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“This program may be pre-recorded”

I voicetrack for a number of stations in small markets and can say youre full of crap.

I used to work full time for a ma and pa owned standalone in market 260 and our station doesnt even pay for ratings. I'm now part time remote, by my choice

We compete against directly with Townsquare cluster and a cluster owned by a lawyer. We compete from a distance with IHeart Media

We beat the PANTS off of them when it comes to responding to local stuff.

When we had a freak late May snowstorm that was so heavy and wet, it brought down tree limbs and plunged over 1/3rd of the 30,000 residents we serve into darkness, our auto start generator took over at the studio and we lost power at our on channel booster but have a back up at the studio.

The owner was at the studio in his pajamas at 1030pm with updates on air. I ventured through my neighborhood and took pictures for facebook.

Twice in the last month when weather caused travel to turn to crap, i logged into our automation from ALASKA and updated people on road conditions and weather at 650pm local time.

My boss at this station is a native of this town.. went to high school and college there, never left... and the station is his and his alone, no one elses money. Hes younger then me (im 38).

The small non comm i manage in rural alaska is available 24/7 in the case of emergency. Our state trooper, local medical clinic staff, mayor and school, all have my cell number and know they can call me any time in case of an emergency.
Just because my experience is different than yours doesn't make me "full of crap". I worked in radio for over three decades and during that time witnessed a slow destruction of local programming and fewer employees. I also stated "some, not all". Congrats if that hasn't been your experience. But most of us understand what has happened to local radio in the past 30 years.
 
But most of us understand what has happened to local radio in the past 30 years.

What happened to local radio is the same thing that happened to local banks, local hardware stores, local beauty salons, local eye doctors, local department stores, and local restaurants. They all got bought and went national. The funding for local radio based based on local business. If local business is replaced, ultimately that affects local radio. It's too bad that it has happened, but nothing stays the same.
 
People get really weird when it comes to experience. Analogy: I've been to the moon, Jupiter, and Neptune, so I am the authority on space. Oh yeah, well, I've been to the Moon, Mars, and Saturn, plus the Asteroid belt, so I know more about Space!
TLDR, No, you don't. Experience does help, but it can't be measured by the same metric for everyone.

What happened to local radio is the same thing that happened to local banks, local hardware stores, local beauty salons, local eye doctors, local department stores, and local restaurants. They all got bought and went national. The funding for local radio based based on local business. If local business is replaced, ultimately that affects local radio. It's too bad that it has happened, but nothing stays the same.

Getting back on topic, I do agree with TheBigA that advertising revenue is hard to find in radio, especially locally. My stations have bene lucky enough to link themselves to the "Kia of Cheyenne" bandwagon (KIGN, KGAB, and more), but radio is a different animal today, so if stations want to stay local, they have to adapt. Even if that means voice-tracking. Speaking of adapting, that explains why I hear a lot of "Hey, we're now on Alexa, and what not, so enable our skill!"
 
That explains why I hear a lot of "Hey, we're now on Alexa, and what not, so enable our skill!"

I hear people complain that a lot of people lost their jobs. My response is a lot of bank tellers lost their jobs when ATMs became popular. My area grocery store only staffs one checkout lane. The others are self check. When I was in high school, I worked a check-out in grocery. That job is gone. As a child I delivered newspapers. That job went away too. So get used to it.
 
I hear people complain that a lot of people lost their jobs. My response is a lot of bank tellers lost their jobs when ATMs became popular. My area grocery store only staffs one checkout lane. The others are self check. When I was in high school, I worked a check-out in grocery. That job is gone. As a child I delivered newspapers. That job went away too. So get used to it.
I'm all for it, with a catch: As so long as people can move into better jobs or have some upwards mobility after their careers are taken away from them, then bring on the innovation. I will probably stop short at when A.I. becomes so good that it can replace so many jobs, that layoffs begin happening in droves. But until then, innovation has always improved our quality of life. To get this thread back on the subject a little bit, how do you feel about computers acting as DJ's with voices and everything?
 
The others are self check. When I was in high school, I worked a check-out in grocery. That job is gone. As a child I delivered newspapers. That job went away too. So get used to it.
Walked into a McDonalds the other day because the drive thru line was out to the street. This particular MD's only had the touchscreen ordering kiosks. Nobody across the counter, other than for handing your order after placing and paying via the kiosk. More signs of the times.
 
Just because my experience is different than yours doesn't make me "full of crap". I worked in radio for over three decades and during that time witnessed a slow destruction of local programming and fewer employees. I also stated "some, not all". Congrats if that hasn't been your experience. But most of us understand what has happened to local radio in the past 30 years.

I dont discount some not so great stuff has happened... but i dont work for people who wouldnt operate the station like i would.... in a community minded fashion with technological advancements available on the job.
 
I'm not entirely sure this is always accurate. Several years ago, I compared two iHeart stations, and I've even done this with a friend this summer. In both cases, they were running the national formats by Premium Choice. In the CHR example from several years ago, the stations were Kiss in Huntsville and Kiss in the Quad Cities. In the Quad Cities, they were running a local top 5 at 5, so they were several songs behind Huntsville, but in the same order. Once the 6:00 hour hit, the two stations were back in sync and presumably stayed so for a while. I'm not sure how in an example like that, or with the alternative stations I've compared a couple times since I've been here where one station may have been a song behind the other, that there's any local decision making going on there. I do agree though that this is a lot better than the satellite systems of the past. What baffles my mind is why some stations are still using those when the systems we're talking about are available.
In much smaller markets where a station is not going to get label-based concert or promotional money, stations may use the same music log, but combine it locally with the needs for all the rest... stopset length, service elements, the selection of local and remote talent, etc.

But in markets where they can afford to do music testing and where being a validated reporter is important, the playlists and rotations will be different. Huntsville and Davenport/Rock Island/Moline don't make the "bigger market" cut off level.

The Quad Cities are market 155 and Huntsville is market 107. Even some markets outside the top 50 to 60 won't matter, either. And, as BigA said, gold-only stations don't matter to the labels.
 
And, as BigA said, gold-only stations don't matter to the labels.

I'll also say there are only two things keeping radio local right now: The music charts, and local sponsorship opportunities. If you're a classic hits station with no local sponsorship, you are likely running a satellite format. That's about it.
 
Add high school sports, (mostly football). Parents eat that stuff up!
Not surprisingly, many local HS games are now being streamed on Facebook live. Some are streamed on Vimeo or YouTube, and sponsored. Parents sitting in the stands listening to battery powered transistor radios, are days long gone by.
Given the evolution, it was already tough for the local AM station to get enough sponsors to cover the expenses of doing live games. With even the slightest new competition where parents can stream the game on their phones, it's even tougher now to get sponsors.
 
I could argue no, it wouldnt get you in trouble.. because.. WHAT is live.. that report .. or the fact youre there?

I've done remote breaks over the years that were recorded where i didnt begin or end with a live mention, but it was thrown in there in a not so prominent place in the break.. and the breaks werent live because we had no other way to get audio back excvept file transfer
I'm ALWAYS wrong in your opinion.
 
Walked into a McDonalds the other day because the drive thru line was out to the street. This particular MD's only had the touchscreen ordering kiosks. Nobody across the counter, other than for handing your order after placing and paying via the kiosk. More signs of the times.
Certainly thank the pandemic for accelerating this process.

Then you have:

McDonald's enters strategic partnership with IBM to automate drive-thru lanes

  • McDonald’s has entered a strategic partnership with IBM to help the fast-food chain automate its drive-thru lanes.
  • As part of the deal, IBM will acquire McD Tech Labs, which was formerly known as Apprente before McDonald’s bought the tech company in 2019.
So, it'll be a machine, whether in the drive-thru, or when you walk into the lobby.

If it gets good enough, imagine licensing the technology to others.

$$$ - lovin' it!
 
Certainly thank the pandemic for accelerating this process.

Then you have:

McDonald's enters strategic partnership with IBM to automate drive-thru lanes

  • McDonald’s has entered a strategic partnership with IBM to help the fast-food chain automate its drive-thru lanes.
  • As part of the deal, IBM will acquire McD Tech Labs, which was formerly known as Apprente before McDonald’s bought the tech company in 2019.
So, it'll be a machine, whether in the drive-thru, or when you walk into the lobby.

If it gets good enough, imagine licensing the technology to others.

$$$ - lovin' it!
Be careful, the culture shock to several of the folks around these parts may be too much to handle. They probably think McDonald's still uses 'Car Hops'.
 
Be careful, the culture shock to several of the folks around these parts may be too much to handle. They probably think McDonald's still uses 'Car Hops'.
Did they ever use "car hops"? We just got a Sonic with that service, but in the Summer with temperatures of 120° and above, that has to be unpleasant for all.

I do like the outlets that offer online ordering and pickup upon arrival without getting in a long line. The nice thing is that it overcomes the unintelligible mike/speaker at drive-throughs that generally result in messed up orders. About once a week I enjoy some guilt-ridden fast food, so I pick the places that have that kind of service.

Yet I am amazed by the people in my generation who can't text, don't know how to order online, etc., etc., etc.
 
I believe those people are known as 'Luddites': Definition of LUDDITE

You wouldnt believe the hand wringing, question after question, feet dragging and mis understanding when one DXer in recent times was moving from recording on cd's and cassettes to digital
 
Well this thread has taken an unexpected turn.

So basically the disclaimer is because of voice tracking and just about everyone uses voice tracking. Is that correct?
 
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