Vahey ’26 Charts a Broadcast Career Through Emerson and WCVB

Aidan Vahey ’26 is thriving amid chaos.

The organized chaos of live TV, that is.

When he’s not at Emerson, the Media Arts Production major works– sometimes up to 50 hours a week– at WCVB, the top-rated television station in Boston.

“Everything moves so fast,” he said. “There’s no pause button. You prepare as much as you can, trust your team, and execute.”

Vahey began his relationship with WCVB in May 2024 as an engineering intern. During the internship, he rotated through nearly every aspect of broadcast operations, shadowing professionals in the newsroom, control room, audio, lighting, directing, and technical directing. One day even placed him inside the station’s news helicopter to cover a story in New Hampshire. As they were flying, Vahey looked down to see his own Newton, MA neighborhood—and his parents standing in the driveway—directly beneath him.

By August 2024, immediately following the internship, WCVB hired Vahey as a freelance operations technician. Since then, his schedule has varied week to week, ranging from 20 hours to as many as 50, depending on the station’s needs. His responsibilities span control room operations, audio mixing, camera work, floor directing, teleprompter operation, and other combination roles common in live television. The position is union-based through IBEW Local 10, further immersing him in the professional broadcast environment.

As Hearst Television’s flagship station, WCVB maintains exceptionally high standards. “There are a lot of expectations,” Vahey said. “Because of that, you’re surrounded by people who are truly the best at what they do. Some have been there 40 or 50 years. Being able to learn from them every day is incredible.”

As much as he’s learning the technical aspect of the job, so too is he benefitting from the station’s culture. “[At WCVB] they stop and smile and ask your name. I learned the importance of a good working culture.”  

Vahey credits Emerson with preparing him to step confidently into that environment. Many of the tools and workflows he encountered at WCVB mirrored what he had already learned in Emerson’s Tufte Performance and Production Center. “I carried the knowledge I learned at Emerson over to WCVB.”

Courses such as Virtual Production with School of Film, Television & Media Arts Assistant Professor Daniel Pillis helped demystify advanced broadcast technologies, particularly when Vahey worked on WCVB’s virtual-set programs like Chronicle.

“The class gave me a better understanding on how to make a virtual set and just see the inner workings of it,” said Vahey. “That was cool to get to study it in class and work on it professionally. The future of the industry is going towards virtual production. WCVB’s is a multi-cam green screen. At [Emerson’s] Ansin [Building] it’s a green screen room. [It’s the] same tech, but just a little different.”

Beyond the classroom, Emerson’s student productions provided Vahey with invaluable live-TV experience, and the opportunity to learn software and hone troubleshooting skills. He added that working with his peers in the control room created a supportive, symbiotic environment.

“I learned a lot through Tony Ascenso [’00, MA ’20],” Vahey said of Emerson’s Director of Production Facilities. “Tony is amazing [as are] all the studio staff in Emerson’s TV studios.”

Vahey has worked extensively on Good Morning Emerson, joining the control room team during his second semester and continuing to work on the show twice a week. He has also contributed motion graphics, engineering support, and stage management to Emerson Channel productions and the EVVY Awards, including directing the ceremony last year and serving on the engineering team this year.

“Live TV is hard,” Vahey said. “You get one shot.”

That blend of academic preparation and real-world application has shaped Vahey both professionally and personally. When technical challenges arise, he often turns to mentors at WCVB for guidance—sometimes even troubleshooting Emerson projects during lunch breaks at the station.

Looking ahead, Vahey hopes to continue working at WCVB after graduation while keeping his long-term ambitions open. He has already had a glimpse of what could come next. Through networking at the EVVYs, he secured a tour of NBC’s 30 Rockefeller Plaza and sat in on NBC Nightly News alongside Emerson alumni and industry professionals. “I remember walking past Studio 1A as a sixth grader [so] to be sitting between the director [Christian Alicea ’93] and associate director [Dawn DiCicco ’13] years later was very cool,” he said.

For Vahey, the path from Emerson to WCVB—and beyond—has been defined by hands-on learning, strong mentorship, and a willingness to step into live, unpredictable moments.

Emerson helped him build the technical foundation he needed and WCVB taught him how to apply it in the fast-paced world of live television. And now, he’s ready for whatever comes next.