It's 3 minutes to air and I just got word that the lead liveshot is having trouble feeding the reporter's package back from the field.
What do you do? You stay calm, cool, collected...and pray. But honestly, it's time to consult with the producer and come up with a backup plan.
In this case, we decide we'll skip past the reporter's package & liveshot. Mark Nolan will instead start the broadcast with a weather update on the approaching snow that was intended to air a bit lower in the first block.
The anchors are told in their earpieces of the situation and what we intend to do. The camera operator prepares to redirect the cameras and the TD & audio engineers adjust their setups. It's a very quick process with little time to react.
Fortunately with 15 seconds left before the show hits, I get word the liveshot has fed and is ready to go. All is good and we are back on track.
Somedays, things can go very wrong. TV has become a digital world based on computers and technology that gives a few people the ability to do a lot of things all at once. But since we are all human, mistakes do happen. A wrong button is pushed, the wrong tape is rolled...or a misspelled graphic gets on the air. When you're live, there are no second takes.
But the job of the director is to keep the show moving and to work around the issues that arise so that no one at home notices. That doesn't always happen...that's when you get to see something funny that wasn't quite planned: an anchor looking at the wrong camera, the wrong full screen graphic, a tape about elephants when the story is about a fire. It's funny at home, but feels awful in the control room.
Our first block of the show is usually quite busy with little room for error. We typically do about 15 - 20 stories in the 1st 10 minutes of the show. This includes several liveshots, lots of video effects including map wipes, tape to tape wipes, page turns and other elements to make the show visually appealing and to keep the viewer interested - and entertained. TV news has become as much about entertainment as information.
The 2nd block is a continuation of news and a weather segment.
The 3rd block is a fast paced sports segment that features lots of stories crammed into a short period of time.
And the final block of the show is usually a feel good story we call a "kicker." With the all the bad news and trouble in the world, we always like to leave our viewers with good thoughts and some laughter as we say goodnight.
Finally we fade to black and the process starts all over again with the next show.
