Ridin' the Gravy Train.

Ridin' the Gravy Train.

Pink Floyd - Have A Cigar

Come in here, dear boy, have a cigar.

You're gonna go far, fly high,

You're never gonna die, you're gonna make it if you try;

they're gonna love you.

Well I've always had a deep respect, and I mean that most sincerely.

The band is just fantastic, that is really what I think.

Oh by the way, which one's Pink?

And did we tell you the name of the game, boy

We call it Riding the Gravy Train.

We're just knocked out.

We heard about the sell out.

You gotta get an album out,

You owe it to the people. We're so happy we can hardly count.

Everybody else is just green, have you seen the chart?

It's a helluva start, it could be made into a monster

If we all pull together as a team.

And did we tell you the name of the game, boy

We call it Riding the Gravy Train.

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PRODUCERS CALL IT:

"RIDING THE GRAVY TRAIN"

This is probably the biggest issue I've encountered since my days of producing. "Riding the video Gravy Train..." is a bit more complicated than the infamous Pink Floyd let on. It entails looking at the BIGGER PICTURE. Completely soaking in every aspect of the newscast, one detail at a time, locking them together like a fully-loaded pistol. The audience deserves a newscast that delivers the news to them fast, and the only way to keep their attention is delivering it to them like sharp bullets. New. Hard. Fast. They can't expect what's coming their way. It didn't used to be this way. But with the changing, evolving, ever-present growth of online journalism, one must adapt to the media metamorphosis. 

"Riding the video gravy train" is a term producers refer to as something we use for describing our newscast rundown, when national and local stories flow together in one swift glide, with plenty of compelling video and fewer readers and anchor lead-ins. Producers enjoy the creativity. Audiences enjoy the flow. I would like to think that all together, it works for most people. And for me, it makes a great a connection to one of my favorite artists. The lyrics will tell you: By producers "Riding the Gravy Train," “You’re gonna go far... You’re gonna fly high.”

*News consultant, Nancy Velenta, introduced the phrase "video gravy train" to KOMU 8 as a way to sum up the way producers should showcase as much great video as possible, especially in the late newscast when audiences are headed to bed.