EM Outcomes
An Entertainment Media (EM) degree from Butler University can prepare you for life. We combine a professional education with a strong liberal arts background—a combination that’s hard to beat.
For over 50 years our graduates have assumed leadership roles in production, broadcasting, recording multimedia, public relations, education and law. To find out what some of our graduates have done with a degree from Butler, check our alumni listing below.
Alumni Successes
- Sports director, anchor and host of 13 SportsJam for WTHR-TV in Indianapolis
- Provided play-by-play for nine IRL races for Fox Sports
- Received five Emmy Awards for Best Sportscaster in the past six years
- Recognized as the best local sportscaster for 2003 by the readers of Indianapolis Monthly and received a 2003 NUVO Best of Indy Reader’s Choice award
- Previously worked as a sports anchor for WDTN-TV in Dayton, Ohio where he covered Bengals football and Reds baseball
- Television and radio play-by-play broadcaster of the Seattle Sonics since 1987
- Past assignments include NBA broadcasts on TNT/TBS, NBATV and ESPN radio
- Broadcast the 2000 United States men’s basketball Olympic Games for a worldwide audience on Westwood One Radio Network
- Recognized by his peers as Washington State “Sports Broadcaster of the Year” in 1997, 2000, 2001 and 2002
- A local Emmy Award winner, Calabro was acknowledged along with the late Chick Hearn as one of the top five NBA announcers in 1998 by Sports Illustrated
- President, Radio Division, Emmis Communications, Encino, Calif.
- Previously at Emmis he served as executive vice president for programming for a national 11-station group and national program director for Emmis, overseeing WENS Indianapolis, WLOL Minneapolis, KSHE St. Louis and Magic 106 Los Angeles, and was the first program director for WENS, Indianapolis
- Supervising producer for Living It Up! with Ali & Jack, CBS/King World Productions Inc. in New York
- Supervising producer of The Rosie O’Donnell Show, which won four Daytime Emmy Awards for “Best Talk Show”
- Production consultant for Mark Burnett’s reality show The Restaurant and producer of Survivor Marquesas -Reunion Show hosted by Rosie O’Donnell
- Creative consultant for Lighten Up!, BBGraceline Productions for The Food Network
- Previous producing credits include The Sally Jessy Raphael Show, The Maury Povich Show, The Ricki Lake Show, The Jane Whitney Show, The Carnie Wilson Show and In Person with Maureen O’Boyle
- President, Inspirations, Inc. in Florida
- Previously was president of worldwide marketing and entertainment for Walt Disney Theme Parks and Resorts
- Received the Travel Hall of Fame ATLAS Award, Tour and Travel News Top 25 Most Influential Tourism Executives, Sales & Marketing Executives International Excellence in Marketing Award and many others
- Was public relations director for the Amateur Athletic Union in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
- Serves as chairman of the Butler University board of trustees and is a board member of the International Museum of Cartoon Art
- Chief news photographer for WLOS-TV ABC affiliate in Asheville, N.C.
- Worked as photographer for WGNO-TV and WWL-TV in New Orleans and as chief photographer at WEAR-TV in Pensacola, Fla.
- Received two Suncoast Regional Emmy awards while at WGNO-TV: 1995 Individual Achievement in Photography and 1997 Spot News
- Anchor of The Golf Channel’s nightly news show Golf Central, a CableACE Award winner as Best Sports News Series
- Began career at WRTV-6 ABC in Indianapolis while a freshman at Butler
- Also worked at WXIN-TV FOX in Indianapolis, where he was sports anchor and host of the Indiana Pacers telecasts
- Worked for ABC, ESPN, Prime and NBC sports and appeared as himself in the feature film Tin Cup
- Morning news anchor, WFXT-FOX in Boston
- Began broadcasting career in South Bend, Ind., as a general assignment reporter for KNDU, then as weekend anchor and general assignment reporter for KVBC-TV in Las Vegas
- Senior vice president of marketing for the Indiana Pacers in Indianapolis
- Joined the Pacers in 1985 as general manager of the Pacers’ Network Indiana, a 50-station statewide radio network, before being promoted to vice president of sports and entertainment for the Pacers
- Experience with the Pacers includes live Pacers coverage of the 1996 preseason in Germany and Spain, directing the 1992 NBA Finals world feed and executive producer of the Host Broadcast for the 2002 FIBA World Basketball Championship held in Indianapolis
- Charter member of the NBA Broadcast advisory board
- Began career as on-air broadcaster for several radio stations, including the Pacers’ Flagship station WIBC in Indianapolis
- Sportscaster, WFLD-TV FOX station in Chicago
- Previously worked for WABC-TV in New York where he contributed to ABC Sports’ college football and to Wide World of Sports
- Five-time Emmy Award winner, received the 2002 Robert Todd Duncan Alumni Achievement Award at Butler and the Significant Sig award from Sigma Chi Fraternity for outstanding achievement
- Serves on the Butler University board of trustees
- Director of part-time studies at the School for Film and Television in New York
- Member of the Screen Actors Guild, Actors Equity Association and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists
- Since 1984, has acted in more than 100 television commercials including recent spots for Sears and MasterCard
- Senior project technical administrator, Walt Disney World Entertainment
- Previously was a project producer and technical director of live shows at Walt Disney World in Orlando
- Served on the production staff of the 1991 and 2000 Super Bowl Half-time Spectacular
- Serves as a volunteer pilot for the Angel Flight program for the Southeast District, an organization that flies individuals in need of medical care to the person’s assigned health care facility
- Chief financial officer for The Liberty Corp. in Greenville, S.C., a company that owns 15 network-affiliated television stations and other media-related operations in cable, broadcast equipment distribution and cable sales
- Previously was CFO for Wink Interactive and for Emmis Communications Corp.
- Spent two years in law, specializing in matters before the Federal Communications Commission
- Vice president and general manager, WGLD, WGRL and WFMS radio stations in Indianapolis
- Member of the Country Radio Broadcaster’s board of directors and the Indiana Broadcasters Association board of directors
- Under his leadership, WFMS-Radio has received numerous national awards including the 2002 Marconi Award for a Medium Market Station of the Year, Country Station of the Year, and the 2000 and 2001 Country Music Association Station of the Year
- Senior attorney, Qwest Communications in Denver, providing regulatory support for operations in 36 states
- Previously worked as an associate for Blumenfeld & Cohen in Washington, D.C.
- As a law student, interned in the Policy and Rules Division for the Federal Communications Commission and the Indiana Civil Liberties Union
- While at Butler, co-created and produced the WTBU children’s quiz show Think Big and worked as an intern at WZPL-FM in Indianapolis
- Member of the Federal Communications Bar Association and Women in Cable and Telecommunications
- Sports commentator and analyst, NBC Sports in North Carolina
- 2003 commentator for Senior PGA Tour on CNBC
- Commentator for the Instinet Classic and the BellSouth Senior Classic at Opryland
- Served as pre-race host and pit reporter for NASCAR on NBC and as an auto racing commentator for ESPN and ESPN2
- Began career as a sports reporter for WISH-TV in Indianapolis. Was assistant sports director at WTHI-TV in Terre Haute and WTVW-TV in Evansville and became sports anchor for WIKY-FM in Evansville, Ind.
- President/CEO of Ambient Communications in Indianapolis
- Named a “legend” by the Indiana Federation of Advertising Agencies and received the Sagamore of the Wabash award from the State of Indiana for his contributions to the world of advertising
- Conducts seminars nationally on health care marketing
- Elder with Second Presbyterian Church in Indianapolis, where he serves on the planning committee and directs its weekly radio program