Marketing/communications leader says foundation of his career goes back to OHIO, WOUB

Tony Burke grew up in Lyndhurst, Ohio near Cleveland and his dream was to be a play-by-play sportscaster. 

“I knew Ohio University’s communications and journalism programs were considered to be one of the best in the country,” said Burke. “So, I came to Athens for a college visit. I knew in 45 seconds that Ohio University was where I was going to college.”

During his visit, Burke got a tour of WOUB. Learning about the hands-on experience students could get working for a professional PBS/NPR station truly excited him.

“I was in awe when I saw it for the first time. WOUB sold me immediately. I saw all the technology around me. I didn’t know how to use any of it, but I knew that I would at some point,” said Burke with a chuckle. “I knew that what I would experience working there would go beyond what I learned in the classroom.”

Burke got involved at WOUB toward the middle of his freshman year. He started working on WOUB radio doing sportscasts and eventually moved into TV anchoring sports on WOUB’s nightly TV news program, “NewsWatch.”

“We kept pretty busy covering all of the sports in the region,” said Burke. “We covered Ohio University athletics and all the high school teams from the surrounding counties. We all learned so much.” 

After graduation, Burke eventually got his first media job at a radio station near his hometown. He was the news and sports director at a station in Chardon, Ohio. He also did play-by-play work and was an on-air disc jockey. 

“The experiences that I got at WOUB and the people I got to work with, professionals and other students, were amazing. We got to experience things that other students in other programs didn’t get to experience," Tony Burke said.

In late 1992, Burke started working as the executive sports producer at WUAB/WOIO TV in Cleveland and held that role for seven years before moving on to an on-air position as a reporter for Classic Teleproductions in Cleveland. Burke was a reporter, host and producer for programs about high school football and basketball. He also produced a program about the then-Cleveland Indians.

After that, Burke went on to work as a producer for Fox Sports Net Ohio and WEWS-TV in Cleveland, before becoming the assistant news director and then news director at Comcast SportsNet in Washington D.C. 

“In 2011, I was at Comcast and had been in the industry about 20 years, and things were changing. I had two girls at home and started to realize I wasn’t seeing them a lot,” said Burke. “In Washington D.C., the commute was a couple of hours a day each way. I knew I needed to make a change.”

Burke moved into marketing and communications. He is now the director of communications and marketing at Walsh Jesuit High School in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio.

“I used all the experience I gained in TV and radio and channeled it into this career,” said Burke. 

Burke says the foundation of his career goes back to WOUB. “The experiences that I got at WOUB and the people I got to work with, professionals and other students, were amazing. We got to experience things that other students in other programs didn’t get to experience. Once I got into the industry, I knew what I was doing. WOUB was a key reason I had a quick rise in the industry. I’m forever indebted to WOUB and the things I was able to do there.”