Stay Curious. Stay Connected.
MailNewsletters♡Donate Now
Sign up
*Password must be at least 8 characters and contain one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter, one number and one symbol.
Already have an account?
By submitting, you consent that you are at least 18 years of age and to receive information about MPR's or APMG entities' programs and offerings. The personally identifying information you provide will not be sold, shared, or used for purposes other than to communicate with you about MPR, APMG entities, and its sponsors. You may opt-out at any time clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of any email communication. View our Privacy Policy.
Sign in to your profile
Forgot Password?
New to MPR News?
Welcome back
to news
for you
Reset Password

Enter the username on file and we'll send you a code to reset your password.

Still require assistance or not sure what your User Name is?
Welcome back
to news
for you
Email Verification

A verification code has been emailed to

Still awaiting the code?
Daily Circuit Blog
Chris Dall

When a guest isn’t ready to go live on-air

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Log inCreate a free Account

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

Show me!

I'll be the first to say that producing radio should never be mistaken for performing surgery. A life isn't at stake. That being said, there are many nerve-wracking moments that listeners are never aware of. This morning we had one of them.

If you look at the picture below, taken this morning, I look pretty calm. I wasn't. It was taken at approximately 11:06, as we were trying to connect with the guest scheduled to go on air at approximately 11:06, Bloomberg reporter Roben Farzad. He was supposed to be in a studio in New York, and we were having trouble connecting to that studio.

Plus, he wasn't even seated.

Associate Producer Kryssy Pease is frantically trying to get in touch with Bloomberg to find out where he is. Denny Hansen, an MPR engineer, is trying to connect us to the Bloomberg studio.

At this point, I'm trying to figure out what to do next. To buy some time, we had taken two extra minutes of the NPR newscast. (Here's an inside tip for listeners: If the NPR newscast seems longer than normal, that means we don't have our guest). I also asked Tom Weber to throw a few more stories into his newscast. And I had Meggan Ellingboe, our assistant producer, get the guests scheduled for 11:15 on the line.

At 11:08, we hear Roben get seated, and say hello to us in the control room. Hooray! we have our guest. I let Kerri Miller know he's ready.

Twenty seconds later we hear from Roben, "I can't hear anything."

Oh no! we don't have our guest!

I let Kerri know. Tom continues to read the news. Erik Stromstad, the board operator, is trying to fix the technical issues and play pieces of sound for the newscast. I notice his hands are shaking. At 11:08:45, just as Tom is wrapping up, we find out Roben can hear us, and is ready to go. Ten seconds later, Kerri introduces the guest, we hear him speak, and we breathe a sigh of relief.

Voila. The magic of radio. (That's Kryssy Pease looked freaked out behind me)

--Chris Dall, senior producer