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WOUB Employee Spotlight: Broadcast Operations Supervisor Terry Douds
< < Back toDouds has worked at WOUB since 2005
ATHENS, OH – During Broadcast Operations Supervisor Terry Douds nearly 16 years working at WOUB Public Media, there have been many changes in regard to technology and how the station runs. But, Douds has rolled with the changes and couldn’t be more proud of the work he is doing.
“I was originally hired as a broadcast technician and was promoted to broadcast operations supervisor in 2008,” said Douds. “At that time, the Engineering Department oversaw Master Control. We worked 24/7 to insure that WOUB stayed on the air. Later that part of operations shifted to the Traffic Department, so now we’re doing ‘regular’ engineering tasks, such as design of systems, installation of new equipment, and overseeing what we call ‘In-House Engineering’; another team within Engineering handles field work and our transmitter sites.”
Douds was born and raised in the Columbus area and now lives in Lancaster. He graduated from Ohio State in 1979 with a bachelor’s degree in Audio Recording. Douds got a master’s in Engineering from Ohio University in 2010.
“A big part of the training for me for this job came from amateur radio. I became a ‘Ham Operator’ in November 1968, when I was in 7th grade,” said Douds. “I later became active in amateur satellite work, another part of amateur radio where we designed satellites and have them launched into space.”
Douds also has another love – music. And he shares those talents with the people in our region as well.
“I’m a very active bassist in many groups through Ohio & West Virginia. I’m usually at Tony’s Tuesday for Jazz Night with The Word of Mouth Jazz Band, in Pomeroy on Thursday’s with the Bernie Nau Trio, play with Athens’ own The Local Girls, and for the older folks in the area, I was a member of The Frogwhompers!”
Douds finds the work he does very interesting, and he’s proud to be a part of something that means so much to the people in the region.
“I loved being here for the transition from analog TV to digital TV, since much of our viewership is ‘Over The Air’ or OTA, rather than via satellite/cable,” said Douds. “We suddenly offered multiple ‘channels,’ where previously we only had one. It was a big improvement for our community!”
The COVID-19 pandemic has created many new and interesting challenges for Douds and his team. But, he says they have been able to make it work.
“My thesis for my master’s was ‘How to Improve Efficiencies by Eliminating the Overnight Shift at WOUB’, and to do this, we would have to implement remote monitoring/control systems to allow us to control various station operations offsite. We began implementing the changes in 2014, and consequently had all the remote systems already in operation for years when the pandemic hit,” said Douds.
“We have masks that we wear with the WOUB logo, and I get so many compliments from people I’ve never met. They thank me for our services and for being there when they need us and for teaching our students, who will be the media professionals of the future. Our staff is incredible, and it’s really family to me. We work together as a unit to provide the product that our viewers and listeners have grown to expect, and that’s the best feeling in the world!”