Printed Rundown or Shared Digital Rundown for a Live Bulletin

Two ways to carry a plan through a live show

Every live programme needs a rundown that tells the gallery what comes next, who speaks, which camera is on and when the sound changes. Over the years I have seen two broad approaches. One is a printed rundown with paper cue sheets for each role. The other is a shared digital rundown that every position reads on a screen and that updates as the producer changes it.

Neither is new and neither is automatically right. The question for a studio is which one fits the size of the crew, the pace of the programme and how often the running order moves once the show is on air. I am writing from the sound desk, so I notice the effect of late changes on audio before anyone else does.

This comparison sets out how each option behaves in a live bulletin, where each one breaks down, and which one I would recommend for most of the studios we plan for.

How the printed rundown and cue sheets work

The printed approach starts with a master rundown, usually one or two pages, and a short cue sheet for each position. The sound sheet lists microphone opens and closes, playback of packages, and talkback instructions. The camera sheet lists shot numbers and moves. Everyone holds the paper they need and nothing else.

Its strength is plain reliability. Paper does not freeze, does not need a network and cannot be altered by someone else halfway through a segment. A crew member can glance down, find the line, and look up again. Marking a change with a pen takes a second, and the mark stays where you put it.

The weakness is distribution. When the producer drops an item or swaps two, someone has to tell each position and each person has to correct their own sheet. In a small gallery that is a few spoken words. In a busy one it becomes a chain of messages, and a missed correction is how a microphone stays shut on the wrong person.

• Works without a network or power to extra screens
• Easy to mark up by hand during a segment
• Changes reach each position only by voice or a reprint

How a shared digital rundown behaves

In the digital approach the rundown lives in one place and every position reads the same live version. When the producer moves an item, the new order appears for everyone at once. Cue notes can sit against each line, so the sound supervisor sees the microphone plan beside the item it belongs to.

The gain is consistency. There is one source of truth, which removes the question of whose sheet is current. Timings can be tracked against the clock, and the order can be reviewed after the show, which helps when the crew wants to see where a bulletin ran long.

The cost is dependence. The screens, the connection and the person maintaining the rundown all become part of the broadcast chain. If a screen goes dark, the position has nothing in its hand. A cluttered digital rundown can also hide the one change that matters among a dozen small edits, and people stop reading it carefully.

• One current version for every position
• Cue notes can sit directly against each item
• Needs reliable screens and a fallback if one fails

Where each option breaks down

Printed plans fail quietly. Nothing alerts you that a sheet is out of date until the moment it matters. I have seen a correct rundown on the producer's desk and an older one in front of the sound position, and the gap only showed when a package went to air with the wrong audio arrangement.

Digital plans fail loudly but less often in the way people fear. The usual cause is not the technology but a lack of discipline: several people editing at once, vague line names, or notes that nobody owns. The system then reports every change and the crew learns to ignore it.

The deciding factor is how often the order moves after the show starts. A fixed bulletin with a stable running order suits paper. A programme that reshapes itself around breaking items, guests and overruns benefits from a rundown everyone sees change at the same moment.

What to look at before you choose

Start with the crew. A gallery of five people who sit within earshot of each other can run on paper and speech without trouble. A gallery spread across a studio floor, a control room and an audio room has more distance for information to cross, and shared screens earn their place.

Then look at the programme. Count how many times the running order changed during your last few live shows. If the answer is rarely, the added setup of a digital rundown buys little. If it is most nights, you are already paying for the lack of one in corrections, repeated instructions and the occasional wrong cue.

Finally, ask who will own the plan. Either option needs one named person responsible for the current version, whether that is the producer or a gallery assistant. Without an owner, both approaches degrade in the same way.

• How many people need the plan, and where do they sit
• How often the order changes once the show is live
• Who owns the current version during the programme

My recommendation

For most live news and show studios I recommend a shared digital rundown as the working plan, with a printed copy kept at each critical position as the fallback. The digital version carries the changes and the cue notes. The paper is what you hold if a screen fails, and it costs almost nothing to produce before the show.

The exception is a small, stable bulletin with a short crew and a fixed running order. There, a well-made paper rundown with clear cue sheets is simpler to run and simpler to teach to a new operator, and adding screens would only add something to maintain.

Whichever you choose, settle the rules before the first rehearsal: who edits, how a change is announced to the gallery, and what the sheet looks like when the show goes off script.