Which term refers to the practice of providing an instruction through an earpiece to control on-air action?

• A. IFB or Interrupt Feedback
• B. Live
• C. Lead
• D. Join in Progress (JIP)

Answer: (A)

In broadcasting, giving instructions to the person on air through an earpiece is handled by IFB, short for Interruptible Feedback (often also called Interruptible Foldback). This setup lets the producer or director speak directly to the on-air talent without the audience hearing, providing cues, timing, or last‑minute instructions to keep the segment running smoothly. The talent wears an earpiece connected to a private line in the control room, so they can hear the cue despite what’s going out on air.

This is different from simply being live, which describes the broadcast status, or from a lead-in, which is the opening portion of a segment, or from join‑in‑progress, which refers to picking up a show midstream. IFB is the mechanism that makes real-time coordination possible.