We saw how WWL handled Katrina 10 years ago. Engineers and companies are resourceful.
This particular situation only affects iHeart. Lots of other companies are unaffected.
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iHeart cuts engineers
- Thread starter ContinuousWave
- Start date
We saw how WWL handled Katrina 10 years ago. Engineers and companies are resourceful.
This particular situation only affects iHeart. Lots of other companies are unaffected.
That may work in California, but not in right to work states.
And the broadcast technical community is a tiny-tiny-tiny silver of technology pie in the U.S. For the most part it pays middle income-level salaries, so nobody is high up in the industry food chain to have a voice loud enough to be heard by politicians. There are no lobbyists running to Congressperson's in an effort to secure employment for the broadcast industry.
Years ago we used to joke about how the status of broadcast engineers would eventually be on the same level as business machine repair people. For radio anyway, that day is arriving. Unfortunately, some of this move is because engineers have dug their own grave, by not staying on top of emerging technologies.
But you and I both know that if iHeart seems to be successful with this model, other groups will follow soon. After ownership deregulation in 1996 was the dawning of voice tracking by Clear Channel. Today it's as commonplace as a microphone.
The fact that talent can VT from home is what makes technical staffing of now-empty studios unnecessary.
Sure, other groups will follow. That doesn't justify keeping and paying staff when they're not required. Anyone who expects radio to be a job for life are being unrealistic. I tell radio people it's not IF staff gets fired, it's WHEN they get fired. Just be prepared for it, and be ready to work on contract. Talent has been living like this for 30 years. I think you'll see this in other industries as well.
One of my best friends is a technical writer and speaker who travels all over the country doing seminars in new technologies. He speaks every year at the NAB and CES. I have friends in AES and other technical groups who try to keep members up to date on new technology. Every new advancement is another potential new job. The resources exist more in engineering than in any other part of the broadcasting business. At the same time, I know a guy who lost his job for only one reason: He didn't know how to edit video for the station social media site. That's like saying you can only edit audio with splicing tape and a razor blade.
K
kenglish
Guest
I know many free-lancers and contract people who worked, mostly, in sports production. Most cases, their bread-and-butter was from one or two major networks, but they had plenty of other customers.
One day, it was ruled that ESPN (for instance) told them where to be at a certain time, and booked their travel and hotel for them.
BAM! That made them EMPLOYEES, and they lost most of the perks and advantages that had come with being independent contractors.
One day, it was ruled that ESPN (for instance) told them where to be at a certain time, and booked their travel and hotel for them.
BAM! That made them EMPLOYEES, and they lost most of the perks and advantages that had come with being independent contractors.
I would bet that the total staff of WWL is less than half today what it was at the time of Katrina. What helped WWL was the total silencing of most of the other New Orleans stations, and engineers and staff from many stations worked together during the recovery.
And they will be quickly imitated by "oh, that is a good idea" folks at other larger groups.
Voice tracking was not a Clear Channel creation. I did the #1 and #2 stations in Puerto Rico (a top 20 market) with full 10 AM to 6 AM automation and voice tracking back in the later 70's and one station was Hot AC and the other was the equivalent of country... all salsa... with strong personalities 24 / 7. There were quite a few similarly automated foreground formats back then... it just took more work.
My contrarian view (surprise!) is that there are lots of IT based technicians, but fewer and fewer RF engineers who can deal with higher power transmitters without killing themselves.
The current computer based technology was unavailable in the 70s. The way VT is done now was first done by Southern Star in 1993 before that company was bought by Clear Channel.
I should also say that iHeart has invested tens of millions of dollars in new technology. They just bought Triton. They own several companies that provide technical solutions for radio. This is not a company that dislikes technology. It uses technology the way it's supposed to be used. They way we use it every day with personal computers and cell phones.
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I had to chuckle when I saw that. When I was in training as a NABET engineer, one of the old guys used to love to find ways for the new recruits to get an electric shock. They considered that a form of initiation. 😊 That and the union dues. I fooled them. I left and joined AFTRA.
Most of the major groups are, or have replaced their aging tube transmitters and associated high voltages, with solid state transmitters and switching power supplies. They've done so not just because the old tube rigs are reaching end of support, but because of the utility savings costs. Some tube manufacturers are no longer making tubes for the old rigs either. Newer transmitters are essentially PC's that produce RF.
Another thing to consider, is transmission facilities are becoming just another delivery method along with streaming. As station groups fill out their portfolios with delivery via smart speakers, phone apps, and in-car streaming, expensive transmission facilities are gradually diminishing in importance.
Technically maybe not in the world, but here in the USA where I work, Clear Channel was the first to rapidly build up a big station group which relied on voice tracking to save having to hire jocks in smaller to mid markets. Other U.S. station groups followed suit.
K
kenglish
Guest
Old-fashioned tube transmitters can blow your arm off (high voltage). New-and-cool solid-state can melt your wedding ring right through your finger (low-voltage, high current).
Either one, old or new, can turn your innards in to a hot, juicy hamburger (high power RF). Even externally, skin gives off a putrid-smelling purple smoke when RF is applied.
It's not just a computer, but a dangerous instrument, with a computer controlling it.
Either one, old or new, can turn your innards in to a hot, juicy hamburger (high power RF). Even externally, skin gives off a putrid-smelling purple smoke when RF is applied.
It's not just a computer, but a dangerous instrument, with a computer controlling it.
Puerto Rico is in the USA. And we got lots of visits from contemporary format stations, mostly in medium markets, to see how we did it. That earned us some nice discounts on Harris gear, too.
Even one of Bob Hope's stations was similarly automated except mornings.
I was thinking of the RF that leaves the transmitter. It is still quite lethal.
But for the moment, they are 80% to 90% of the revenue and a complement, not a substitution for the on-air service. Also deeply discussed in corporate meetings is that the transition to streaming means putting the audience in a medium where, due to licensing fees, there is no currently visible manner to make a profit. It's a classic Catch 22 situation.
It could be done, just not quite as simply/easily, when I automated two current hits based stations in the later 70's. Time, correct temperatures and weather, intros, contests, DJ handoffs and all the rest sounded live... or better. The jocks had time to do promotions all day, they did weekend shifts, and did production all in less time than waiting for songs to end.
The system concept has not changed; the hardware just got better.
And that is what quite a few stations were doing with what I call 3rd generation automation in the late 70's. The tape and carts and settings were manually done, and there was a lot of mechanical equipment. But it sounded just as good as today's voice tracking. We did not reduce staff, though. We rededicated hours of staff time to do promotions, school appearances, fund raisers and the like as well as working on commercial production and other things that made the stations sound better.
First generation automation: later 60's based on mechanical sequential systems that simply rotated. Settings done with systems like little "complete the circuit" plugs.
Second generation: electronic based, but still using lots of relays and the like.
Third generation: mid 70's with basic computers and a programming language. Came out the same time as the earliest personal computers and used some technololgy borrowed from minicomputers like IBM's System 32, 33, 34 and others.
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What station did you work for?Surprised noone else posted this:
(And yes I was one of those affected)
iHeartMedia Cuts Engineers Across The Country As It Begins Rolling Out New Tech Initiatives - RadioInsight
iHeartMedia instituted a round of cuts today focusing on engineering departments at its broadcast operations. The cuts come as the company continues to implement operational changes that began in the wake of the widescale cuts of January 2020. As the company stated in Thursday’s annual earnings...radioinsight.com
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