Podcast Recap - Al Eckman and WRWW Radio
Ledger Podcast Highlights WRWW
In November, the Ledger started podcast partnership with school radio station WRWW Radio. Here, we chat with station founder Al Eckman.
Justin Scott | Sports Reporter - 1/7/2024, published in the Ledger in December, 2023
We’ve had two months of podcasts on the new lowellledger.org and over that month, we’ve been able to record in the world class WRWW Radio studio.
The studio is a tremendous asset to the high school and low community streaming 24/7 across the 92.3 FM radio station and lowellradio.org. The program streams a family friendly variety mix in addition to student programming, radio shows, sporting events, and of course, now the Lowell Ledger podcast. The radio program is currently being run full-time by Laurie Summerfield, including the elective class at LHS, Radio Broadcasting 101, with station founder Al Eckman serving on a part-time basis.
In October, we planned out our podcast series with both Al and Laurie, and are excited to be able to offer this additional media opportunity to the Lowell community.
As one of our first podcasts, we sat down with Al to learn a little bit more about WRWW.
The story of the radio station has been well documented across plenty of outlets over the years, including the Ledger,a piece I wrote for the high school website in college in 2016, and most recently in School News Network.
Eckman, age 80, graduated from LHS in 1960, and since served the school as a coach, security director, and since 2004 at the helm of the radio program.
When it comes to sporting events, thanks to the tireless work of Eckman and the students that work within the sporting radio program, Lowell has become one of the area’s best in terms of media.
Take the video broadcast of sporting events through the NFHS Network for example, and specifically football since many of us know what those broadcasts look like. A Lowell home event aired over NFHS Network not only has an audio overlay with LHS sportscasters, they also have graphics showing the current score, time left on the clock, and camera operator following the play.
“We have what we call a laptop graphics technician that puts up these overlays and stuff onto the screens for those that are watching it through the National Federation of High Schools. You know, that's what we're looking for. I just get a lot of enjoyment out of it. Seeing students get a lot of enjoyment out of what they do,” Eckman said.
In an away event on NFHS, you can get a game that is broadcasted not only without those features, but also a camera that would turn from the play inexplicably during some of the games most important plays. Since individual schools are in charge of the broadcasts, it can be maddening. Lowell is fortunate in that regard. One of those things that you don’t even think about until it’s gone.
“The NFHS cameras don’t really have the ability to zoom, as you would with a regular camera with a camera operator. is one at the, at the stadium. So starting this football season, I asked Patrick Russell, our athletic director, Would it be okay if we could involve students with operating cameras during some of the contests, basically varsity contests, although we did a few JV football contests as well.
So we set up cameras, and now we have a camera operator that has the ability to zoom in, zoom out. And so, it's just so much more interesting when you can do that, when you can be right in there on the tackle. You can be right alongside the runner,” Eckman said of the enhanced camera operation of LHS sporting events.
The sports program does broadcast away events, just not in charge of the NFHS broadcast. They still do the audio broadcast though, and that means plenty of work in preparation to get permission to record there, find a spot, then to staff the event, and transport equipment.
One of the away events was Byron Center for football, perhaps Lowell’s marquee victory this season. When you’re in that press box, when you’re part of the broadcast crew, there is a goal to try to maintain a bit of neutrality. Eckman encourages trying to keep bias out of the call.
“We try to tell our students not to scream on air. That's not always possible. You're going to get excited. This past year there were a couple times where the sportscasters would jump up and down and almost pull the course out of a couple pieces of equipment in doing so, but you know I'm just pleased to see them get that excited about what they're doing.” Eckman said of his students.
The radio program is always looking for students in seventh grade through senior year interested. Whether it’s the radio broadcasting elective, being a sportscaster, camera operator, running their own radio show, or many other options that WRWW offers. It’s an exciting way to enter the field of broadcast media.
Future podcast plans include interviews with students affiliated with both the radio and sportscasting, in order to continue to highlight all the benefits the radio program provides to the community.
