does "private ordeal" mean "now, it is the hour of torture for David?"
This was the hour of David Brinkley's private ordeal. With every teletype hammering out history, the monitor in his office was continuing to present a fashion show. The manager of NBC's Washington affiliate was out to lunch. No one knew where he was, or would assume responsibility for bouncing the models. In New York Chet Huntley had scuttled "Bachelor Father," WNBC-TV's marshmallow, but Brinkley's hands were tied, and when he finally reached the air he was in a state of what another NBC newscaster described as "controlled panic." British television approached the news more soberly, regularly interrupting programs to announce the shocking news, but not immediately giving the mass of detail that was to follow.

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This question is a little more difficult to answer because we probably need a little more information. However, I'll make my best guess! :)

Saying that "private ordeal" is the same as "an hour of torture" is a little figurative. In other words, I don't see that in the text that you've posted, so I assume you came up with another way to say it? I think that's a fair thing to compare "private ordeal" to in this case, since the rest of the paragraph makes it clear that David Brinkley's experience here was a bad one.

However, if you want to get a definition closer to the universal one of "ordeal," then I'd say that the author means that this "private ordeal" was a very bad experience. Obviously, the station itself was panicked and disorganized, and David Brinkley was under a great amount of stress (he is described as experiencing "controlled panic" later in the paragraph).

Hope that helps!

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