How to Run a Rundown Review Before Your Next Live Show
A step-by-step guide to reviewing rundowns, cueing, talkback and fallback plans on paper, so the faults that surface on air are found in a quiet room instead.
Daniel Okafor · · 6 minutes to read
Start with the paper, not the gallery
A workflow review begins away from the control room. Before anyone checks a cable or a fader, collect the documents the team actually uses on a show day: the rundown, the script format, the cue sheet, the talkback assignments and any fallback notes. Ask for the last two or three versions that went to air, including the messy ones with handwritten changes. Those marked-up copies tell you far more than a tidy template, because they show where the team improvised.
Lay them out side by side and read them as a stranger would. Can a new vision mixer operator tell what happens at each line? Is it clear who calls the next shot, who confirms graphics and who owns the clock? When two people give different answers to the same question about a cue, you have found your first finding. Write it down plainly, without assigning blame.
- Gather the last two or three broadcast rundowns
- Include annotated, marked-up copies
- Note every line where two people answer differently
Walk through the rundown line by line
Take one recent rundown and read it aloud with the producer, director and studio manager in the same room. For each item, ask three things: what triggers it, who confirms it is ready, and what happens if it is late. Most live problems sit in the handovers between items, such as a package that rolls before the presenter has finished, or a guest introduced before their microphone is open.
Mark every point where a single person holds two jobs at once, or where a cue depends on someone looking at the right monitor at the right moment. These are the places where a busy minute turns into a missed cue. Keep the list short and ordered by how much damage each point could do on air, so the team can see what to fix first.
- Ask what triggers each item and who confirms it
- Mark handovers between items
- Flag anyone carrying two jobs at the same moment
Check cueing and talkback habits
Cueing is where habit hides. Sit in the gallery during a rehearsal and listen, with the sound up, to how instructions are given. Are calls short and in a fixed order, or do they drift into conversation? Is the same phrase used for the same action every time? A crew that says ready, then cue, then go in a consistent rhythm can recover from surprises; a crew that improvises each call cannot.
Look at talkback too. List who can hear whom, which channels are shared and which are private. Floor staff often hear far less than the gallery assumes. If a floor manager has to guess what the director wants, a short written channel plan will save more time than any new equipment. Record who is on which channel and who has the right to interrupt.
- Use one fixed phrase for each action
- Write down a channel plan for gallery and floor
- Decide who may interrupt a live call
Write down the fallback for each failure
A fallback plan is only useful if it exists before the fault. For each critical element, such as a failed camera, a lost guest link, a dead microphone or a graphics machine that stops, write one sentence stating what the team does, who decides, and how long they wait before acting. Keep these to a single page that sits on the desk, not buried in a shared folder nobody opens during transmission.
Then test two of them in rehearsal. Pull a source without warning and watch what happens. The first attempt will usually be slower than the paper suggests, and that gap is exactly what the exercise is for. Adjust the wording, shorten the decision, and run it again. A fallback that has been practised once is worth far more than a long document nobody has read.
- One sentence per failure: action, owner, wait time
- Keep it to a single page at the desk
- Rehearse two failures without warning
Turn findings into a short written review
Finish with a document the whole team can read in ten minutes. Group findings under rundown, cueing, talkback and fallback. For each, state what you saw, why it matters on air and the smallest change that would help. Avoid long theory; a producer on a busy week wants to know what to alter before Thursday, not a lecture on broadcast practice.
Rank the changes by effort and effect. Some will be a single line added to a rundown template, others a short briefing for the crew. Agree one owner for each and a date to look again after the next few shows. A review that leaves with names and dates attached gets used; one that ends as a general summary tends to sit unread.
- Group findings under four headings
- Rank changes by effort and effect
- Give each change one owner and a review date
What to prepare before you ask for help
If you decide to bring in an outside reviewer, a little preparation makes the work quicker and the findings sharper. Send recent rundowns, the crew list with roles, and a short description of the formats you run, whether a news bulletin, an interview or a longer live show. Mention any recurring trouble, even if it seems minor, such as late graphics or confusion on the floor.
It also helps to arrange access to a rehearsal or a live transmission, so the reviewer can watch the team rather than rely on documents alone. Tell people in advance that the aim is steadier shows, not a hunt for mistakes. Crews speak more openly when they know the notes will describe the process, never single out an individual.
- Send rundowns, crew roles and format descriptions
- Name any recurring trouble, however small
- Arrange access to a rehearsal or live show
A steadier live show rarely comes from new equipment; it comes from clear rundowns, consistent calls, a talkback plan people understand and fallbacks that have been tried once. Start with the paper, watch a rehearsal, and write down only what the team can act on. Do that before the next transmission and the faults you find will be small, cheap to fix and settled before anyone is on air.
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Daniel Okafor
Lead Camera TrainerDaniel spent years as a studio camera operator and now coaches crews in live shot composition.