Phil Chin sends
possible pieces by fax to him the
night before.
Osgood goes in to work at
4:00 a.m. and Chin comes in at
5:00 a.m. By the time Chin
arrives, Osgood is working on
his first show, which is a version
of the commentary he will later
do on "CBS This Morning.”
The other three shows are "bits
and pieces" of stories in the
news.
who was the choreographer of the
really exhilarating experience".
"I met other girls in the
pageant who I never knew before,
and now we are really good
friends," Avolio said.
Before
the "big
rot,” Avolio said she
had many conflicting emotions.
"When they were ready to
announce the winner, I was
feeling both excitement and
disappointment because I knew
either I or one of my new friends
would not win," she said.
Rodriguez and Avolio both
believe that Vanessa Mangual,
There is also a full-time writer
who strictly creates "evergreens."
Osgood said that evergreens
"stay green or alive" because they
can be broadcasted at any time.
Evergreens are used when
something goes wrong
technically or when Osgood
travels and can't originate the
broadcast from where he is.
Osgood said that his job is fun.
"It's more interesting and
enjoyable than anything I can
think of. I'm not repeating the
same task everyday. I get
involved in the issues and
become sort of a know it all'."
Osgood said that he prefers
working on radio rather than
television because he can do
commercials on the radio, while
as a newscaster he can't
He added, "Television is not as
good a medium as radio. There
are better pictures on the radio
because each listener creates
his/her own picture and therefore
it stays with them longer."
Osgood joked, "I’ve looked so
much better on radio than
television."
When asked if he has ever been
told what to say, Osgood
responded, "Never once has
anyone told me what to say. Not
once." .
He continued, "I think you
have to be careful not to offend
someone. I think having a sense
of what the parameters are is
important but you learn that
yourself."
WPSE Director of Marketing
and Sales Education Mike
Rectenwald said the day "let the
Erie community know that
Charles Osgood is on the station
everyday and it brings attention
to that fact. With all the
publicity we've had, it should
eventually have an impact on the
ratings."
Station Manager Fred Anzivino
said, "It was exactly what I
thought it'd be. For everyone
involved, it was a wonderful
experience."
Osgood's final words for the
day, "I’ll see you on the radio."
pageant, was an instrumental part
of making the pageant work.
“In order to make this happen
even better, we needed to get a
woman to help coordinate, n
Rodriguez said. “Vanessa put in
about 100 hours of volunteer
time, and she did an incredible
job.”
Two other Kappa Delta Rho
brothers assisted in the
organization of the event,
Anthony Scire and Brandon Case.
Each contestant also received a
complete makeover and photo
shoot from Glamour Shots in the
Millcreek Mall.
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