Show dictionary · Audio
IFB (Interruptible Foldback)
Also: interrupt · ear
IFB (interruptible foldback) is the earpiece feed to on-camera or on-stage talent: normally program audio (usually mix-minus, without their own voice), which a producer or director can interrupt at any moment to speak directly into the talent’s ear.
In practice
The interruption is the point: "wrap in thirty," "toss to the video," "she is in the lobby, stretch" all arrive over IFB while the talent keeps performing. Systems dim or replace the program feed when the producer keys in, and the talent learns to listen and talk simultaneously, a genuinely trained skill.
On hybrid corporate-broadcast shows, IFB rigs range from broadcast intercom systems with dedicated IFB channels down to a wireless in-ear pack fed from a console aux with a producer talkback keyed over it. The failure modes are social as much as technical: too many voices on the interrupt is how talent ends up removing the earpiece on camera.
How you’ll hear it
"Give the emcee program mix-minus on IFB, and only the producer keys in. Only."
Related resources
Part of the eventools.io Show Dictionary, a free glossary of live event production terminology.