Tom Speicher, writer/video producer at Pennsylvania College of Technology, holds the 2025 Mid-Atlantic Emmy Award he won for his work as an announcer with WVIA-TV's 2024 Little League Challenger Exhibition Game. Partner Maria E. Weisser accompanied Speicher to the awards ceremony on Sept. 20 in Philadelphia.
WVIA-TV, the PBS-member television station for northeastern and central Pennsylvania, has won a 2025 Mid-Atlantic Emmy Award for its broadcast of the 2024 Little League Challenger Exhibition Game, of which Penn College’s Tom Speicher was one of the announcers. Speicher is a writer/video producer at the college with a vast background in broadcasting.
Television markets within the National Academy of Television Arts & Science Mid-Atlantic Chapter include Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg/York/Lancaster and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, as well as Trenton and southern New Jersey; Dover and northern Delaware; Wheeling, West Virginia; and Steubenville, Ohio.
“It’s big any time you can beat out stations in Philadelphia, the fifth-largest TV market in the U.S., and Pittsburgh, the 27th largest,” Speicher said.
The Emmy recognizes outstanding achievements in television and allied media by conferring annual awards of merit in the chapter’s designated region.
Speicher shares the Emmy, which was awarded under the “Human Interest – Long Form Content” category, with WVIA’s Ben Payavis, producer, and Ken Sawyer, play-by-play announcer.
“We knew WVIA was submitting the 2024 Little League Challenger Division Exhibition game for Emmy consideration, so it was very nice to see our names when the nominations were announced in August and quite humbling to receive the actual award last month in Philadelphia,” Speicher said. “WVIA does a tremendous job producing the game, and my fellow announcer, Ken Sawyer, and I have a blast throughout the hour-long broadcast. I don’t think we stop smiling."
Speicher has been a part of the WVIA broadcast team since the station started airing the game in 2012. In his role as color commentator, he has the opportunity to talk about the teams and players, revealing their likes and hobbies, while providing some background on the Challenger Division, an adaptive baseball program for individuals with physical and intellectual challenges.
“The Challenger kids show true love and passion for the once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Speicher said. “They are so inspiring. It truly is an honor to be part of the broadcast team responsible for covering the remarkable event. I always say it’s the best game at the Little League World Series.”
This was Speicher’s third Emmy nomination, two of which were shared with Penn College colleague Chef Paul Mach, for their work on the college’s former public television cooking series, “You’re the Chef.”
“When nominated this August, I was joking that 24 years between Emmy nominations must some sort of dubious record,” he said.
Watch the Little League Challenger Exhibition broadcast here.