O.B. stands for Outside Bustle

Our outside broadcasts cover a wide field of events and reach a pretty high standard of television, thanks to the hard work put in by all those engaged on them. These days people are rather prone to take the smooth televising of an outside event for granted. So Fusion asked O.B. director GRAHAME TURNER to write an article about his job. Not unnaturally he has stressed the lighter side of life far from the twin sanctuaries of Television House and Wembley. But beneath this lies a firm foundation of skilful teamwork.

 

Perhaps the greatest attraction of television outside broadcasts is the excitement of being caught in the atmosphere of a particular occasion, and, although the facilities available in studios are, by comparison, the last word in technical luxury, there is a certain extra challenge when you are starting from scratch.

Since we have been on the air we have covered most kinds of outside broadcast, among the most memorable being the Opening Ceremony from the Guildhall, the Hallé Orchestra series, Princess Margaret’s Wedding, Summersong, Wimbledon, and The Derby.

On the average O.B. there is a complement of staff similar to that for a studio production – six riggers, three racks, three sound, four radio links engineers, five cameramen, a senior engineer, a director, and a P.A.

But these numbers can grow quite considerably. For one of our “spectaculars’, The Derby, we had 12 cameras, three ‘scanners’ (mobile control vans), 70 technicians, six commentators, 17 horses and a cast of approximately 500,000.

Once a site has been suggested for an O.B. the director and various senior technicians carry out an initial survey. This involves siting the cameras and microphones to the best advantage, arranging power supplies and measuring out cable runs.

The maximum distance a camera can be placed from the scanner by a cable run is 1,000 feet. This is not very far when you remember the size of most racecourses.

At Epsom for the Derby last year five of the 12 cameras had to be situated up to a mile away from the scanner. When this happens a radio link has to be used to transmit the picture back to the main scanner. From there the programme is sent by radio link or Post Office line to the transmitter via Television House.

One of the more difficult types of O.B. to produce is an advertising magazine from an exhibition hall. The advertising department has to sell time to clients months ahead of the exhibition date – before the clients have balloted for floor space.

Consequently, when the programme arrives on the director’s desk, he is committed to televising stands from all corners of the exhibition hall, probably covering a few thousand square yards. The amount of energy and thought expanded by a television crew in these circumstances is tremendous.

Many O.B.’s can only be rehearsed in a basic fashion. After deciding the best format much must be left to the moment. Rain can, for example, play havoc with the equipment. You can find yourself going on the air with only one working camera.

Fog does not help either. It was so foggy at Sandown once that it was impossible to distinguish the horses. The cameramen were trying hard and Tony Cooke was doing a brilliant commentary in the appalling conditions. Finally, he said, ‘Kings Troop is passing the post now’. But the horse we had in shot jumped a hurdle. We had been faithfully following the last horse for most of the race.

The Radio Show last year had its moments too. We had rehearsed at Earls Court for two days and managed to get in two dress rehearsals. The programme entailed a quick piece of work in moving the cameras to the stand of a television maker. All went like clockwork, but when the cameras arrived the whole stand was in darkness. Everyone had gone home. There were mad scenes (unknown to me at the time, thank heavens) as all the available staff tore-down the boards in front with seconds to spare.

About 20 of us went to Lisbon two years ago for the three-week-long Trade Fair operation, which involved about an hour’s transmission delay in Portuguese. After a fortnight one of the P.A.’s thought she had mastered the language. One morning she ordered breakfast for about six of us. It sounded most professional, but the waiter went a sickly colour and said in broken English: ‘Would you mind waiting please as we will have to re-arrange the kitchen.’ Apparently she had ordered 120 cups of coffee.

Another time I was doing my first Greyhound racing programme from Harringay Stadium. We had results from five other race meetings to transmit as well as our betting in between races, and it was all becoming fast and furious. In the midst of this an inquisitive voice from within the scanner piped up: ‘Excuse me, is the hare alive?’

All of which shows that outside broadcasts are an endless source of interest. New locations and different circumstances ensure we never get in a groove.