I arrive at WYFF at 2:30 p.m.,and I adjust the equipment to my particular standards--we all have our own setups. As a Control Room Operator, I'm expected to be able to operate three different types of equipment - Audio, Video, and Master Control.

At 3:00 p.m., we record an "episodic"-a thirty-second preview of what's to come in the 5:00 p.m. newscast. Then I prepare for the 5:00 p.m. newscast by marking my "rundown" - a piece of paper describing every shot and piece of video that will appear in the newscast. I also make notes on when music tracks will be played during the broadcast. Immediately before the news, I check the sound quality of the microphones our anchors and live reporters will be using. When the news starts at 5:00 p.m., I try to stay two steps ahead, checking and re-checking everything before it goes out on air. Timing is very important in this field, and any mistake you make on the air is a mistake for everyone to see! After the news ends at 6:30 p.m., we record an episodic for the 11:00 p.m. news, and then I take a dinner break. Advertisers on WYFF send in commercials in various lengths and in various tape formats; after dinner, we dub these commercials into our Odetics system, which runs the commercials in sequence.

The Video Operator's time schedule is similar to the Audio Operator's, but with different responsibilities. The Video Operator is supplied with a schedule of programs and satellite feeds that must be recorded for on-air playback. During the news, every piece of videotape, animation, or scene video, must be loaded and cued by the operator into one of our six machines. Sometimes, the video operator also controls camera video levels, such as color and brightness, and tunes in live shots for the newscast

As Master Control Operator, I am responsible for playback of programs and commercials, as well as keeping an eye on our transmitted signal and the output of the transmitter itself. When you're watching your favorite network shows, you'll probably see both local and national commercials. The Master Control Operator is responsible for dropping local commercials into the time slots made available by the national network. The Master Control Operator also oversees the dubbing of the commercials for the next day, making sure that every spot is ready to run for the next day and logging the time that every local commercial ran.