Georgetown Alum and ESPN Producer Gives the Inside Scoop on Sports Reporting
December 3, 2010
For many sports fans, Matt Kelliher (C’95) has a dream job.
Over the past nine years, Kelliher has been a producer on the Emmy-award winning ESPN sports show, “Pardon the Interruption,” known simply as “PTI” to its loyal fans. Kelliher returned to Georgetown to share his story and field questions about his career at the final Dean’s Lunch Seminar of the semester. The seminar series invites successful alumni back to the Hilltop to share their professional and personal journeys with current students.
Kelliher told students that his opportunities at ESPN arose from a combination of luck and hard work. When Kelliher graduated from Georgetown with a degree in History and a minor in Economics, he admittedly didn’t know what his next step would be. Luckily, a friend had a contact at ESPN and arranged an interview. Although Kelliher was a serious sports fan, he never imagined that he would have a career at the sports network. “I said, ‘This’ll be great—it’ll be like going to Europe for a year!’” he recalled. He nailed the interview, although it was slightly more than he bargained for. “The 2nd half of an ESPN interview is a sports quiz,” Kelliher explained. “They ask, ‘What’s the starting lineup for the Montreal Expos?’ and ‘Who won last year’s Vezina trophy [for hockey]?’ ”
He didn’t hear back for weeks, and had started a different job when he got the call offering him a position as a production assistant at ESPN. He hesitated, and the voice on the phone said, “Hundreds of people want this job. If you don’t, we’ll move to the next name on the list.” Kelliher walked into his boss’s office and quit that afternoon. For six years, Kelliher stayed at the network phoning in scores, digging up player statistics, and working his way up the ladder. “This is where Georgetown comes in,” Kelliher explained. “I had no training, but at ESPN if you listen and work hard you’ll be ok.”
Kelliher also shared an important piece of advice with students. “Be open to the unknown opportunity,” he explained, as he described being offered the chance to produce a brand-new ESPN show in 2001. “They said it would be Siskel and Ebert meets Crossfire meets sports,” Kelliher recalled, and explained that many people thought it would fail. He found himself at a crossroads, and took the risk to join the up-and-coming show “Pardon the Interruption,” leaving the sports network itself for a smaller production company. “Taking that other chance,” Kelliher reinforced, “was probably the best decision I ever made.” While Kelliher didn’t know if he would succeed at the time, he said, “I couldn’t be happier that I went to a liberal arts school…it sets you up to be successful at anything.” The show turned into a hit, and Kelliher hasn’t looked back.
As a television producer, Kelliher spends his time developing content, organizing stories, and making sure the show runs exactly 22 minutes and 9 seconds every day. Some of his biggest challenges come from the show’s most successful attribute: the relationship of the hosts, Washington Post sports writers Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon. Famous for their heated sports debates in the halls of the newspaper giant, the writers have carried their banter to the show. Their quirks have necessitated creativity on the part of the show’s producers, who introduced, for example, the show’s signature boxing bell that signals time discussing a topic is up.
In addition to sharing anecdotes about the show, Kelliher fielded questions about his most memorable interviews, life lessons, and the changing role of the media in sports reporting. Kelliher recalled that over his years in sports programming he has seen the rise in statistics reporting and the decline of print sports writing. “There was a time when you didn’t have access to the game,” he explained, “Now you can watch anything [online].” But, he argued, the hosts of the show serve the same function as writers and print sports analysts. “People are going to want an informed opinion” about their teams and trades, Kelliher explained. The difference, he noted, is that now “It’s going at warp speed.”
--Jessica Beckman
Photo of PTI set, with hosts Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon, courtesy of ESPN.
