Types of shoutcaster

What different types of “shoutcaster” are there?

Before you get going, lets take a quick look at the levels of shoutcasters out there now and the levels you will need to move through in order to get to TV one day (if indeed that is your ambition). This is not a hard and fast set of levels and some people skip some, some spend longer than others in certain areas, but ultimately, this is the kind of level system we have at QuadV to help our own casters improve and grow. Each has important elements which ultimately all add to the experience of commentating on a wide variety of games and on different media.

It is also important to remember that there are many levels within levels, that is to say, although you can shoutcast from home on your own and with a borrowed server, in the end, you will want to be part of a broadcasting team that does this professionally or at least has servers to save you the cost.

Likewise, it might not always be enough to be a “commentator” when you start working on TV. You may find that you need to have worked as a MC, Announcer or had stage time as a presenter. Again, all of these roles add to your experience and gain you credibility and a profile which helps as you go through the levels.

Shoutcast from home: Online Radio Commentary
Shoutcast for a broadcaster: Online Radio Commentary, but for a dedicated broadcaster.
Online Video Cast: Online matches covered on broadband internet.
Event Video Cast: From small to large scale, on camera tournament events.
Post produced TV: TV of any kind, national, cable or satellite but not live.
Live TV: Live produced TV Shows on national TV stations, aired live.

To truly make a worthwhile living from being a “shoutcaster” it may be that you will need to perform a wide variety of functions in order to get work in addition to normal commentary. Whilst this article is concentrating on the play-by-play nature of the role, it’s important to at least understand what the other roles are, even if we wont go in to too much depth about them for now.

Play-by-play Commentator
Announcer (literally announcing results or matches at an event)
Presenter (presenting programs, shows or stage action)
Voice-Over artist (Adverts, radio commercials, movies, documentaries etc)
Expert/Analysis (This would be “on the sofa” comments for shows)
Colour Commentator (Usually a top player who can give specific detail about a play but doesn’t call the action)

There are a number of other smaller functions that you can also perform depending on your experience and understanding of gaming in general.