Inside The Control Room Part II
As promised, more video from yesterday's live broadcast. Following up on our groundbreaking visit to the CBS News editorial meeting, we took a camera into the "Early Show" control room to give you a look inside the nerve center of a live broadcast. Led by Senior Executive Producer Michael Bass, you'll see a team of producers, directors and technicians put on the first half hour of the broadcast.
This is where the show is coordinated, where feeds come in and the orders go out. Pay attention to Bass, who talks with reporters in the field, anchors on the set and guides the army in the control room. But pay particular attention to the director, Mike Mancini. It is the directors who really have these shows in their hands. You know the constantly changing pictures on your screen? The director's the one who switches them, working ahead of the show and paying attention to it at the same time. Of course he and the senior producer have a lot of help along the way.
This video, unlike the 10:30 meeting, has been edited to remove some of the less-appealing moments – wild camera pans, jerky movement, bad sound, etc. Unlike the 10:30 meeting, this video has not been edited for any editorial reason. We wanted to give you a good taste of what goes on in a control room, one that is a little easier to watch.
Video: We've broken this up into two parts, one of which we posted yesterday, it's about 17 minutes long. As promised, below is part two, it's a little over 11 minutes. Enjoy, and let us know what you think.