It makes me laugh when a fire alarm goes off and people just carry on. Lorraine should have immediately ended what she was doing, apologised to the audience and left the building. Of course she was probably being told what to do by the gallery but a fire alarm should mean an immediate exit from the building.
She handled it well though.
Not always, some alarms are in stages so you can check and if you haven't reset it within a certain time it moves to the next stage, in live TV they probably wait until the message comes down the ear piece to evacuate in case it is a false alarm.
Lorraine has tweeted. @reallorraine: So sorry! We had to evacuate the building. First time in 30 years!
The building has a very sophisticated alarm system as you would expect. When an incident is detected a general alarm (klaxon) goes off around the entire site together with a verbal warning that an incident has been detected and staff should standby to 'evacuate the building'. The security staff will then immediately attend where the alarm has been generated and make an assessment. The klaxon alarm will be supplemented and changed to either 'carry on as you were' or 'evacuate the building'. In the event of an evacuation then staff are expected to evacuate the building straightaway and the local fire appliances will automatically attend - they do not need to be called. The lifts will all descend to ground level automatically.
Of course the site has been evacuated numerous times in the last 30years, so the tweet is simply wrong.
Watching it again the alarm says the building is being evacuated, it is obvious Lorraine is taking instruction from the gallery who are telling her to carry on. In reality the minutes wasted by continuing could have cost lives if there was a fire in the building. Totally not Lorraine's fault but for the sake of entertainment she was made to carry on without knowing what was going on. She should have been told to cut to an ad break straight away.
As for the replacement programme, totally mad to have that as a back up. Surely they have 5 minute programmes to fill those kind of gaps.
Could it be the switching and playout of the Kyle programme was from that building, so they put a long programme on-air in case they could not get back into the building for some time?
Could it be the switching and playout of the Kyle programme was from that building, so they put a long programme on-air in case they could not get back into the building for some time?
No, Lorraine Kelly's programme comes out of ITV Studios on the South Bank (what used to be LWT's studio complex in the 70s and 80s). ITV's main playout centre was based there up until about 5 years ago, but that's now at Chiswick Park.
However, even if it still was, the northern playout centre at Leeds (that handles northern and midlands regional playout and commercials), is 'London's' disaster recovery centre (and vice versa) so even if playout was still in the same building, it wouldn't have affected things (that badly)
The Brian Matthew Show on Radio 2, live from the Caledonean Hotel (aka the Pink Palace) in Edinburgh during the Festival.
The Show is coming from the lounge of the hotel, making the lounge and bar area heaving, much to the disquiet of the hotel staff. Performers on stage (a fringe act, I can't remember whom).
During the broadcast someone decides to let the fire alarm off.
Matthew - in jest "I hope that's not the fire alarm?"
Not in jest - "Oh, it is the fire alarm!"
Rather than evacuate, the performance just began and competed with the bell.
Neither the Lothian and Borders Fire Brigade nor the Hotel Management were impressed. With the audio saturated by fire bell, I'd imagine that the sound engineers at BH weren't that keen either.
Hmmm... Lorraine Kelly. Coincidentally, Megyn Kelly on Fox News had an uncontrollable coughing fit last night in the middle of an interview and although the studio guest tried manfully to talk as long as he could to fill in for her, all she was able to say when he finished was "I'm sorry, we have to go to a break".
There was a slight delay before the 'break' caption appeared but only for a few seconds before Fox cut to one of their 5 minute 'shorts' and when it finished, she had recovered enough to carry on but was still clearly ill from a bad cold. "That's what happens when you try to work through a cold" she joked.
It definitely took the gallery by surprise but I have to say, it was handled better than ITV handled the other Kelly's equally unexpected fire alarm!
Hmmm... Lorraine Kelly. Coincidentally, Megyn Kelly on Fox News had an uncontrollable coughing fit last night in the middle of an interview and although the studio guest tried manfully to talk as long as he could to fill in for her, all she was able to say when he finished was "I'm sorry, we have to go to a break".
There was a slight delay before the 'break' caption appeared but only for a few seconds before Fox cut to one of their 5 minute 'shorts' and when it finished, she had recovered enough to carry on but was still clearly ill from a bad cold. "That's what happens when you try to work through a cold" she joked.
It definitely took the gallery by surprise but I have to say, it was handled better than ITV handled the other Kelly's equally unexpected fire alarm!
Itv cant just air ad breaks willy nilly they had just came back from a break minutes before that it why there where problems
True, but from what I can gather broadcasters tend to use more discreet ways of raising the alarm.
They might do for initial alerts but I can't imagine them compromising safety for a full blown fire alarm requiring evacuation. I don't think many TV executives would want to appear at an inquest to tell it that they did not sound a proper fire alarm because a tacky chat show was on and they did not want to disturb it.
Itv cant just air ad breaks willy nilly they had just came back from a break minutes before that it why there where problems
It wasn't an ad break, they fired up a short prerecorded 4 or 5 minute three-way discussion on a topical issue. Clearly, someone had it at their fingertips, be that by contingency plan or luck.
It wasn't an ad break, they fired up a short prerecorded 4 or 5 minute three-way discussion on a topical issue. Clearly, someone had it at their fingertips, be that by contingency plan or luck.
If Fox News is a rolling news station....go figure.
One presenter had a coughing fit, not the entire building evacuated. So options were a glass of water and she'd be back on air in a few minutes or change presenter and carry on.
Try it at home set fire to the kitchen wait for the alarm to go off, (What you don't have a fire alarm, tut, tut) your favourite programme is on do you set to record the rest of the programme, set to record the next programme as well or programme the recorder to record all the shows you like for the next week?
From the description of events Fox News failed to sort things cleanly, the guest had to draw out their answers, the presenter was left spluttering they were going to a break, there was black and then a filler item kicked in, was the director asleep at the wheel?
From the description of events Fox News failed to sort things cleanly, the guest had to draw out their answers, the presenter was left spluttering they were going to a break, there was black and then a filler item kicked in, was the director asleep at the wheel?
Sounds like a defence of the indefensible. Professionals never make mistakes, eh?
There was no Fox black, just a brief static show caption followed by the filler. If a presenter starts coughing nobody including themselves can know at first if it's a few seconds glitch or something that needs off-air attention so a slight (perhaps a minute or so) delay is necessary while judgements are made. If a fire alarm goes off, there should be a standing contingency plan that immediately kicks-in: no delays, no excuses. The director and presenter should both have known what this was.
"As you can hear, we have a fire alarm and have to break off now, back soon!". Contingency filler or caption at the ready. Immediately. Viewers would understand.
Comments
Not always, some alarms are in stages so you can check and if you haven't reset it within a certain time it moves to the next stage, in live TV they probably wait until the message comes down the ear piece to evacuate in case it is a false alarm.
The building has a very sophisticated alarm system as you would expect. When an incident is detected a general alarm (klaxon) goes off around the entire site together with a verbal warning that an incident has been detected and staff should standby to 'evacuate the building'. The security staff will then immediately attend where the alarm has been generated and make an assessment. The klaxon alarm will be supplemented and changed to either 'carry on as you were' or 'evacuate the building'. In the event of an evacuation then staff are expected to evacuate the building straightaway and the local fire appliances will automatically attend - they do not need to be called. The lifts will all descend to ground level automatically.
Of course the site has been evacuated numerous times in the last 30years, so the tweet is simply wrong.
I would imagine she meant it was the first time it had happened to her in 30 years on air.
Yes, that would make sense.
Could it be the switching and playout of the Kyle programme was from that building, so they put a long programme on-air in case they could not get back into the building for some time?
Answer above.
No, Lorraine Kelly's programme comes out of ITV Studios on the South Bank (what used to be LWT's studio complex in the 70s and 80s). ITV's main playout centre was based there up until about 5 years ago, but that's now at Chiswick Park.
However, even if it still was, the northern playout centre at Leeds (that handles northern and midlands regional playout and commercials), is 'London's' disaster recovery centre (and vice versa) so even if playout was still in the same building, it wouldn't have affected things (that badly)
The Brian Matthew Show on Radio 2, live from the Caledonean Hotel (aka the Pink Palace) in Edinburgh during the Festival.
The Show is coming from the lounge of the hotel, making the lounge and bar area heaving, much to the disquiet of the hotel staff. Performers on stage (a fringe act, I can't remember whom).
During the broadcast someone decides to let the fire alarm off.
Matthew - in jest "I hope that's not the fire alarm?"
Not in jest - "Oh, it is the fire alarm!"
Rather than evacuate, the performance just began and competed with the bell.
Neither the Lothian and Borders Fire Brigade nor the Hotel Management were impressed. With the audio saturated by fire bell, I'd imagine that the sound engineers at BH weren't that keen either.
The National Trust thing
I was watching it as well
I'd assume it's because the professionalism of a show doesn't matter when lives could be at risk.
True, but from what I can gather broadcasters tend to use more discreet ways of raising the alarm.
Hmmm... Lorraine Kelly. Coincidentally, Megyn Kelly on Fox News had an uncontrollable coughing fit last night in the middle of an interview and although the studio guest tried manfully to talk as long as he could to fill in for her, all she was able to say when he finished was "I'm sorry, we have to go to a break".
There was a slight delay before the 'break' caption appeared but only for a few seconds before Fox cut to one of their 5 minute 'shorts' and when it finished, she had recovered enough to carry on but was still clearly ill from a bad cold. "That's what happens when you try to work through a cold" she joked.
It definitely took the gallery by surprise but I have to say, it was handled better than ITV handled the other Kelly's equally unexpected fire alarm!
Itv cant just air ad breaks willy nilly they had just came back from a break minutes before that it why there where problems
They might do for initial alerts but I can't imagine them compromising safety for a full blown fire alarm requiring evacuation. I don't think many TV executives would want to appear at an inquest to tell it that they did not sound a proper fire alarm because a tacky chat show was on and they did not want to disturb it.
It wasn't an ad break, they fired up a short prerecorded 4 or 5 minute three-way discussion on a topical issue. Clearly, someone had it at their fingertips, be that by contingency plan or luck.
If Fox News is a rolling news station....go figure.
One presenter had a coughing fit, not the entire building evacuated. So options were a glass of water and she'd be back on air in a few minutes or change presenter and carry on.
Try it at home set fire to the kitchen wait for the alarm to go off, (What you don't have a fire alarm, tut, tut) your favourite programme is on do you set to record the rest of the programme, set to record the next programme as well or programme the recorder to record all the shows you like for the next week?
From the description of events Fox News failed to sort things cleanly, the guest had to draw out their answers, the presenter was left spluttering they were going to a break, there was black and then a filler item kicked in, was the director asleep at the wheel?
Sounds like a defence of the indefensible. Professionals never make mistakes, eh?
There was no Fox black, just a brief static show caption followed by the filler. If a presenter starts coughing nobody including themselves can know at first if it's a few seconds glitch or something that needs off-air attention so a slight (perhaps a minute or so) delay is necessary while judgements are made. If a fire alarm goes off, there should be a standing contingency plan that immediately kicks-in: no delays, no excuses. The director and presenter should both have known what this was.
"As you can hear, we have a fire alarm and have to break off now, back soon!". Contingency filler or caption at the ready. Immediately. Viewers would understand.