I'm curious: does WQXR Classical Music Radio utilize a board op to push the buttons for the announcers as kind of a traffic cop, or do the announcers load up the CD players and hit the button? I noticed listening to them this morning that they do news updates with a separate announcer. They sound REALLY tight with minimum pauses before the piece is announced and the music start up.
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WQXR Announcer On Air Button Pushing....
- Thread starter sdwulfdawg
- Start date
They likely use an automation system where all the music is scheduled days in advanced.
Generally, today, any music station with live (and not voice tracked) announcers only have board ops if there is an ancient union agreement that requires that obsolete practice.
All other content is pre-recorded and sequenced by an automated system. When a live announcer uses such a system, called "live assist" only the insertion of the live elements is done manually.
I have not been involved with a classical station for decades and your post made me wonder if stations have their library on hard drives or whether they actually play CDs.
I know Sirius/XM voice tracks because I have heard them get out if synch. My local Classical probably voice tracks because I hear announcements 'From my home studio'. i remember reading somewhere that KUSC voice tracks. So I suspect that the music is all on hard drives and not the CDs. BTW, my entire Classical library is on a hard drive and it hardly makes a dent in the storage.
I suspect libraries are on hard drive these days. I suspect most daytime weekday shifts are live. The classical format is very different in presentation these days. Stations like KMFA in Austin, once known for a good 5 to 10 seconds of silence before and after playing works now is pretty tight. Even once live announcements for various arts community events are recorded at times. KMFA is even running re-entry liners back into music.
So I have relistened to WQXR and now I'm convinced they are doing live assist.
IMO, except for some college radio stations, and LPFM's, you won't find many DJ's/air talent playing CD's in the studio these days. 99% of music at commercial pop/rock/hip hop and classical radio stations is now on hard drive, and has been for almost decades now, in an automation system. Actually, at this point in time, it's getting harder and harder to find high quality professional (balanced output, highly rugged, remote startable, etc.) single play CD players for broadcast use (I don't consider Numark and Stanton CD players high quality). I feel sorry for stations that still heavily rely on CD players (and have built up CD libraries of 30,000 + CDs), and won't be able to replace the players in years to come (I know of some of these stations).
Getting back to WQXR, they are very tight in morning drive, as compared to most other classical radio stations. The morning host rarely allows any space (seconds of dead air) between intro-ing a classical piece, and him/her playing it (yes, this could be considered live assist, as the WQXR air talent, when not voice-tracked, puts the automation system in live assist, and manipulate {"running"} the board themselves, pausing the automation system when a live break is needed). I'm 99% sure the M-F morning WQXR host is live, and so is his news person. During the lockdown of the Pandemic, many WQXR hosts were doing their shows (usually live), from their homes or apartments. Many times during the morning show, you could hear sirens from the street, in the background, when the host had his mic open during a break. A few times the WQXR morning host even pointed this out. Across the board (as in 99% of music radio stations), most of the air talent that was relegated to a home studio environment during the Pandemic, is now back in the broadcast studio. WFMT's air talent for example, is live most times 6A-Midnight, Monday through Sunday. This is not the case at most classical radio stations.
Getting back to WQXR, they are very tight in morning drive, as compared to most other classical radio stations. The morning host rarely allows any space (seconds of dead air) between intro-ing a classical piece, and him/her playing it (yes, this could be considered live assist, as the WQXR air talent, when not voice-tracked, puts the automation system in live assist, and manipulate {"running"} the board themselves, pausing the automation system when a live break is needed). I'm 99% sure the M-F morning WQXR host is live, and so is his news person. During the lockdown of the Pandemic, many WQXR hosts were doing their shows (usually live), from their homes or apartments. Many times during the morning show, you could hear sirens from the street, in the background, when the host had his mic open during a break. A few times the WQXR morning host even pointed this out. Across the board (as in 99% of music radio stations), most of the air talent that was relegated to a home studio environment during the Pandemic, is now back in the broadcast studio. WFMT's air talent for example, is live most times 6A-Midnight, Monday through Sunday. This is not the case at most classical radio stations.
Great post!
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