Overnights

[SeattleShooter]

Well, for all you overnighters...you know who you are...I have been graced or damned (what ever way you want to look at it) to work from 3am-12pm. But this is only for a week! I am also demoted to editor and liveshot whore for ours went on vacation. He edits the two hour AM show and shoots some live shots after he is done editing. So it looks like 60 VOs to edit a day are what I should look forward to. 60 might be a bit high...I dont know...I dont watch the news.

So...as I am up editing a two hour show, I will be thinking of all you owls out there!

Right now I am just trying to get my sleep clock to this shift. Man it sucks! So do you overnighters like the shift???

[ewink]

I can't imagine working any other shift. It's obviously not for anyone, but I personally love it. In fact, pretty much the only way I would stay in the business forever would be if I could always do the overnights!

No managers, no assignment editors (usually), you and the cops are a lot closer (usually) since it takes special people to work overnights, more freedom and a hell of a lot less traffic! Plus most of the good stories happen at night! :)

I wouldn't mind doing it closer to the Midwest so I don't have to deprive myself of Steak N Shake, but Vegas is okay for now. :)

For the record, I work 12AM to 9AM.

[bluetito]

A friend of mine did it for 2 years. He also sold weed. It was the perfect shift for him.

[Dble(Punched)Vision]

I WAS working what I call mornings (330am-1200) but was lucky enough to be asked to take over Overnights (12:30a-9am) for a Vet. who needed off the shift for a while.

Once a acclimated myself to the sleep schedule [without proper sleep, you sink. That's why sleep-deprevation is such a widely used torture device], I was able to appreciate the shift. However, the reason the Vet. needed a break was that management added a reporter to the shift! I guess all the fun was sucked out of Overnights at that moment.

I still like the absence of managers, street traffic, and I love the odd ball people I run into on the street when I am shooting. This will be short-lived however. We have a quarterly rotation and I am moving to dayside for a few months. Heaven Help ME!

[photogguy]

I work 330am-1230pm, and I prefer that shift to the other shifts, for the reasons stated and for another...I get to spend time with my family in the evenings.

The shift I had previous was 230pm-1130pm, and I never saw my wife and son. I'd kiss her when I went to bed, she'd kiss me when she got up in the morning, and that would be it until the weekend. Then, on Saturday and Sunday, we were so busy doing the things we couldn't do during the week that we could never really relax.

Now, I'm home by 1pm, our son's home by 3pm, my wife's home by about 530pm, we spend time together, have dinner together, talk to each other, basically be a family.

The sleep issue is a problem, especially with the onset of daylight savings, but I'll adapt this year like I did last year.

Although, yesterday morning I had problems, which you can read about here...

http://briawill64.blogspot.com/2006/04/warning-rant-ahead.html

[Newshutr]

I work a 12:30a-9a shift. Like Ewink said, I'd work this shift the rest of my career if I could. And I volunteered to work the shift. I get to see my kids and wife. I get to shoot great spot news. I guess I'm more a spot news junkie than soft news.

I've always been a night owl and I guess I always will be.

[5600K]

I work from 3am to 1130am. I work w/ a reporter. I cannot stand this shift. Everyone I know (not in TV) has a normal schedule, and by the time I go to sleep around 6pm, everyone is coming home from work or going out. This shift used to be VO patrol, and it was great shooting breaking news. Now, all I do is head out w/ the 3am reporter to whatever live shot location, edit video from the night before, and do our 4 live shots (5am, 530am, 6am, 630am). Argh. After that, we try and follow-up the story if possible, or head to breaking news, or report on a new story entirely for a taped PKG to air at 4pm or later, or go on VO patrol. OT is plentiful on this shift. I work a similar schedule on the weekends - 4am-1230pm. Thankfully, there is no reporter on this shift... for now.

[2000lux]

Overnights are fun for the comradarie and the freedom from "the suits." I found it to be really hard on my social life though. Trying to be up durring normal hours on the weekends just made me feel jetlagged all the time so I stopped doing it. That meant I had very few people to chose from to hang out with or date other than co-workers and IHOP waitresses.

[SeattleShooter]

Well. I am done with the shift! It was a lot of fun and the AM people are real nice. Not only did I avoid "the suits" but some of the typical political cr*p that looms all over the day and night shift. For me this last week was kind of a vacation although I do miss our nightside reporters. They are cool people. I would love this shift if I could start at 5am!

So overall, I would fill in for Don who edits the AM show and shoots. It was fun and lots of variety. Plus there is other reporters and photogs at the other shops that I saw all the time and they were nice to see.