KFDM Anchor Greg Kerr hopes that by imparting real-world broadcasting knowledge with Lamar University students, some of them will do what he’s done - take some risks and build a career they love.
Kerr shares his experience, from covering some of the “best events in the nation” to his passion for television
broadcasting, as an instructor teaching courses like TV Writing and Performance and Broadcast Announcing.
Kerr, a 1983 graduate of Central Oklahoma University, got his first job in San Angelo, Texas. “I left Oklahoma City, and I had no idea how much money I was making. I had no idea where I was going to live or even what the station looked like. I didn’t care because I was getting my first job.” Kerr said. “Sometimes, you’ve just got to grab it and go!”
Although Kerr began his college career majoring in physical education, he changed his major to sportscasting. “I knew I loved sports, almost all of them,” Kerr said. “I wanted to get into sportscasting, whether it was radio or TV.”
That first job as a sportscaster led to the next and then the next and one interesting opportunity to cover live events after another, like the Super Bowl, a Donald Trump Rally, the Elite Eight of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament and interviews with interesting and famous people.
“All the hype of Super Bowls is very true,” Kerr said. “You’ve got to be at these particular places and that’s how it is covering a Super Bowl. You’ve got to work on time management because there’s so many different things going on in so many different places. It’s more than the game. You’re there for a week, not just the day of the game. They were a lot of fun, but they’re a lot more work than people realize, and finally, when the game is over, you still got more work to do. It was a great experience with some life-lessons about time management and people.”
In 2015, Donald Trump held a rally at Ford Park in Beaumont, which Kerr covered. It was his first time attending a political rally, but he noticed the ways it connected to a sports event. “You could just feel the energy in the building, and it was much like a sporting event.”
The Lamar University women’s basketball team made it to the elite eight of the NCAA Tournament, and Greg Kerr covered the event. “They beat Texas; they beat Arkansas; they beat LSU,” he said. “That was one of the most fun times I ever had covering a team, because it just kept getting better and better and surprising and shocking.”
Interviewing George W. Bush is another memorable career event for Kerr. At the time, Bush was one of the owners of the Texas Rangers and was running for governor of Texas. “There was no pretense about anything, he was just chatty and seemed like a genuine person,” said Kerr. “When you do enough interviews, you can tell if a person is genuine or not. I’ve had the opportunity to talk to some interesting individuals.”
During his career, Kerr has taught sportscasting at two other colleges, which made him a natural selection for teaching at LU. “By 2015, they (Lamar University) decided to start the sports curriculum. They contacted me to see if I’d be interested and having had the previous experience of teaching, I thought that would be awesome.”
Teaching and anchoring are not the only skills Kerr has acquired over the years. His career has evolved along with the profession, which requires broadcasters to do many tasks. “I’ve branched out from doing sports and I’m doing broadcast announcing and TV writing and more in that area.”
Kerr has evolved with technology, also. “Doing sports, you have to use satellites to get video from one spot to another. That was expensive but now, you can just put it in a file and send it to your computer. It’s changed so crazily and has blown up with the web.”
Professional agility along with a willingness to relocate as opportunities became available have contributed to Kerr’s success. “I was able to live in Oklahoma, Illinois, North Carolina and Texas. “One good thing about broadcasting is that you can move around. You don’t want to position yourself all in one region, necessarily. In television or in broadcasting, you’ve got to be able to go where the job is.”
But the real key to career success is something Kerr tries to teach in all of his classes.
“I learned from experience that you need to have a job that you enjoy or you will not succeed at what you do. If you are passionate about your job, then you will be good at it,” said Kerr. “I got out of TV and wound up doing sales for five months and it was the worst five months of my life. “Now no job is perfect, but if you can get up out of bed and go do something you want to do, then that’s most of the battle right there.”
Kerr shares his experience, from covering some of the “best events in the nation” to his passion for television
broadcasting, as an instructor teaching courses like TV Writing and Performance and Broadcast Announcing. Kerr, a 1983 graduate of Central Oklahoma University, got his first job in San Angelo, Texas. “I left Oklahoma City, and I had no idea how much money I was making. I had no idea where I was going to live or even what the station looked like. I didn’t care because I was getting my first job.” Kerr said. “Sometimes, you’ve just got to grab it and go!”
Although Kerr began his college career majoring in physical education, he changed his major to sportscasting. “I knew I loved sports, almost all of them,” Kerr said. “I wanted to get into sportscasting, whether it was radio or TV.”
That first job as a sportscaster led to the next and then the next and one interesting opportunity to cover live events after another, like the Super Bowl, a Donald Trump Rally, the Elite Eight of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament and interviews with interesting and famous people.
“All the hype of Super Bowls is very true,” Kerr said. “You’ve got to be at these particular places and that’s how it is covering a Super Bowl. You’ve got to work on time management because there’s so many different things going on in so many different places. It’s more than the game. You’re there for a week, not just the day of the game. They were a lot of fun, but they’re a lot more work than people realize, and finally, when the game is over, you still got more work to do. It was a great experience with some life-lessons about time management and people.”
In 2015, Donald Trump held a rally at Ford Park in Beaumont, which Kerr covered. It was his first time attending a political rally, but he noticed the ways it connected to a sports event. “You could just feel the energy in the building, and it was much like a sporting event.”
The Lamar University women’s basketball team made it to the elite eight of the NCAA Tournament, and Greg Kerr covered the event. “They beat Texas; they beat Arkansas; they beat LSU,” he said. “That was one of the most fun times I ever had covering a team, because it just kept getting better and better and surprising and shocking.”
Interviewing George W. Bush is another memorable career event for Kerr. At the time, Bush was one of the owners of the Texas Rangers and was running for governor of Texas. “There was no pretense about anything, he was just chatty and seemed like a genuine person,” said Kerr. “When you do enough interviews, you can tell if a person is genuine or not. I’ve had the opportunity to talk to some interesting individuals.”
During his career, Kerr has taught sportscasting at two other colleges, which made him a natural selection for teaching at LU. “By 2015, they (Lamar University) decided to start the sports curriculum. They contacted me to see if I’d be interested and having had the previous experience of teaching, I thought that would be awesome.”
Teaching and anchoring are not the only skills Kerr has acquired over the years. His career has evolved along with the profession, which requires broadcasters to do many tasks. “I’ve branched out from doing sports and I’m doing broadcast announcing and TV writing and more in that area.”
Kerr has evolved with technology, also. “Doing sports, you have to use satellites to get video from one spot to another. That was expensive but now, you can just put it in a file and send it to your computer. It’s changed so crazily and has blown up with the web.”
Professional agility along with a willingness to relocate as opportunities became available have contributed to Kerr’s success. “I was able to live in Oklahoma, Illinois, North Carolina and Texas. “One good thing about broadcasting is that you can move around. You don’t want to position yourself all in one region, necessarily. In television or in broadcasting, you’ve got to be able to go where the job is.”
But the real key to career success is something Kerr tries to teach in all of his classes.
“I learned from experience that you need to have a job that you enjoy or you will not succeed at what you do. If you are passionate about your job, then you will be good at it,” said Kerr. “I got out of TV and wound up doing sales for five months and it was the worst five months of my life. “Now no job is perfect, but if you can get up out of bed and go do something you want to do, then that’s most of the battle right there.”
