Sometimes having two days to get ready for a show isn’t enough. After flying from the lovely Newark airport to the equally lovely Indianapolis airport, getting a cab ride from a driver clearly practicing for Indy 500 qualifying, and checking into yet another anonymous hotel, setup began once again.

All TV trucks are different, but they all have one thing in common. They need electricity, lots of it, to work. From all the delicate digital equipment to the air conditioners and lights, modern TV trucks are power hungry beasts. And when those little electrons stop flowing, well, it makes work a lot more difficult.

For the whole set day, we noticed the lights would dim slightly every so often. Nobody paid much attention to it. Day of the show, the lights continued to sporadically dim. Then, we noticed a problem with the system used to communicate with the on air announcers. Every time the lights would dim, the IFB system would buzz and hum. The power source the truck was on was clearly unstable, and could possibly shut down during the show. This was a bad discovery. That it was discovered with only an hour to air was worse.

With the threat of a power failure possibly taking our show off the air, a quick discussion ensued. Minutes later, an unbelievable decision was made. With twenty five minutes (!) until our game was to be broadcast live to millions of eager NBA on ABC viewers, the truck would be switched to a new, untested power source. Of course this would mean shutting the entire truck down, and blind faith and trust that every setting created over the past two days would be saved, and restored in time.

Had it been fixed the day before, it wouldn’t be such a big deal. But with less than an hour until air? Risky. Either way it was a gamble.

New power cables were quickly run and connected. With eighteen minutes to air, the truck whirred back to life on it’s new power source. Settings were hurriedly reloaded.

With no rehearsals, no time to check anything, a deep breath, fingers and toes crossed, time ran out, and we were on the air.

The gamble paid off, and our show remained on the air. Basketball fans nationwide were delighted, but not nearly as happy as those that took the gamble.

Author: frenchy