In all the years I worked in TV news, one of the worst things that can happen is leaving your anchor out to dry. By that I mean putting the camera on him or her when they're not supposed to be on air. There is literally nothing you can do except stare back at the lens, as the audience sees you sitting there doing nothing. 

Which brings us to Tuesday's CTV News at 6. While co-anchor Natalie Johnson was reading over a full screen graphic of a statement, the camera suddenly switched back to Rahim Ladhani, who was waiting to read the next story. For eleven agonizing seconds, the camera sat on him, as he stared at viewers, unable to saying anything because Johnson was still reading. 

Eleven seconds may not sound like a lot, but I assure you, in TV news, to be on camera with nothing to do for that long, it feels like an eternity. There's nowhere to go and nothing you can do except wait it out. It was pretty clear he wasn't happy. (See stills, below)

I remember when it happened to a well known anchor I used to work with. He stood there staring at the lens, and then when we cut to commercial, he lost it, screaming at the crew in the control room for making him look bad. Maybe an overreaction but understandable. It's that uncomfortable for both broadcaster and viewer. 

So kudos to Ladhani for getting through it. Not that he had any choice. But it's never easy.