When your grandfather was a pioneer at CBC radio in Canada who tested microwave links through train tunnels and your father was an editor for the CBC, you already know that broadcasting is in your blood. The question for Mary Ellen Carlyle was whether blood would overcome her father\u2019s advice.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy dad said don\u2019t get into [broadcasting],\u201d she says. \u201cBut, in my second year [of college], I decided to take TV and film and ended up with a master\u2019s in communications from the University of Windsor.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carlyle\u2019s career started in 1985. She was a freelancer (she began at TSN by taking ESPN content from the U.S. and putting in blocks for Canadian commercials) and did everything from technician to master control and even TD. But it was when she got involved with scheduling that she found an affinity for remote operations.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was doing things like booking phones and satellites, and that was it,\u201d she recalls.<\/p>\n
In 1988, she found herself working for TSN at the 1988 Olympics (\u201cI worked my ass off but learned so much\u201d) \u2014to this day a top career highlight. The next year, she became one of the original employees at Dome Productions and started on her road to the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n
Launched as a sister company to TSN, Dome intended to use its two control rooms to edit episodics and, when the Toronto Blue Jays were playing, to have one room produce the Canadian feed and the other the American feed.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter a couple of years,\u201d says Carlyle, \u201cwe realized that didn\u2019t work too well when the postproduction guys would put up a two-hour reel. We eventually moved postproduction into another building so we could do the live-event side.\u201d<\/p>\n
In those early years, Dome Production produced the 81 Blue Jay home games, 10 CFL games, and a few other events. In 1992, it bought two mobile units from Challenger productions and has never looked back.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you had told me back then that we would go from 81 to 2,500 events, which is where we are now, I would have been in shock,\u201d says Carlyle. \u201cNow we have 18 trucks, consider ourselves forward thinkers, and have a great reputation worldwide. I had the chance to go from analog to digital, SD to HD, and then HD to 4K. The leap from HD to 4K has been nothing compared with going from SD to HD, which took a whole leap forward for the workflow.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carlyle says technology drives her forward, and she considers herself a \u201cdoer,\u201d with both the good and bad that comes with that.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s my biggest strength and weakness,\u201d she says. \u201cI will sometimes do something before I manage it. And I love to learn every day. If we hadn\u2019t changed at Dome and expanded beyond two control rooms, I would not have stayed. But senior management wanted to change and look for the next new thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Through everything there have been her husband, Brian, and children, Robbie (23) and Jamie (20).<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mom passed away when I was 8, and when I had children, I said I was going be there for them and they were either going to come with me or I was going to take time off,\u201d Carlyle says. \u201cSo I have balanced work and family really well and made the time. I\u2019ve been very fortunate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Besides her family, she notes the team at Dome Productions. \u201cIt is 100% a team effort,\u201d she says of her success. \u201cThe key is having people that want to work at Dome.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bell Media President Randy Lennox says that Carlyle has been a blazing a trail for the industry and women.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re fortunate to get to work with her. We\u2019re thrilled for Mary Ellen on this well-deserved recognition,\u201d he adds. \u201cShe and her team consistently deliver superior services, ingenuity, and leadership that we rely on for so many of our productions. As a Canadian, I couldn\u2019t be more proud to have her representing us in the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stewart Johnston, president, media sales, marketing, TSN, describes Carlyle as one of the most passionate and empowering behind-the-scenes people in television. \u201cShe has had the benefit of great teachers and herself has become a great teacher, passing on her love of live production and devotion to the details to those who are lucky enough to work with her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sportsnet President Bart Yabsley, who has worked with her for more than 20 years, calls her a pioneer of sports broadcasting.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight from the beginning,\u201d he recalls, \u201cit was obvious that her knowledge, talent, and passion for the business would set her apart. In her role leading Dome Productions, she has guided us through evolving broadcast technologies and helped position Sportsnet as an industry leader.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":1199,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"tags":[49],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsbroadcastinghalloffame.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/inductees\/1198"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsbroadcastinghalloffame.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/inductees"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsbroadcastinghalloffame.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/inductees"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsbroadcastinghalloffame.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsbroadcastinghalloffame.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsbroadcastinghalloffame.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}