Tuning In to PHL-17: My Intern Experience

Hello! My name is Kendall Jackson and I’m a junior at Temple studying Advertising, with a concentration in Art Direction. For the past two months, I have had the pleasure of interning in the sales department at PHL-17, a local television station in Philadelphia, PA near Bala-Cynwyd. Although I am a creative at heart, working as a media sales intern has really allowed me to see advertising from a new perspective.

When I arrived at PHL-17 on my first day, I’ll admit that I was extremely nervous. I had tons of questions swirling in my head: “What will I be doing?” “Will I be working on spreadsheets all day?” “Are people friendly?” All of my worries were put to rest as soon as I entered the front door. Everyone was so welcoming and within the first hour of my first day, I was sent on a sales call with one of the account executives. Since then, I have worked on improving Powerpoints for clients, analyzing demographic data and TV schedules, and worked with account execs to help bring in more advertisers.

Because I am in the Art Direction track, I’ve tried to take on as many art and design-related projects as possible. In order to encourage clients to advertise with PHL-17, I’ve created business cards and ad comps using design programs such as Photoshop and Illustrator. I also spend a lot of time with the creative services team whenever there’s downtime in the sales department. While working with creative services, I have comped up outdoor advertisements, created T-shirt designs, edited photos for the employee photo board and worked a little in Adobe After Effects to produce TV banner-ads (or “snipes”) for shows such as the Big Bang Theory.

Since beginning my internship at PHL-17, I’ve really appreciated how friendly and helpful everyone has been. From helping with projects in Photoshop to giving rides to center city so I wouldn’t have to stand outside in the snow; everyone that I have met at this station has been extremely accomodating. I’ve definitely gotten a good sense of how advertising works from a media perspective. I can’t wait to see what the last few weeks of my time here has to bring!