"That's right..."

[upandown]

Two of the most overused words when beginning live-shots.

[Michigan J. Frog]

...but often the only thing to say when management tells the anchors to make a statement as they toss:

"Firefighters finally have the upper hand on this fire, Bob."

"That's right, Julie..."

or, what I'd love to see...

"Well, no, Julie, they don't have it yet..."

[HappyMadison]

That's right, upanddown...

[TVShootist]

That's right, brotha.

[Lazlo Toth]

If I were news director ....

live shots could not begin with "that's right"

or end with "back to you."

[Pro]

Originally posted by Lazlo Toth:
or end with "back to you."God, I HATE that!!!!

It got started on generic network live shots and was picked up by local reporters. Well, the network live shots (or "gang bangs", as I used to call them) have a reason for saying that, but the local reporter KNOWS the names of the anchors he is tossing back to. USE THEM!

[Zeke]

I work with a guy who has some sort of....well...he says "right on" ALL THE TIME. People nick-named him right on, and he knows why, but just can't stop saying it when being talked to.

[Mr. Rugen]

Originally posted by Pro:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Lazlo Toth:
or end with "back to you."God, I HATE that!!!!

It got started on generic network live shots and was picked up by local reporters. Well, the network live shots (or "gang bangs", as I used to call them) have a reason for saying that, but the local reporter KNOWS the names of the anchors he is tossing back to. USE THEM!</font>[/QUOTE]We've got a reporter in Dallas who ends EVERY live shot with "back to you". Drives me bananas.

[bride]

Originally posted by Lazlo Toth:
If I were news director ....

live shots could not begin with "that's right"

or end with "back to you."I'd rather hear "back to you", then "Brenda, Bob, back to you guys in the studio".

[Deconstruction Inc.]

Originally posted by Michigan J. Frog, unemployed mascot:

"Firefighters finally have the upper hand on this fire, Bob."

"That's right, Julie..."

or, what I'd love to see...

"Well, no, Julie, they don't have it yet..."Or how about...

"Damn straight, Julie!"

or

"No shi*, Julie! Can you believe this crap?"

tongue.gif

[That Camera Guy]

"Indeed...."

[blaqbelt]

How about....."As you know......"

No, we don't know, that's why you are here.....

[Fake Post]

How about....

"That's right Bob, and thank you for sticking to the script that I wrote."

[s'news]

Or, as the late Irv Kupcinet was known to often say to Jack Brickhouse during broadcasts of Chicago Bears games, "dat's right, Jack."

[Marty McFly]

That's right Pro! Doctors say that cold temperatures do NOT cause the cold virus, nor does it cause anyone to become infected with the cold virus.

Some people are still ignorant enough to believe otherwise.

Now, back to you...

[Your Boss]

Furthermore, reporters, if the anchor should ask you an unscripted question and you don't know the answer, SAY SO. There's no shame in saying, "You know what, I don't know the answer to that, but I'll find out and tell you tonight at ten." That looks a whole lot better than stuttering and stammering through a B.S. answer.

[Kace]

Cool Points to any reporter who, instead of saying "back to you" opts for "Hey Idiots! Tag, you're it again."

[Diplomat]

That's right, it is irritating.

For live shots, I've always been fond of, "Live at City Hall, I'm Irving Schwartz, Eyewitness News."

Back to you in this thread.

[Radio & TV]

Originally posted by s'news:
Or, as the late Irv Kupcinet was known to often say to Jack Brickhouse during broadcasts of Chicago Bears games, "dat's right, Jack."With the occasional "Rite choo are, Jack...." for variety...

[Sultanosurf]

Funny, I always thought the most overworked opener was "Well..."

"That's right" is a product of bad anchoring or bad writing. If you're crafting the toss around a question, you can expect to get burned. Why not just get to the reporter and let them tell the story, instead of the producer or anchor trying to get crafty on the toss?

Another of my pet peeves is "guys," as in "Back to you guys at the studio." Yo, can youse get any lazier?

[Tripe Face]

Remember that Cincinnati reporter who got thrown in jail for fondling the little boys he met while being a volunteer "mentor" long before that hit the fan, he was dragged in to the News Directors office for different trouble.

He was sent to be live from breaking news scene a fire or somesuch. The anchors gave the basic story and tossed to him for his first live shot. He said (paraphrasing here) Well, you just told the whole story, I have nothing to add, back to you!

You should have HEARD the newsroom after THAT live shot.

[The Sleeper]

How about the reporters just start talking when they are tossed to?
How about they avoid referencing the anchors since they are talking to the viewers and not the anchors?

It's simple folks.

[Lazlo Toth]

Originally posted by bride:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Lazlo Toth:
If I were news director ....

live shots could not begin with "that's right"

or end with "back to you."I'd rather hear "back to you", then "Brenda, Bob, back to you guys in the studio".</font>[/QUOTE]Same thing on steroids. Just another version of "back to you."

I too would rather just hear, "Reporting live, Joe Blow, KXYZ News."

And don't you just love to hear that anchor question in your ear on something you already covered in the story? And once Barbie asks a question, Ken has to have one too. So he asks something that was covered in the story.

Once had an anchor ask me five questions, all of which had been covered in the live shot. Hard not to appear annoyed by the third or fourth one. But at least I knew the answers ..and so did the audience.

[ August 05, 2005, 11:17 AM: Message edited by: Lazlo Toth ]

[TV's Frank]

Not crazy about the "live at X place, I'm Joe Blow, KRAP news" ... why not just have a thought or bit of information that you can include in your tag and insert the name of the anchor whom you're tossing back to ...

"... and if they get the donations they're hoping for, Allison, construction could be finished even sooner than that."

... and stop talking. The name cue lets the TD know to switch to the split screen ... your super has already been up there, so people know who you are ... and "live" is redundant, even in this age of 'as-lives' and the morons who use them.

Don't get me started on anchors tossing to and transitioning back from network insert lives by mentioning the reporter's name and then thanking them, knowing damn well that said reporter can't hear them. That's misleading and unethical.

[Lá Fhéile Pádraig Sona Daoibh]

NO NO NO...here, this is the mark of a weak anchor:

*at the beginning of each new story*

"Well...scientists have found..."
"Well...taxes are going up..."
"Well...news improvements in technology..."

or

"And police find a body at...."
"And cars with power locks..."
"And tomorrow is a carnival..."

or, for reporters...

*coming back from a pack to a live tag*

"Now, police aren't saying..."
"Now, the bike will be replaced..."
"Now, the Senator says..."

"Well," "And," and "Now" are comfort words. They help green and weak anchors and reporters to get into another topic or start a new sentence.

DO NOT USE, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES

You sound inexperienced, whether you are or not.

Thank you.

- the Pagan Bastard Association for People Against the Misuse of WA&N

[masscomm101]

Someone seriously suggested a reporter (who is not as well known to the viewer) IGNORE the anchor and just start talking?! That certainly sends an interesting signal to the viewer that the reporter doesn't have a clue who just tossed to them.

[NewsMom]

Pagan beat me to the keyboard, to harp on the most annoying thing I hear in liveshots.

Now, it starts when the reporter needs to say
something else, and needs a second to be articulate.

Now, it's usually a phony way to seem casual, as if it's a real "conversation" with the audience.

Now, it drives me crazy.

Now, go away and never use the word NOW to start a sentence, unless you're making a sharp contrast to another time period.

[Delicious Bass]

At first glance, I actually thought this thread was devoted to the final two words of "Boogie Nights."

graemlins/icon_pidu.gif

[Kelvin Hemholtz]

The whole damn thing is stilted. It's OBVIOUS to viewers at home that scripts have been written ahead of time and that the anchors most likely know the answers to any questions they ask. (Breaking news is the exception).

I always think it's just dumb looking to have an anchor PRETEND they don't know anything coming into the piece - then ask a detailed question after the package runs.

Example: Joe Blow is at the courthouse, and what happened there today? -- then the reporter does his/her thing and the anchor asks something witn completely new info like "so in TWO WEEKS he'll be back in court... what do his lawyers expect him to do?" How could the anchor NOT know anything at the start then have ADDITIONAL info for the Q&A?

My personal LEAST favorite toss: "what can you tell us?" right after the anchors have just spit out 3 or 4 facts. To the viewer it's like saying: Here's the gist of the story, now, can you re-state what I just said - only in a different way?

Just leave it at: Joe Blow is live with more.... THEN just RUN with it in the field...

[ August 05, 2005, 04:56 PM: Message edited by: Kelvin Hemholtz (Not Lou Holtz) ]

[upandown]

We also make a mistake in adressing anchors by name.

With, "That's right, John..." we subconsciously exclude the viewers.

[ August 05, 2005, 05:11 PM: Message edited by: upandown ]

[Fake Post]

Originally posted by upandown:
We also make a mistake in adressing anchors by name.

With, "That's right, John..." we subconsciously exclude the viewers.Not sure about this one...

Should we say when we are pitched to...?

"People (folks) here's what's happening at City Hall."

or "For you South Bay residents, power will be out for the remainder of the evening."

IMHO the best pitch back to an anchor goes something like this...

"City leaders are working to remedy the budget shorfalls. (Insert anchor name) if those problems are not fixed, more services will be cut." (stop talking)

[call me sam]

Our reporters are told to sig out -- in xxx, i'm joe blow, wxyz news. But some of them add a "for now" in there, as in "we'll have more information later tonight, but for now, live in xxx, I'm Joe Blow, WXYZ news"

For now. Later, I'll be somewhere else, perhaps reporting for someone else, but for now.... Once in a while it might make sense, but repeated over and over it kills me. I also worked with an anchor who said "you're exactly right" at the beginning of every live shot. We all said it with him in the control room. Finally one of the producers pointed it out to him and he quit. He didn't even realize he was doing it.

I give reporters some slack though; I've never had to do it, and verbal patterns are no doubt easy to fall into.

[Lazlo Toth]

Originally posted by produce this:
Our reporters are told to sig out -- in xxx, i'm joe blow, wxyz news. But some of them add a "for now" in there, as in "we'll have more information later tonight, but for now, live in xxx, I'm Joe Blow, WXYZ news"

For now. Later, I'll be somewhere else, perhaps reporting for someone else, but for now.... Once in a while it might make sense, but repeated over and over it kills me. I also worked with an anchor who said "you're exactly right" at the beginning of every live shot. We all said it with him in the control room. Finally one of the producers pointed it out to him and he quit. He didn't even realize he was doing it.

I give reporters some slack though; I've never had to do it, and verbal patterns are no doubt easy to fall into."For now, I'm ... "

and who will you be later?

An anchor in our market used to say, "For everyone here at Channel X, I'm ...."

And we always wanted know who she was for people not at Channel X.

[Mom]

God forbid I bring up the Holy Grail of Live Shots but I'm going to anyway. You all make valid points about the stupid things said by reporters but from an audience point of view the stupidest is "I"m Sarah Strongheart, LIVE, from the courthouse" or "Reporting LIVE from the site of today's shooting, I'm Larry Lungful. Consultants would fall over dead on the spot if someone suggested dropping the word "Live" but it's rather meaningless when the story isn't breaking news. It doesn't matter that you're live in the room where a meeting was held 3 hours ago. Nobody cares. Whenever I hear someone say, "I'm live ..." I always, in my head, respond with "As opposed to what? You're dead?" Someone a long time ago convinced every broadcaster in the world that the only way to get ratings is to be and say "LIVE" whenever possible. It's a cheap gimmick and I'm pretty sure that most of the viewers get that it's a cheap gimmick, done, not for their benefit but for the benefit of the station. Acting self-serving is never a good thing.

[WalMartNation]

Originally posted by TV's Frank:

Don't get me started on anchors tossing to and transitioning back from network insert lives by mentioning the reporter's name and then thanking them, knowing damn well that said reporter can't hear them. That's misleading and unethical.By all means Frank, get started, I can't stand anchors who thank Manuel Geaelgos (sp) or Aileen Sirgany for their reporting on the Colorado wildfires from a small market shop 6 states away.
One dump market I worked in, our lone competitor would get custom outcues for every network fronted pkg, and I mean EVERY one during ratings.
"In Rocky Mountain National Park, I'm Joe Schmoe reporting for NBC News. Dumb Anchor... now back to you"
Dumb Anchor: "Thank you Joe, stay clear of those fires, hopefully the crews make more progress tomorrow."
Made me seriously consider violence toward the television I watched it on.

[Diplomat]

Originally posted by Mom:
God forbid I bring up the Holy Grail of Live Shots but I'm going to anyway. You all make valid points about the stupid things said by reporters but from an audience point of view the stupidest is "I"m Sarah Strongheart, LIVE, from the courthouse" or "Reporting LIVE from the site of today's shooting, I'm Larry Lungful. Consultants would fall over dead on the spot if someone suggested dropping the word "Live" but it's rather meaningless when the story isn't breaking news. It doesn't matter that you're live in the room where a meeting was held 3 hours ago. Nobody cares. Whenever I hear someone say, "I'm live ..." I always, in my head, respond with "As opposed to what? You're dead?" Someone a long time ago convinced every broadcaster in the world that the only way to get ratings is to be and say "LIVE" whenever possible. It's a cheap gimmick and I'm pretty sure that most of the viewers get that it's a cheap gimmick, done, not for their benefit but for the benefit of the station. Acting self-serving is never a good thing.I always wanted to hear someone end with "TAPED at City Hall, I'm Felix Katt, Action News."

[Another side]

Originally posted by Mom:
God forbid I bring up the Holy Grail of Live Shots but I'm going to anyway. You all make valid points about the stupid things said by reporters but from an audience point of view the stupidest is "I"m Sarah Strongheart, LIVE, from the courthouse" or "Reporting LIVE from the site of today's shooting, I'm Larry Lungful. Consultants would fall over dead on the spot if someone suggested dropping the word "Live" but it's rather meaningless when the story isn't breaking news. It doesn't matter that you're live in the room where a meeting was held 3 hours ago. Nobody cares. Whenever I hear someone say, "I'm live ..." I always, in my head, respond with "As opposed to what? You're dead?" Someone a long time ago convinced every broadcaster in the world that the only way to get ratings is to be and say "LIVE" whenever possible. It's a cheap gimmick and I'm pretty sure that most of the viewers get that it's a cheap gimmick, done, not for their benefit but for the benefit of the station. Acting self-serving is never a good thing.Agreed, Mom. I can only think of one time when I wasn't sure whether the shot was live, and that was rushing to the TV just before the second plane hit on 9/11. I remember yelling to no one in particular, "My God, is this LIVE???"

And, now, well, let me add my objections to custom tags -- they're dishonest, unethical and cheesy, and any anchor that can "thank" the reporter without feeling squeamish should be put through a thorough background check.

[bride]

Originally posted by Pagan Bastard:
NO NO NO...here, this is the mark of a weak anchor:

*at the beginning of each new story*

"Well...scientists have found..."
"Well...taxes are going up..."
"Well...news improvements in technology..."

or

"And police find a body at...."
"And cars with power locks..."
"And tomorrow is a carnival..."

or, for reporters...

*coming back from a pack to a live tag*

"Now, police aren't saying..."
"Now, the bike will be replaced..."
"Now, the Senator says..."
You're right... this screams of inexperience! But so many anchors do it, and no one calls them on it. Every story begins with "well..." or "now..." It sounds so much CLEANER when you just start the story as it's scripted.

But honestly, I think all this back to you stuff.... it bothers us in the industry much more than it bothers people at home. We all need to lighten up.

[s'news]

Originally posted by radio & tv:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by s'news:
Or, as the late Irv Kupcinet was known to often say to Jack Brickhouse during broadcasts of Chicago Bears games, "dat's right, Jack."With the occasional "Rite choo are, Jack...." for variety...</font>[/QUOTE]If there weren't some drinking games associated with these, there shoulda been.

[s'news]

I'm with Frank, by the way, on casually saying anchor names in the last part of a liveshot, while finishing a final thought. It's natural. It's conversational. It says "live" without having to say "live."

Ending a liveshot with call letters bothers me. You're live, yet you end in a nonconversational way. Shoot, it almost belies the point of being live since it sounds like the end of a taped package.

Ditto also the thought offered by Your Boss on a reporter saying he/she doesn't know the answer if asked a question where they don't know the answer. You say "I don't know. I'll see what I can find out. I do know that ..." and you briefly add some information.

[The Sleeper]

Originally posted by masscomm101:
Someone seriously suggested a reporter (who is not as well known to the viewer) IGNORE the anchor and just start talking?! That certainly sends an interesting signal to the viewer that the reporter doesn't have a clue who just tossed to them.That's BS.
If the lead is written correctly, and the anchor reads it properly, the reporter would just pick up from there and go.
It's called command anchoring. The reporter need not aknowledge the anchor, or say, t"hat's right, Jim." The reporter just plows forward, saving time, getting to the most important part of the story, the video. And it's a better pacing technique.

One day, you'll understand after Masscomm101 and you move beyond theory into real life.

By the way, viewers don't give a rat's ass about the the reporter. They care about the anchors.

[The Sleeper]

Originally posted by upandown:
We also make a mistake in adressing anchors by name.

With, "That's right, John..." we subconsciously exclude the viewers.BINGO! You're giving the news to the people, not the anchors.

[Soul Doubt]

"For you South Bay residents, power will be out for the remainder of the evening." "Buy you wouldn't know about this, considering you can't watch the television."

[60.cycle.hum]

Originally posted by Mom:
God forbid I bring up the Holy Grail of Live Shots but I'm going to anyway. You all make valid points about the stupid things said by reporters but from an audience point of view the stupidest is "I"m Sarah Strongheart, LIVE, from the courthouse" or "Reporting LIVE from the site of today's shooting, I'm Larry Lungful. Consultants would fall over dead on the spot if someone suggested dropping the word "Live" but it's rather meaningless when the story isn't breaking news. It doesn't matter that you're live in the room where a meeting was held 3 hours ago. Nobody cares. Whenever I hear someone say, "I'm live ..." I always, in my head, respond with "As opposed to what? You're dead?" Someone a long time ago convinced every broadcaster in the world that the only way to get ratings is to be and say "LIVE" whenever possible. It's a cheap gimmick and I'm pretty sure that most of the viewers get that it's a cheap gimmick, done, not for their benefit but for the benefit of the station. Acting self-serving is never a good thing.True dat. The dog-licks. Technically the anchors in the studio are LIVE, too.