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!