Elle Duncan had to prepare for the nerve-wracking scenario of what to say if someone died during her first broadcast on Netflix.
Duncan’s first assignment for Netflix was something no one had ever done before, broadcasting Alex Honnold climbing Taipei 101, one of the tallest buildings in the world, without ropes. And on the latest episode of the Awful Announcing Podcast, Duncan opened up about the challenges of preparing for a broadcast that there was no blueprint for. Additionally, Duncan discussed what would have happened if Honnold fell from Taipei 101 while she was narrating the climb for Skyscraper Live on Netflix.
“I’ve never been part of a broadcast where it wasn’t just an afterthought that someone could be severely hurt or die. It was at the forefront just because we knew the reality,” Duncan said.
“I had a card on my lap that basically was like, ‘We’ve experienced a fall and we’re going to get off-air now and we will update you as soon as we can on Alex’s condition.’ We were on a delay, they were going to cut away to something very wide so we would not watch him fall. And then I was going pop on camera, I was going to make that statement and then we were going to get off-air.
“You never know until you’re in the moment how you’re going to manage that anxiety, and I think for me, it was very evident that I was in a heightened situation that was of course amplified by everything that was happening around me and all of the moving parts and all of the logistics. It was very interesting, but there was a plan.”
As much as Honnold insisted this 1,667-foot tall skyscraper wasn’t a difficult climb from a technicality standpoint, everyone watching saw a person climbing a 1,667-foot tall skyscraper without the aid of any safety harness or ropes, and knew what would happen if he fell. What if Honnold was surprised by someone in a window? What if he was distracted by the crowd, what if there was an earthquake, or what if he just slipped?
And if any of those things happened, Duncan would need to deliver the tragic news to an audience of millions. Thankfully, the card on her lap was not needed as Honnold completed the climb without any close calls. But having to prepare for the possibility of someone falling to their death during a live event is certainly an unsettling start to any broadcast.
Listen to the full episode of the Awful Announcing Podcast featuring Elle Duncan beginning Thursday, Jan. 29. Subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts. For more content, subscribe to AA’s YouTube page.