In broadcasting, it's said there's nothing worse than dead air, where just two or three seconds of nothing can feel like an eternity. But actually, I think there's something worse. And it happened to CTV Toronto's John Musselman on Monday during the station's noon newscast.

He was doing a story about the Ford government's plan to cut the gas tax in July, with the veteran reporter standing at a gas station. He dutifully read his brief intro and stood there waiting for the report to roll.

And stood there.

And stood there.

And stood there.

Normally, when a story isn't available for whatever technical reason, they'll either cut back to the studio anchors, who will talk about some temporary glitch to explain it to viewers, go to a generic live shot - like the ones off the CN Tower - or in the worst-case scenario, fade to black for a few seconds as they get it all worked out. But they almost never hang the guy on air out to dry by staying on him non-stop.

Except in this case. The unblinking camera remained trained on poor Mr. Musselman for 18 agonizing seconds. Doesn't sound like a lot, but in broadcasting terms, it must have felt endless, as he stood there with his mic poised in front of his face, blinking and waiting for an all-clear that never came. 

At the same time, you could hear someone in his IFB (the earpiece they wear to communicate with the studio) say "Keep talking." But he apparently didn't hear it and just stood there motionless - and silent. Another few seconds of eternity went by, before you could hear the same voice say "He's not responding."

Finally, almost mercifully, they cut back to anchor Michelle Dube, who said, "Sorry to leave you hanging there, John," before throwing to a totally different story. 

To be fair, Musselman was a real pro and never flinched during the entire thing, which must have felt like it would never end. That's him below, waiting and waiting and waiting for a tape that never came. 



And that wasn't the end of the troubled newscast. At one point, they went to that terrible story about the Ukrainian citizens apparently being gunned down in cold blood by retreating Russian soldiers. The caption on screen said it all. "Evidence Of Atrocities." Except it was spelled "Attrocities," with an extra "t." That, too stayed up for what seemed like an hour before they finally fixed it at the end of Paul Workman's debrief. 




I'm not pointing this out to laugh or make fun of them. Hey, it's happened to all of us at one point or another and I have great sympathy for those involved and for the chaos you never get to see in the control room. I've just rarely seen it last quite that long.