Anchors Audibly Typing During Newscasts

[ns8401 846]

Something I find kind of odd: At WXYZ their social media obsession has led to the anchors typing while on air during weather and sports and it can be heard clearly. That and papers being shuffled and straightened. It's kind of a pet peeve of mine since it's as sloppy and unprofessional as it gets and is pretty distracting. Plus if you are drowning out or distracting from the other guys talking you are only hurting your own broadcast. Having talked to the lead anchor he basically told me "we need quieter keyboards" rather than just not typing at all. Has anyone seen this before elsewhere? I haven't seen other examples myself of any kind of noise making being allowed while on the air at any stations large or small. Usually they just sit there for three minutes rather than frantically typing and drowning out the person talking.

[swillh2k2 203]

WSOC. That's all. Not typing, but clicking endlessly.

 

 

(Myron Falwell, Nelson R. and aqvd199401 can back me up on this one)

[WXmanTim 88]

It's not just the "social media" obsession, anchors also may be working on updating scripts in the newsroom computer system (which ties directly to the prompter) to correct grammatical errors or make it more readable in his or her "voice."

 

If it's that noticeable during weather segments, or when the anchors are not on camera, then the show director or audio operator is not doing their job by not monitoring & turning down the anchor's mic.

 

At Fox Houston, the show director has an mini audio board next to him that he can use during our automated shows. Generally it operates on its own, but he still has to turn the anchor's mic down manually sometimes during segments when they are not on screen for extended periods. It's possible not all stations are set up similarly however.

[rkolsen 1679]

The only time I hear typing regularly during newscasts is on national cable news (CNBC, MSNBC, BBC World, CNN and Fox) and it usually occurs while the anchor is interviewing a guest and the guest is responding. Which I assume they leave the mic "hot" so the anchor can respond at any moment.

 

 

Locally I only hear typing or see laptops used on set is during breaking news, like when there was a recent mall shooting where three people died, a train derailment and explosion or a school shooting which are few and far between. The only stations in Baltimore that have keyboards are WMAR and WBFF connected to the built in computer in the news desks appear to only be used during commercial breaks, but if you think typing loud WMAR has a laser printer that is right behind the desk which I believe would be most distracting. WJZ has laptops on their set and those look like they are rarely used. WBAL is the only one that uses iPads so they are much quieter but before they introduced them two years ago they were using only paper scripts they ditched the laptops when they got a new set in 2009, the laptops were a staple before that.

[ns8401 846]

It's not just the "social media" obsession, anchors also may be working on updating scripts in the newsroom computer system (which ties directly to the prompter) to correct grammatical errors or make it more readable in his or her "voice."

 

If it's that noticeable during weather segments, or when the anchors are not on camera, then the show director or audio operator is not doing their job by not monitoring & turning down the anchor's mic.

 

At Fox Houston, the show director has an mini audio board next to him that he can use during our automated shows. Generally it operates on its own, but he still has to turn the anchor's mic down manually sometimes during segments when they are not on screen for extended periods. It's possible not all stations are set up similarly however.

That's interesting, I'm not sure how this one is set up, I've only seen one picture of their control room and it looked like 1 automation operator, a couple producers and a director were present. They do leave the anchors mics up at all times (sometimes they will chat with the weather guy right in the middle of the forecast and make comments, same for sports). They use what appear to be iPads and somebody's bright idea was to hook keyboards to them.

 

What really bugs me is that I talked to the weather guy first and the typing did stop for a couple days and then started again, so I almost got my wish.

 

I only mentioned social media because between the anchors they sent 4 tweets and two shout-out tweet selfies to viewers while the weather was on, I think I counted somewhere near 15 or 20 tweets during the 11pm newscast alone. That blew my mind and seems a bit overkill. I have had success actually getting a human on the phone at the station in the past so maybe I'll try that next.

[Thundershock MN 169]

That's interesting, I'm not sure how this one is set up, I've only seen one picture of their control room and it looked like 1 automation operator, a couple producers and a director were present. They do leave the anchors mics up at all times (sometimes they will chat with the weather guy right in the middle of the forecast and make comments, same for sports). They use what appear to be iPads and somebody's bright idea was to hook keyboards to them.

 

What really bugs me is that I talked to the weather guy first and the typing did stop for a couple days and then started again, so I almost got my wish.

 

I only mentioned social media because between the anchors they sent 4 tweets and two shout-out tweet selfies to viewers while the weather was on, I think I counted somewhere near 15 or 20 tweets during the 11pm newscast alone. That blew my mind and seems a bit overkill. I have had success actually getting a human on the phone at the station in the past so maybe I'll try that next.

You answered your own question. I was going to post something along the lines of what WXManTim posted. Chaulking it up to being either poor automation and/or someone asleep at the switch. As shuffling papers and typing shouldn't normally be picked up. His post summed it up nicely though.

 

But, if they leave their mics open then that explains why some of that background noise is being picked up. Apparently they feel the possibly having extra background noise is a fair trade off for extra "happy talk."

 

And, as stated just because an anchor is off camera doesn't mean they aren't working on or doing something else. Most of the time at the anchor desk it's as e-mail, script updates, make-up, etc., etc. Sometimes depending on how the newscast is blocked out if there is enough time said anchor may not even stay in the studio. They might step out to use the restroom, etc. Heck, there is an morning anchor here that does a wardrobe change everyday between the 8am hour & 9 am hours.

[ns8401 846]

You answered your own question. I was going to post something along the lines of what WXManTim posted. Chaulking it up to being either poor automation and/or someone asleep at the switch. As shuffling papers and typing shouldn't normally be picked up. His post summed it up nicely though.

 

But, if they leave their mics open then that explains why some of that background noise is being picked up. Apparently they feel the possibly having extra background noise is a fair trade off for extra "happy talk."

 

And, as stated just because an anchor is off camera doesn't mean they aren't working on or doing something else. Most of the time at the anchor desk it's as e-mail, script updates, make-up, etc., etc. Sometimes depending on how the newscast is blocked out if there is enough time said anchor may not even stay in the studio. They might step out to use the restroom, etc. Heck, there is an morning anchor here that does a wardrobe change everyday between the 8am hour & 9 am hours.

I gotcha, I knew most of that, more of the point of the thread was how common it was rather than why it was, looks like there are other stations out there that are the same way. I already knew about the anchors mics being open as the cause because I know the approximate distance from desk to green screen so it couldn't be the weather guys mic picking it up that clearly. The happy talk is ok so I guess I'll have to live with it. I am amazed how much extra stuff goes on off camera, it almost doesn't seem like there would be the time but they get it done anyways. As for sloppy automation I can back that up, mistakes are a common sight there, usually wrong graphics and or no graphics, sometimes black screen for several seconds etc.

[WXmanTim 88]

Im grateful our directors kill anchor mics when they're off camera for extended periods (weather, pkg etc) because it makes it easier to convey information back and forth and know they understood.

 

In my booth, we have a director, producer and robotics operator (for fine tuning cameras and also to back up the director for any coding changes in the rundown). On our morning show it used to be that the first 3 hours were automated and the final 3 were manual. That changed in January with the arrival of our new morning EP. Now only 4-6 is automated.

 

(Edited to add)

Honestly what's far more distracting to me during newscasts is the sound of live truck generators during shots! It just seems lazy to me to set up right outside the truck on a regular basis and mix the nat mic in with talent feed. Unless it's a dangerous situation, an extra for our two can make a world of difference.

[ns8401 846]

 

Im grateful our directors kill anchor mics when they're off camera for extended periods (weather, pkg etc) because it makes it easier to convey information back and forth and know they understood.

 

In my booth, we have a director, producer and robotics operator (for fine tuning cameras and also to back up the director for any coding changes in the rundown). On our morning show it used to be that the first 3 hours were automated and the final 3 were manual. That changed in January with the arrival of our new morning EP. Now only 4-6 is automated.

 

(Edited to add)

Honestly what's far more distracting to me during newscasts is the sound of live truck generators during shots! It just seems lazy to me to set up right outside the truck on a regular basis and mix the nat mic in with talent feed. Unless it's a dangerous situation, an extra for our two can make a world of difference.

 

I agree about the live trucks, no need to be so close that it sounds like you are inside a power plant. After watching tonight I discovered something interesting: The first TV I was watching on was the OTA HD feed on 7.1 where every little noise is really easy to hear. Tonight I watched it on HD cable and it sounded way way better, no typing noises or anything, even the reporter audio was better. They did not kill the mics because the happy talk was still in full swing in weather. So there must be a difference between the two somehow.

[AaronQ 259]

 

WSOC. That's all. Not typing, but clicking endlessly.

 

 

(Myron Falwell, Nelson R. and aqvd199401 can back me up on this one)

 

That's true, especially during their severe weather coverage (including from their weather center).

[Hickman360 21]

WSB perfect example at times during the newscast you can clearly hear either Justin Farmer or Jovita Moore pounding away at the keyboard

[Thundershock MN 169]

I agree about the live trucks, no need to be so close that it sounds like you are inside a power plant. After watching tonight I discovered something interesting: The first TV I was watching on was the OTA HD feed on 7.1 where every little noise is really easy to hear. Tonight I watched it on HD cable and it sounded way way better, no typing noises or anything, even the reporter audio was better. They did not kill the mics because the happy talk was still in full swing in weather. So there must be a difference between the two somehow.

Your answer is most likely due to compression. Your CableCo is compressing that data again before sending it out you. Compression techniques have improved making the little bit that is "lost" is much less noticeable. But, unless you are using lossless compression there is bound to be some "loss." Plus, if your CableCo is taking the signal via OTA versus direct fiber feed to the head end that could exacerbate the problem. Each time you move further from the original source you will "lose" a little bit more with the extra layers of compression/decode. So, in summary my guess is it's being "lost" or muffled in your CableCo's compression/decode.

 

To answer main topic of the question directly versus just providing anticdotes. It is fairly common for anchors to be doing "something" when off camera. However, I'd say it is much more common to have mics killed rather than left open. So, the situation you posed with WXYZ is more of an exception rather than the norm.

[ns8401 846]

Your answer is most likely due to compression. Your CableCo is compressing that data again before sending it out you. Compression techniques have improved making the little bit that is "lost" is much less noticeable. But, unless you are using lossless compression there is bound to be some "loss." Plus, if your CableCo is taking the signal via OTA versus direct fiber feed to the head end that could exacerbate the problem. Each time you move further from the original source you will "lose" a little bit more with the extra layers of compression/decode. So, in summary my guess is it's being "lost" or muffled in your CableCo's compression/decode.

 

To answer main topic of the question directly versus just providing anticdotes. It is fairly common for anchors to be doing "something" when off camera. However, I'd say it is much more common to have mics killed rather than left open. So, the situation you posed with WXYZ is more of an exception rather than the norm.

Thanks for the explanations, this is the one time I think I am thrilled something is being "lost" on it's way here. I think from now on I'll just grab the cable feed of it.

[rkolsen 1679]

Thanks for the explanations, this is the one time I think I am thrilled something is being "lost" on it's way here. I think from now on I'll just grab the cable feed of it.

I recall correctly reading on another TV technology forum (specializes in the hardware and technical aspect of tv transmission) that the cable companies should not be compressing a signal they get from a typical broadcast station either via fiber or a traditional rabbit ear antenna. This means that they should give each channel their full 19.39 Mbps bandwidth/bit rate now most stations don't use the full amount but when I compared the the bitrate to the amount listed on a website like http://rabbitears,info they should be equal per channel (they usually range from 10-15Mbps for the main HD channel and anywhere from 2-5Mbps for a sub channel) of course many stations do use adaptive bit rates so it could be lower during news and higher during sports. In fact I think my Comcast actually has higher bit rates than over the air which I found out after I transferred a show from my TiVo to computer.

 

Anyway back to the topic of clicking it could be related to whether a station mixes their audio in 5.1 surround so a small sound could be picked up louder than it is.