• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

On the AM, WINS Teletype is back.

Using teletype sounds in 2026 is stupid. Might as well have Morse Code running in the background, or perhaps the clicking of a 19th century telegraph. Do smoke signals produce any audio?

I would bet you would have a hard time finding a listener that knows what the sound actually is, other than “noise that’s always been there.”

Serious news operations were getting rid of teletype machines 40 years ago. At my job they were initially replaced by dot matrix printers (totally different sound) and by computers not long after that.

If you were interviewing for a job at a station in the 1990s and discovered they were still using teletype, the best advice was to run away as fast as you could.

Might as well stick a mic out the window and capture the street sounds of NYC. At least that would be something contemporary.
 
Mediafrog+ said:
Using teletype sounds in 2026 is stupid. Might as well have Morse Code running in the background, or perhaps the clicking of a 19th century telegraph. Do smoke signals produce any audio?

I would bet you would have a hard time finding a listener that knows what the sound actually is, other than “noise that’s always been there.”

Serious news operations were getting rid of teletype machines 40 years ago. At my job they were initially replaced by dot matrix printers (totally different sound) and by computers not long after that.

If you were interviewing for a job at a station in the 1990s and discovered they were still using teletype, the best advice was to run away as fast as you could.

Might as well stick a mic out the window and capture the street sounds of NYC. At least that would be something contemporary.
Click to expand...
While everyone else got rid of the teletype sound, WINS didn't drop it until sometime in the late 2010's. So, actually it's a recognizable sound for many listeners, considering it's been less than 10 years when last heard. If nothing else, it at least gives nostalgia buffs a reason to tune into the AM.
 
Mediafrog+ said:
I would bet you would have a hard time finding a listener that knows what the sound actually is, other than “noise that’s always been there.”
Click to expand...

And it being "noise that's always been there" is exactly why it's comforting for a lot of listeners, regardless of their understanding of what a teletype is or why it was used. If they're going to keep the AM side alive, might as well have that there for a little nostalgic comfort for those who want it. Younger listeners are much more likely to turn to FM or streaming anyway.
 
1010 - ALL NEWS ALL THE TIME . . . NOW AT 92.3 FM
LOVE EM!!!

here ya go . . .

visited the transmitter site a number of times and got a great tour of studio by Lee Harris a number of years back.

THEY ARE COOL!!!
1010 - ALL NEWS ALL THE TIME . . . NOW AT 92.3 FM
 
KilowattKat said:
While everyone else got rid of the teletype sound, WINS didn't drop it until sometime in the late 2010's.
Click to expand...
It disappeared during the pandemic in 2020. When most of the announcers started working from home, the teletype was missing, but the few who were still in the studio had the teletype. Eventually they retired it entirely.

Yes, the teletype sound effect is an anachronism... but as if AM radio isn't!? And it does have some possible benefits, such as masking background noise and giving the PPM encoding more chances to insert itself during the pauses in speech.

Another benefit to listening to WINS on AM: You get the news about 8½ seconds sooner, since the FM side has a delay for the HD Radio encoding.
 
There are still plenty of radios out there without presets requiring a turn of the dial to get to your favorite station. The teletype on KYW 1060 was an unmistakeable point on the dial I could tune to on sleepless nights.
 
Mediafrog+ said:
Using teletype sounds in 2026 is stupid.
Click to expand...
Huge disagree. I think even if you don't know what a teletype machine, you it sounds "newsy" and gives the station character. Perhaps I'm more than a little biased considering I grew up listening to KYW 1060 (and don't think I don't sing the KYW News-radio Ten-sixity religiously) but what's the point of having a newsradio station and not make it sound comically newsy?
 
I'm hoping this works in New York. If it does, then Audacy will likely add the old teletype sound to both KNX-AM (Los Angeles) and KCBS-AM (San Francisco). And while I don't live anywhere near either city, the sound of the old teletype behind the newsreader will be comfort as I lay me down to sleep...
 
radiodx10 said:
I think even if you don't know what a teletype machine, you it sounds "newsy"
Click to expand...
How does random noise make a station sound “newsy”? A modern, unobtrusive electronic music bed would make more sense if you need something underneath spoken word content.

This is the radio equivalent of a modern TV news set being lined with old black and white CRT video monitors. It’s archaic, pointless, and stupid.

Anyone nostalgic for teletype never worked with teletype. Amazing technology in its day, but that was 50 to 100 years ago. Modern technology is light years faster and more convenient and productive.
Larry said:
There are a lot of listeners to KYW in Philly that wish they would bring back the teletype sound.
Click to expand...
Based on what research?
ted chittenden said:
I'm hoping this works in New York. If it does, then Audacy will likely add the old teletype sound to both KNX-AM (Los Angeles) and KCBS-AM (San Francisco).
Click to expand...
And listeners will wonder “What is all that racket in the background?” Again, archaic and pointless.

AM radio already has to deal with enough noise sources ruining reception without adding more noise to the actual programming.
 


Back
Top Bottom