Lights, Camera and Action

I thought working in TV would be glamorous, fun and exciting and off course it was. But it was
also cut-throat. Moving to television from print I was eager to prove me mettle in the big bad
world of lights cameras and action. And I did. Everyone dreams about TV world and a glamour
that is associated with it. But, the colorful and glamorous world may turn into something very
hideous some time. Proving yourself isn’t enough there. There are so many things that new
anchors have to go through.

Narcissist attitude of Old Anchors:

The first experience of hosting a live TV show was truly awesome for me. I and my co- host
were assigned to host live TV show every week. OMG: the first show had three female hosts and
a male celebrity. The former host kept insulting us and telling us again and again that we were
new to the show and channel. “I welcome both of you to the channel and show”, she mostly
talked and showed and “I” attitude. She was asked to quit the show after that by the
management.

The beginning is always Exciting:

Anyways, after that we both were assigned to host the same show with our range of guests that
we could possibly invite. The show and things did very well in the beginning and we kept getting
great feedback from everyone. We had great time together, off-air as friends and on-air as co-
hosts. Things worked very well for two months. In the mean time, I created a fan page of the
show and got a great response from fans. Plus I also kept uploading videos on you tube. The
viewership increased from 1900 to 10,000 in two months.

When Things Change Suddenly:

I was unable to understand how and when things started getting wrong. I saw and heard some
people saying to my co host that show should have only one host. She took their words seriously.
Was that so? We started having minor clashes over many things. Inviting guests was not the only
issue. I remember once when I started hosting the youth show, I had written a post regarding
cheap hosting quality of morning shows. The show quality was just becoming like the ones I had
written against. Co-hosting a live show becomes harder when guests are invited and especially
they wish to talk about their own achievements and work. Sorry…who was interested in listening
to a typical small talk that could hardly serve any purpose of the show?

In the mean time, she appeared as a guest on some show. I could simply feel a lot of change in
her attitude. She showed a very strange kind of behavior. “From now onwards, I will invite my
own guests,” she told me icily. I tried to convince her that for one week she could invite her own
guests and for one week, I could invite my own. But she refused the offer. She did that for two
weeks. The last show that I did, she told me who the guests were. When I tried to contact them,
they didn’t give me their contact numbers. I could not make a successful show like that. I needed
full coordination with the guests that she wasn’t allowing me. I was her co host, not her follower.
She kept showing an “I” attitude during the whole live show. The last example I would use as of
her undermining me was when she used personalized calls during the show. I knew most of her
friends who used to act as live callers and used to talk to her during the show, specially
addressing her. Where was I? It was typical way to bring my profile down and undermining me
during the show before the channel people.

When you are blamed for Mistakes that Others Make:

This has even happened many times. I remember a live caller called during a show and made a
highly personalized comment in the live show to a colleague of mine. We were best buddies and
the caller talked something very wrong about that. The colleague was hell annoyed over that and
thought that I was the one to make that call. Clarifying myself was very hard for me as anything
could happen during a live show.

When payments are delayed:

Working for a channel as a freelance anchor is not a joke. They don’t pay you on time. At times,
most of the money is spent out of your pocket, and you hardly break even. Those who are on
salary have an advantage over us. Delaying payments is an old issue that I have already
discussed. I even did a show on delay in payments which was appreciated much. But even we are
a victim of delayed payments. After all, it’s the world of lights, camera and action.