Comms is the nervous system of a live show. Everyone in the crew is on a talkback channel, and one voice — the show caller — turns the run order into cues that fire on time. Get the language and discipline right and a complex show feels effortless; get it wrong and every transition is a negotiation.
Channels
Small shows run one open channel. Larger ones split: a production channel (caller, vision, graphics, playback), a technical channel (streaming, sound, engineering) and a floor channel (floor manager, cameras, stage). The caller can talk to all; departments keep their own chatter off the production channel. Remote crew join the same channels over IP intercom — our cloud galleries run comms this way every show.
The standard vocabulary
"Standby [item]" — warn, 10–30 seconds before, naming the item number from the run order. "Go" — execute, and only the word "go" executes anything. "Cut", "Take 2", "Roll VT", "Graphic in / graphic out", "Fade to holding" — short, unambiguous, agreed in advance. Nobody says "yeah do it now" on comms. Counts are given into VTs and out of breaks: "coming out of VT in 10… 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, go cam 1".
Calling from the run order
The caller reads ahead. While item 14 is on air they are standing by item 15 and checking item 16 is ready. Every cue names the item number so anyone can find their place: "standby item 15, lower third Sarah, cam 2." When timings drift the caller announces the new plan once, clearly: "we're running four late, we'll lose the second poll, item 22 is out."
Calling hybrid and remote
Hybrid shows have two rhythms — the room's and the stream's — and the caller sits between them. The floor manager cues the stage; the caller cues the pictures and graphics; and they talk to each other constantly. Remote speakers are cued by the speaker wrangler on a separate line so they never hear the gallery. When the caller is remote (cloud gallery) the floor manager becomes their eyes; agree a shorthand for what the room is doing.
Discipline
- Only the caller calls. Everyone else confirms ("cam 2 ready") or reports ("stream health good", "Sarah's link dropped").
- Report problems in one line, with what you're doing about it: "primary encoder down, on backup, stream stable."
- No chat during a live segment. Save the joke for the break.
- Use names, not "you".
- If comms fails, the pre-agreed fallback is the printed run order and hand signals from the floor.
What it sounds like
"Standby item 12, VT sizzle, 90 seconds, embedded audio, mics down. Graphics standby holding for the end. Coming to VT in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 — roll VT, mics down. Good. Sarah, you're back on cam 1 after this, wrap in 90. Standby cam 1, standby lower third Sarah. Out of VT in 10… 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, cam 1, mics up, graphic in."
Rehearse comms as part of the dress run. A show that's been called through once already is half the stress of one that hasn't.