RadioActive wrote:

At the tail end of "Question Period" Sunday, Solomon got all tongue tied during the intro to the final segment. He wound up doing a "try that again" followed by the "3, 2, 1" countdown and then proceeded to re-record it. For those who don't know, that countdown is traditionally what news people and announcers say right before they do a take so the producers know where it's supposed to start. But it's never, ever supposed to hit air!

At least he didn't swear, which is the cardinal rule about you never knowing if a mic is live, so good for him on that. 

It appears no one noticed, because the audio was later rebroadcast at night on CFRB - and the mistake remained in the show. 

That kind of weird slip is one of my worst nightmares, and it reminded me of a long time ago when I was the technical producer for a documentary show on one of Toronto's biggest stations. I'd been there just two weeks, it was the biggest job I'd ever had early in my career and I was desperate to make a good impression. We put the show on tape Friday afternoon for an air date Sunday morning and everyone went home for the weekend. 

But at some point over the next 24 hours, I somehow became convinced that I'd missed an edit and the same kind of thing that happened to Soloman's show would mar mine. And there was no way I was going to let it get on air. I tried to reassure myself I was imagining things and it was a beautiful warm summer weekend after a tough week, so I tried to ignore that inner voice. 

But being the neurotic I am, I couldn't let it go. So on a warm Saturday afternoon, I dragged myself all the way back downtown, went up in the elevator, rushed into the control room, grabbed the giant 10" reel (no digital in those days!), went into my production studio, cued it up on the Studer, and painstakingly listened to the entire hour, as my weekend disappeared outside. 

In the end, there was nothing wrong and I hadn't missed anything. But I couldn't have lived with myself if I hadn't checked. 

It's one of those nightmarish things you hope never happens to you. That was way back in the early 1980s and I still remember it. I wonder if anyone else has ever had an experience like that one.

If I'm not mistaken I think tv supplies the audio for radio directly from the TV show.  It is automatically loaded into automation and airs unmanned at most if not all stations that run it.   Sadly if there is a mistake from the supplier (the TV team) then it goes to air on radio as such.    With current staffing levels, it's sadly how it is.   
 

Last edited by radiokid (March 7, 2022 5:38 pm)