Three

That's how many simultaneous layers of commentary NBC managed to stack on top of their live coverage of Yves Rossy's pioneering flight across the English channel with nothing but a strap-on jet-powered wing. It is also the longest pause in seconds I was able to detect from Matt Lauer and associates on the Today Show coverage.

Watching the video, I presume Layer 1 was the British film crew and engineering team. Layer 2 would be the National Geographic (NG) commentator, followed by our friends on the Today Show on Layer 3 (TS), who felt they could add more value to the conversation by drivelling, interrupting one another, and repeating what they (and the viewer) had just heard from Layer 2.

You can only enjoy watching this magnificent feat of flight if you focus your energy tuning everyone out. Here's a gem taken from 2:53 onwards.

TS: "...obviously they didn't put a camera on the, uh, device..."
NG: "...there's also a camera mounted on his wing..."
TS: "that's his helmet camera"
TS: "there's his helmet camera in the upper left hand corner"
NG: "...in the upper left of your screen. That is the view from the wing"
TS: "..oh it's from the wing"
TS: "the wing yea"
TS: "is it a view of his face or the horizon?"
TS: "i think it's the horizon"

If ever there was a moment to consider the wisdom of judicious silence...
http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-us&vid=8f17bf95-205b-45e5-b162-d39267a3a197&fg=rss&from=im_m_25-34

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