May 5, 2003 4 min read

Live television can create some tense moments. Even if you don’t fall out of your chair during the broadcast. We’ve broadcast several programs live on HSTV, Charter cable channel 19, with minor gaffs but nothing which knocked us off the air or resulted in injuries.

The stress usually comes in the shape of little foul-ups. Last Tuesday night’s live broadcast with the Democrat candidates for Fayette County commissioner was the most recent example.

Just as Joe Kosinski, the HSTV producer, announced over the loud speaker in the studio, “One minute to air time,” we had a guest who was making the rounds with the candidates. Handshakes and greetings were being exchanged.

When the guest arrived at the press table, a movement toward a handshake resulted in a large glass of water and ice cascading over the table. At that moment, Kosinki’s voiced boomed out across the studio: “30 seconds.”

I had my personal doubts that the flood could be cleaned up within that limited time period. But the studio crew produced a stack of napkins which rapidly was put to work by everyone.

If you watched the live broadcast, you probably didn’t notice that no one at the press table, including Herald-Standard editorial page editor Luanne Traud, who came within inches of getting soaked, had their hands or elbows on the table. The top of the table was saturated with water throughout the entire program.

The live TV gremlin struck again during the broadcast with the Republican candidates on Wednesday night. Near the end of the program the microphone being used by those of us on the panel asking questions for the candidates to answer suddenly, and for no apparent reason, failed.

If we had been videotaping the show for later broadcast, a problem with a microphone could be fixed. A live telecast is a different situation. With only a few minutes remaining in the broadcast, the studio crew would have had to stop the program while electrical lines and cables were brought out in front of the cameras for new microphones to be plugged in. Obviously, a major interruption such as that would not be feasible in a live show, particularly with only a few minutes remaining.

Someone asked why it is necessary for a broadcast to be done live. A live telecast adds an element of drama and credibility to the program. Viewers at home know that comments made by a candidate is the real deal. There’s no editing possible in a live broadcast.

It’s that atmosphere of the unknown which adds to the broadcast. Television producers realize the value of live shows, but because they have a high risk of problems most shows are videotaped and then broadcast later.

We’ve never been ones to shy away from taking risks as long as we believed the credibility or integrity of the program or product was at stake. We take our responsibility to uphold the trust the public places in us very seriously. The live candidate forum broadcasts are an example.

We will be back on the air, live, on election night, May 20, to bring HSTV viewers the results of the voting in the primary election. No one knows whether the vote will be slow or fast, but we will be there reporting the precincts as they are counted that night.

If you happened to miss the live candidate forums, we are going to rebroadcast them. All of the shows will begin at 8 p.m. The Democrats will air May 8, 12 and 18. The Republican forum will be on May 9, 13 and 17.

If you have any suggestions for changes or improvements in the format, drop me a note. Just don’t ask me to fall out of my chair during the next live broadcast. That possibility keeps me awake at night.

Mike Ellis is the editor of the Herald-Standard. His e-mail address is: mellis@heraldstandard.com.