Hurricane Florence Coverage

Fantastic. I also like when presenters picked up the phone on camera. Prop or no feed to earpiece?

Sometimes just a prop. I visited TVC in 1985, and saw the 'Newsround' set. There was a GPO Trimphone on the little desk next to the presenter's chair, the cable from it went nowhere

On the same subject
https://youtu.be/e4Zs9iOlO3o?t=48

Couple of reasons :

1. Some presenters weren't wearing an earpiece - so the phone was the only means of contacting them directly rather than via a floor manager (who was on talkback)
2. If they were wearing an earpiece it was often only to be able to hear the director and the PA, but the producer couldn't talk to them over it and had to phone them.

In the 60s and 70s talkback systems were a lot more primitive - and ways of working were a lot more regimented. Even by the 80s the editors of some news programmes had to pick up a phone handset to talk to the presenter over their earpiece. (The so called 'Bough Phone')

Oh, no, I meant for live interviews with reporters. TVAM used to do it.

Lack of earpiece presumably the same reason there?

You didn't have a battery powered radio? As far as I know radio stations didn't have as many problems as their TV counterparts that morning.

I think the only radio station in the London area that initially failed to get back on the air after the grid power failed was LBC. In the 'panic' they forgot to take their genny off load before attempting to start it.

I didn't lose any power (other than brown outs) at home, and my local Tx Hannington was on the air RBS'ing BBC 1 Crystal Palace, and the 'Nick Witchell in the Broomcupboard' show. The other three TV channels were missing, but local Radio 210 was on the air, being very useful (as it was back then)

Indeed, LBC broadcast some of their breakfast show (their classic line up of Douglas Cameron and Bob Holness) from their radiocar parked outside

'so we have neither the film on the IMF or Rhodesia. What am I supposed to tell the Panorama audience tonight?'

No, my parents weren't that forward thinking.

Nor were mine, but it was a fairly common household object in the 80s


Different these days, lots of battery powered devices but not many that would be much good if there were widespread power cuts.... except those phones with FM radios in. Most of us would have to sit in the car to listen

Re TWC: I quite like how the anchoring is done mostly by people out in the field and going back to studio ("The Lab" - I mean come on) for extra explainers or whatever.

They definitely get into the heart of the action. I'll probably stream it for most of the day and then maybe switch to the locals later tonight. If people find one channel is better than another (on lots of criteria ) can you let us know?

FYI the outer bands of the storm are starting to hit the coast now.