Meet Adam Cush, Paramount’s Director of Sports Production. The title is not something to be taken lightly. Some might say, it’s not a Cushy job.
When he’s not busy acquiring sports to broadcast on the network, Adam is busy in his role as CEO for Cush Uber.
We sat down with Adam over a glass of red and a slab of fromager d’Affinois to discuss all things sport with a side of sport.
What is your role and what does it entail?
I’m the Director of Sports Production and a basic description of my role is that I work on identifying and acquiring the sports we broadcast on Network 10, 10 Play and P+. From there, I lead a very talented team in the Sport Department who put these sports to air.
What do you love most about your role and working at Paramount?
I like to say that 15-year-old Adam would be pretty happy knowing that he has a job that has meant that he has been on the sideline of a Bledisloe Test seeing an All Blacks Haka up close, on the grid for the start of the Bathurst 1000 and on the field with the players celebrating an A-League Grand Final win – incredible experiences that I don’t take for granted.
Outside of that, Paramount is just a great place to work. When I first started at 10, I was told that it was a fantastic place to work and that has proved to be the case in all the years I’ve been here. I’ve been fortunate to receive opportunities to progress and develop and been challenged in many ways over the years – but in an environment that is welcoming and encouraging, and importantly for me, family-friendly.
The Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix is coming up this week. It’s set to be one of the biggest in history, with a faster track than ever before. Where does the GP sit on your list of ultimate sporting events?
It would be a very close second to watching the Tigers on a Sunday on the hill at Leichhardt Oval, the eighth wonder of the world. Those who know, know.
How much work goes into preparing our coverage for an event like F1 and how many people are involved?
It’s a massive undertaking and there is an incredible amount of work that goes into it. We are fortunate though that we have huge experience within the network broadcasting this event, with some members of the sport team working on over 20 Australian F1 GP’s – this experience is invaluable.
In terms of numbers, we’ll have over 200 people accredited at the event which is massive. But that doesn’t factor all the work that also comes from other departments across the business in the lead-up to the event – the legal department in signing our rights agreement, the finance team processing invoices for international broadcasters, the sales team bringing in revenue to monetise the coverage, the significant publicity, marketing, on-air promos, digital and social promotion that takes place. This is an event that touches most parts of the business.
What does Paramount do better than anyone else when it comes to Sports coverage?
We talk a lot about our ‘Whole of Network Approach’ when talking to sports bodies and that is what we do really well as a network. We are tactical in the sports we acquire but once we are in, we are all in – the whole network buys in and supports it. As I just touched on, the Australian F1 GP is a great example of the whole network coming together to push and promote our sport.
Where would we find you on weekends?
If I’m not attending the Australian F1, Melbourne Cup Carnival, the NBL and Football matches or running the ‘Cush Uber’ service ferrying my kids to sport and birthday parties, I’m likely taking advantage of being at home – exercise session in the morning, beach during the day, then ‘researching’ by watching live sport on TV with a drink on the couch.
Share the best piece of advice anyone has ever given you.
“It’s just business”. Meaning that things may happen that don’t agree with, you think are not right or like and are out of your control. But it’s not personal, it’s just a business decision so move on and get on to the next thing.
