The Southern Ontario/WNY Radio-TV Forum / Bizarre Video Game Lets You Be The News Director

**Posted by RadioActive** June 25, 2025 7:50 am

This isn't new having been released in 2024. But it's certainly bizarre. It's called "Not For Broadcast," a live action video game that puts players in the newsroom driver's seat. This article, from a Czech website, attempts to explain the concept.

"You play as Alex Winston, a janitor who was abruptly made the next broadcast engineer...to start, you’ll need to get familiar with a vision mixer, which consists of four screens and a whole lot of buttons, so you can choose which camera feed to broadcast. Three advertisements also need to be played during commercial breaks, which you pick out before your shift begins.

And on top of keeping a keen eye across these four screens, you have to manage interference via a waveform monitor, censor profanity and unsavory information, all while keeping the broadcast engaging for your audience. That means switching and adjusting the feed at opportune moments to maintain or improve viewership."

And that's just how it starts. It gets more complicated from there.

If you're curious what this looks like, you can see a preview here.

Personally, I got enough of this at work, so I don't think I'd want to play it in my off hours!

**Posted by Shorty Wave** June 25, 2025 8:15 am

RadioActive’s headline for this post reminds me of years ago while working at Citytv and Citypulse, (our news show at the time), would do specials during ratings. The one that comes to mind was called “You Be the News Producer”. I don’t remember exactly how it worked, it involved phoning in somehow. The only reason I remember bits of this is because I produced a promo for it, long ago! (Pre HD Days!)

**Posted by The Foxer** June 25, 2025 1:22 pm

Hi Shorty wave and RA,

"You be the News Director" I cut this with Anne and we won a CanPro.
Thanks to Ed at Retrontario for posting this on the site. Complete with countdown, some openings are missing. Ooops
Enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VbcEBHeO90&t=1s

**Posted by Cheese2RF** June 25, 2025 2:14 pm

yes ive played the demo for this!
also check out killer frequency! its a little bit different.

you play as a late night DJ, then suddenly people start calling in about a string of murders across town,
since the police station had its power cut by the serial killer, your job is to guide your callers to safety,keep the show on air, and search the radio station between breaks for clues.

i found the writing to be fairly accurate, around the radio side, they really encapsulated that small market station politics feel in my opinion! station owner is a conspiracy theorist, you got that one guy who keeps calling in trying to plug his own business for free, etc.

originally it was for VR, but you can play it on a screen. I recommend it!

Last edited by Cheese2RF (June 25, 2025 2:15 pm)

**Posted by RadioActive** June 25, 2025 2:28 pm

Cheese2RF wrote:
yes ive played the demo for this!
also check out killer frequency! its a little bit different.

you play as a late night DJ, then suddenly people start calling in about a string of murders across town,
since the police station had its power cut by the serial killer, your job is to guide your callers to safety,keep the show on air, and search the radio station between breaks for clues.

i found the writing to be fairly accurate, around the radio side, they really encapsulated that small market station politics feel in my opinion! station owner is a conspiracy theorist, you got that one guy who keeps calling in trying to plug his own business for free, etc.

originally it was for VR, but you can play it on a screen. I recommend it!

**Posted by ig** June 25, 2025 2:37 pm

Boy, would these dilemmas ever be dealt with differently today. Even if, and I mean if, the Canadian outlets refused, the stuff would be on air in the states within microseconds of the decision. Trump saying Fuck was an interesting click of the ratchet forward.

The Foxer wrote:
Hi Shorty wave and RA,

"You be the News Director" I cut this with Anne and we won a CanPro.
Thanks to Ed at Retrontario for posting this on the site. Complete with countdown, some openings are missing. Ooops
Enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VbcEBHeO90&t=1s

**Posted by Shorty Wave** June 26, 2025 7:42 am

The Foxer wrote:
Hi Shorty wave and RA,

"You be the News Director" I cut this with Anne and we won a CanPro.
Thanks to Ed at Retrontario for posting this on the site. Complete with countdown, some openings are missing. Ooops
Enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VbcEBHeO90&t=1s

Wow! Lots of familiar faces in the newsroom shots! I remember this “News serial”, that’s what I think they were called. Some of them were really good, it was one of the times that the newsroom got to work on something longer format. Thanks for sharing The Foxer, Paul? And congrats on the CanPro!