Alumna makes the most of every day, and of every show she produces at CBS Sports

NEW YORK — It’s about 240 miles from Penn State’s University Park campus to 524 W. 57th St., home of the CBS Broadcast Center. That’s four hours by bus or car, and even longer by train (departing from Lewistown, Pennsylvania) or plane (with a layover in Philadelphia).

Deb Gelman made the trip on sheer determination.

Gelman leveraged an internship opportunity as an undergraduate student and subsequently built a career spanning three decades with CBS Sports — all in America’s media mecca — focused largely on live sports production.

For the past 11 years she’s been a coordinating producer for live studio programming, guiding shows focused on the NCAA men’s basketball tournament each spring and leading “That Other Pregame Show,” a four-hour combination of information and entertainment that airs every week during the NFL season on CBS Sports Network.

“We call it TOPS,” said Gelman, as she stood on the set minutes after a recent show had ended. “And my Sunday means I’m here in the studio at 4 a.m.”

After an hour of pre-production, an hour-long production meeting begins at 5 a.m., followed by breakfast for the crew, production team and on-air talent. Production begins at 7 a.m. and includes some practice runs and pre-recording a couple segments for the day. The show goes live at 8 a.m. and runs until noon.

That’s not the end of Gelman’s day, though.

“We’ll have a post-op meeting with talent when we’re done to go over how the show went, what we were happy with, what we weren’t and start looking ahead to the next Sunday,” she said. “Then I go home and put on a pair of sweatpants and watch football from 1 o’clock until the Sunday night game is over because everything that happens is what’s going to be in my show next week.”

Gelman, who earned her bachelor’s degree in 1991, secured an internship with CBS Sports during her final semester at Penn State. She didn’t know all that was involved, only that she wanted to work in sports television.

What she knows now would be enough for dozens of how-to videos. She has proven herself to everyone she works with — from members of her production team, crew and on-air talent to former NFL coaches and players that appear on TOPS.

She’s one of the most respected producers in the business because of her attention to detail as well as her commitment and creativity.

“She’s the best I’ve ever worked with,” said director Jay Kincaid, who has worked alongside Gelman for the past decade on Sunday mornings and has crafted his own career of network-level success. “Her rundowns are so detailed. She doesn’t miss a thing in preparation, or during the show itself.”

Those four-hour-long shows could take a toll on people, but Gelman’s preparation and her combination of skills helps make things work well. The show runs smoothly because of the specificity of the rundown — it was 32 pages, color-coded and double-sided for a recent episode — and her experience and people skills take things to another level. She’s a perfectionist with expectations who also knows, for example, that the show’s associate producer got engaged a few days earlier.  

“We have to raise our productivity and professionalism to be at a level Deb brings. Without a doubt it starts at the top with her and filters down,” said producer Harrison Markey, who has worked on TOPS for 11 years and with Gelman for 15. He’s in charge of an hour or so of TOPS each week. “Everything I do is through Deb-colored glasses. That doesn’t mean I don’t bring my own creativity, but you respect her so much that you work to see things as she would.”

Gelman’s football duties with TOPS will run through the Super Bowl this February. Even before that, she adds college basketball, often working all day Saturday before another early call time on Sunday.

During March Madness, Gelman produces the studio show that includes Charles Barkley, Clark Kellogg and Kenny Smith. It allows her to flash her expertise beyond football and, as always, her creativity (including an idea for some well-received puppets a few seasons ago).

As with many people who’ve found their passion and do their job well, though, Gelman summarizes her schedule with a matter-of-fact approach. In addition, she often remembers mistakes more than the things that went well.

Most of all she appreciates the challenges, and emotional impact, of her job.

“There’s nothing like live television. I’ve done a million taped shows but it’s not the same,” Gelman said. “Live television is as close as you can get to being on the field — that’s the rush.”