Barry Zegel. Source: https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/barry-zegel
University of Southern California. Photo: Bobak Ha'Eri, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:052607-016-BovardHall-USC.jpg)
University of South Carolina. Photo: Dfscgt21, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:University_of_South_Carolina,_Davis_College.jpg)
International Telecommunication Union. Photo: ITU Pictures from Geneva, Switzerland, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ITU_Council_2018_(40622286475).jpg)
University of Southern California. Photo: Bobak Ha'Eri, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:052607-016-BovardHall-USC.jpg)
University of South Carolina. Photo: Dfscgt21, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:University_of_South_Carolina,_Davis_College.jpg)
International Telecommunication Union. Photo: ITU Pictures from Geneva, Switzerland, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ITU_Council_2018_(40622286475).jpg)
Barry Bryan Zegel was born on December 9, 1955, in Ridgewood, New Jersey, to Martin T. Zegel and Alice Kieler Zegel. His early professional development coincided with the expansion of broadcast engineering, videotape production, and network television operations in the United States.
Zegel earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Southern California in 1979 and later received a doctorate in mass communications from the University of South Carolina. The University of Southern California, founded in Los Angeles in 1880, developed into a major private research university with strong connections to communication, media, and the entertainment industries. The University of South Carolina, founded in 1801, is the state's flagship public research university and maintains established programs in communications and mass media.
Zegel began his career in 1975 as a production supervisor at Barker & Williamson Electronics in Bristol, Pennsylvania. During the same period he worked at the University of Southern California's television engineering instructional service center and as a television technician at Wcau-TV in Philadelphia. These positions placed him within the technical infrastructure of American broadcast production, where engineering support, studio equipment, and videotape systems were becoming central to television operations.
He joined CBS in New York in 1979 as a design engineer and subsequently served as project engineer, manager of videotape maintenance, manager of videotape operations and production, and director of broadcast operations and technical maintenance. His CBS work expanded from engineering into network operations, CBS News, CBS Sports, and technology development. CBS, founded in 1927, was one of the major American broadcast networks and operated extensive production, transmission, and news facilities.
Zegel worked on three Winter Olympic Games and managed the international broadcast center for CBS's coverage of the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France. He served as director of Olympic operations for the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, where CBS used production innovations including rail cameras, helmet cameras, and speed-activated cameras for downhill coverage. He received Sports Emmy Awards associated with CBS's Winter Olympic coverage in 1994 and 1998.
He later became director of operations and engineering at CBS Television City in Los Angeles and ultimately served as senior vice president and general manager for approximately thirteen years. CBS Television City opened in 1952 as a major Los Angeles television production center and became associated with network programming, studio operations, and advances in television production technology. Zegel subsequently worked as a technology consultant and teacher in television production and systems design.
His professional work also included international technology development and standards activity. He made numerous trips to Japan to help develop production tools and served as a rapporteur for the International Telecommunication Union in Geneva on international production standards. He was involved in the Television Academy's engineering awards work and helped establish its Science & Technology peer group, providing a formal institutional home for television engineers and technologists.
Zegel directed CBS Olympic broadcast operations and contributed to production innovations including rail cameras, helmet cameras, and speed-activated cameras used in Winter Olympic coverage.
He helped establish the Television Academy's Science & Technology peer group and supported the representation of engineering and technology professionals within the Academy.
He contributed to international television production standards through rapporteur work for the International Telecommunication Union and promoted the development of new television production tools.
Barry Zegel is Presbyterian. Presbyterianism is a Protestant Christian tradition shaped by Reformed theology, representative church government, and an emphasis on scripture, education, and public responsibility.
Zegel has described television technology as part of the creative process rather than as a purely technical support function. His professional outlook emphasizes collaboration between engineers, production personnel, and creative departments, particularly as new production systems and formats develop.
Zegel has been a member and Fellow of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, an international professional society devoted to motion-imaging engineering, standards, education, and technological exchange. He also participated in the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences through its engineering awards work and Science & Technology peer group.
Later recognized as a Fellow of the Society.
Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers , United States
1984 - 1986
Served on the Engineering Emmy Awards committee, chaired the committee for four years, and helped found the Science & Technology peer group.
Academy of Television Arts & Sciences , United States
1996 - present
Quotes from others about the person
In discussing his television work, Zegel has emphasized that technologists are part of the creative process and help bring stories to life.
Zegel married Janet Cuddy on July 30, 1977. They have one daughter, Lauren Elizabeth Zegel. His parents were Martin T. Zegel and Alice Kieler Zegel.
