The Daily Bulletin Archive

By Jerod Dahlgren

Bengal Magazine, Intercollegiate Athletics’ own television show, has expanded its visibility. In addition to streaming online, the 30-minute show now airs on Time Warner Cable SportsNet (channel 13) in Western New York on Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 p.m., alongside similar programs from the University at Buffalo and Syracuse University.

The show, which features Buffalo State coaches, student-athletes, and guests, tapes every two weeks in Instructional Resources’ television studios. Hosted by associate athletics director Tom Koller and co-produced by sports information director Jeff Ventura, the show got its start in September 2006 as the Intercollegiate Athletics Department was looking for new ways to reach its fans and supporters.

“As the competition for airtime on local television stations and space in area newspapers has increased in recent years, we needed to find other ways to promote ourselves,” Ventura said. “We’ve done that through what we call ‘self media’—allowing us to bypass the gatekeepers and control our message through vehicles such as Bengal Magazine and our Web site.”

Despite not having a place on traditional television in the first two years of production, Koller said the show was well received online.

“We have a former track-and-field athlete down in Atlanta who watches us religiously online,” Koller said. “He wrote back after the first couple tapings and said he loved the show. The Web is a marvelous thing. The show has provided us with a cost-effective way to reconnect with former student-athletes all over the country.”

Last fall, the show began collaborating with COM 388, Broadcast Practicum, taught by associate professor of communication Paul DeWald, which enables students to get hands-on experience shooting stock footage, editing short features, and taping the show in the studio. Koller and Ventura serve as adjuncts in the Communication Department as well.

“It has been an excellent experience for the students,” Ventura said.

Students also get a chance to learn from the professional staff of Pat Trinkley, Ken Giangreco, Dave Ross, and Paul Smith in Instructional Resources, a group that Koller credits for the success of the show.

“The gang in Instructional Resources has been absolutely wonderful to work with,” Koller said. “Without their commitment, Bengal Magazine wouldn’t be as successful as it is today. We think the show continues to improve and, it appears, Time Warner thinks so, too.”