It's 6:44am, and I'm sitting in the newsroom next to the control room at Studio 1A. As we speak, different elements of the show are still moving around at the last minute. The seniors just decided to move a story from the 8 o'clock half-hour to the 7 o'clock half-hour, which means other stories have to be juggled around to accommodate the change. I'm hearing some chatter about the changes, as everyone is still getting everything in line for the start of the show.
These changes also affects another aspect of the show -- teases. Teases are the segments when we return for a half-hour, or go to commercial, and tell the viewer what is coming up soon in the show. Obviously, the teases have to fall into line pretty closely with the order of the show. We don't want to tease something at 7 o'clock that isn't going to air for two more hours. The teases are built around the structure of the show. Right now, a bunch of teases are being swapped and changed out to line up with a time that would fit better with the new order of the show.
Furthermore, Ann Curry and our news producers are still putting the finishing touches on the 7 o'clock newscast. Some stories are squeeking in at the last second, while others are getting the axe or changing in time. Lots of printing, typing, and hustling is taking place right now.
I just heard a producer say "OK there's been a pretty significant change in the structure of the show." The most recent copy of the rundown of the show is Revision #8 since yesterday afternoon, revised at 6:40am. And so it goes. 5 minutes until air. Just another pre-dawn at Studio 1A.