Inside the Business Anchor’s Studio: Super Tuesday Interview With Neil Cavuto
Before entering the studio, I expected a certain competitive atmosphere that would be glossy and electric, reminiscent of the moments before a world championship boxing match but without the thrill of violence. While that was absent on the piercingly silent stage from which Cavuto anchors, it was clear in spades in the control room, where audio and video and graphics producers control countless of television screens that make the sights in the place feel somewhat imposing and prohibitively Orwellian, but belie the festive but responsible sounds of the producers exchanging orders and requests, over the sound of Don Imus telling Neil Cavuto he’d really rather be in bed right now. It is a panopticon of sorts, but a comforting one, given the magnitude of the operation.
The Fox News Control Room. The top screens show other networks, the rest various angles of what is on Fox Business at the moment.
Producer Gary Schreier controls the entire room for the night. It seems like a Herculean task to control so many screens simultaneously. “I’ve been watching television since I was 3, so this is a dream job!” he says cheerfully, keeping an eye on Newt Gingrich over his left shoulder, who had just won Georgia and began to deliver his extended victory (of sorts) speech. There are multiple races happening simultaneously—the presidential race, of course, but commands for those in the control room flit around with purpose and are responded to almost immediately: they know the world is watching, and watching other networks, too.
As it is a business network and so many on staff have experience with the market itself, the patterns of shuffling papers and keeping up with the numbers in the states looks not unlike work in an economic institution more than a political one, though the analogy most apt to me at the moment would be of a sports team playing a game and racking up points rather than votes or dollars. Here, the tiniest details on the screen make the difference between a professional television program and your favorite YouTube series come to life.
Contrast this to the studio, which I had remarked to Cavuto seemed abrasively quiet before a broadcast. “We try to keep our intensity for the product and try not to screw it up, try not to make light of it,” he explained. “That doesn’t mean we don’t have senses of humor. Our goal is have fun but not be silly.” His producer echoes the sentiment as he explains that, while he takes the job very seriously, a job that consists of watching and controlling television must almost by necessity be fun. The Tennessee results roll in, and Schreier interrupts Cavuto in his earpiece to let him know they are ready to project a winner.
Shortly before beginning to anchor the night’s report, Cavuto tells me what he considers the secret to both his and the network’s success. “There are people smarter than me, don’t get me wrong, but there is no one who is going to do the research and the color-coding and the highlighting of their notes like me. And I think that’s a benefit—my staff means this stuff, breathes this stuff.” He finalizes his notes with the occasional update from the control room above, buzzing with energy.
“If you do it like everybody else, you’re no better than anybody else.”
[Photo credit Mediaite]
This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.
