Shippensburg University’s student media kicked off October in a victorious fashion — specifically Shippensburg’s very own TV station, SUTV News. Members of the student-produced news station traveled to Philadelphia to attend the 40th Annual Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards ceremony. 

The news station had highly anticipated the event for months prior, following their nomination for Best Live Sporting Event/Game in August — their sixth Emmy nomination overall. The piece that had been nominated was for SUTV’s live coverage of Shippensburg’s home football game against West Chester in the 2021 fall semester. 

The following individuals were nominated for the award for their corresponding positions during the broadcast: Patrick Ramsdale, director; Jacob Hitz, play-by-play; Jack Ansley, color commentator; Cole McKowen, graphics; Brixx Minguez, audio; Marlee Bulman, replay; Adam Beam, camera; Cullen Maes, camera; Stefan Gergishanov, camera; Carmine Scicchitano, camera; and Sara Cox, sideline reporter.

When asked how he felt about the event, SUTV’s news director Cullen Maes shared that he felt anxious leading up to the ceremony. “I went in with the knowledge that SUTV had won several Emmys over the years, so that helped ease the tension. Still, it was thrilling to have SUTV represented at such a high-end event,” Maes said. Eased tension is right: SUTV News is no stranger to the Mid-Atlantic Emmy awards, with three nominations and two wins in 2018, and two nominations and one win in 2019. Still, fingernails were bit. 

“There were people from several TV stations across the state. That raised the stakes in my mind,” Maes added, recounting the attendees of the event, “but it also allowed me to talk and network with some skilled and talented people within our industry, some of whom are Ship alum.”

I sat down with SUTV’s live sports announcer and sports director Jacob Hitz to ask him about his feelings towards the event. “Without a doubt, the experience that I’ve gathered here at Ship had a direct impact on the work we sent in for the Emmys this year,” Hitz shared. “After we didn’t get nominated back in 2020, we had to go back to the drawing board to improve the broadcasts to be as good as they could possibly be.” And improve they did, as the station took home the Emmy for Best Live University Sporting Event/Game. “It was a huge victory for all of us,” Maes (’22) stated. “SUTV is inherently a team effort, and that award represents the collective efforts we’ve made leading up to that point.”

When asked what’s next for SUTV, Hitz (’22) shared that his main intentions are to keep moving forward with a great deal of confidence in SUTV’s newest crew members. “The big thing now is to start working towards next year’s Emmys. We’ve won three out of the last four Live Sports awards that were given out, and I think we’ve got a great crew to continue that tradition,” Hitz says. “I’m proud of this year’s win, and I’m excited for my last two football games for SUTV before I graduate in December.”

SUTV News airs at 7 p.m. EST Thursdays on Comcast Channel 21 and on Facebook Live @SUTVNews.

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