I'm starting to believe that most stations are tracked, even when someone is home. There may be someone in the studio, but that person is a couple songs ahead of where the log actually is.
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95.3 "kgy"
- Thread starter Lightingnut
- Start date
Virtually every station has allowable overlap at beginning and end of music files. A voice track beginning only after the fade indicates that the music file didn't have an EOM set right. And... there really isn't someone there "pressing the button". Why would they pay someone to press buttons when a computer can do it much more accurately?
KGY-AM was an institution in Olympia for many years. When the FM (KGY-FM) was acquired, it was operated as a stepchild of the AM. The morning news was simulcast, the FM was not promoted as a stand-alone radio station. The format was Classic Country. After Dick Pust left, the FM moved to a contemporary format for a while, and then... a light went on... and KGY-FM began using the moniker "Kayo", later changing call letters to KYYO, with a Hot Country format, much like KAYO a decade earlier. As are many of the larger stations in metro areas, the new "Kayo" is heavily voice-tracked, even using a voice or two from the past. Meanwhile, KGY-AM became the stepchild, and once HD was added to the FM, it was possible to feed an FM translator with an Oldies format, making the AM irrelevant.
With most radio stations anymore, staff size is generally much smaller than you would think. Most are unattended nights and weekends. If you're good at math and know the old rules of thumb relating local retail sales to advertising revenue potential, you'll figure out why, rather quickly.
I'm very familiar with their system at KPLZ, because I bought it. As with any voicetracking, the amount of attention to detail you spend recording tracks, is directly tied to how natural they sound. In the case of the KPLZ-Profit/RCS system, you can create a voicetrack by listening to the tail of the playing song, then talk-up the following song, or talk on the tail of the prior song going into a break. Talent can even edit the shift where the track appears in the given situation, ignoring the EOM of the prior song if desired. On the flip side, one can slam together generic tracks that start automatically at the EOM. Usually if the talent does tracks the same way each day, you'll hear a similar pattern.
That is true; however, many programs work differently. Some programs will count you down to the trip cue before letting you record anything. If this song happens to have a poorly set trip cue. or gradually fades out, it doesn't sound perfect.
The tracking system at KPLZ must be pretty slick though!
U
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Ford and Kelly you're both right. On a music station, if you're doing traffic and live remotes you hav to have a board operater live in studio. On news stations, board operater not needed, but if traffic misses gap, you'll hear dead air. I've been a first hand witness to this, so take it to the bank!
Kgy fm?
I'm reading a lot of these posts. It seems like a lot of posters have never, ever cracked a mic?
RR
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*Buzzer Sound*
I was basing that conjecture off of some of the small, local radio stations I've sampled in tiny markets in Montana, Wyoming, etc. Different stations have different equipment, so I wasn't applying that comment specifically. Sometimes you do run across a small station in a real small town where there will be 10 seconds of silence before a simple track or promo plays. I think its pretty common.
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Curious... How is it a "bit of a loophole?". It's completely legal under FCC rules.
RR
Well thank you for asking. The goal of HD radio was to place programming on HD channels that would require listeners to move up to the new HD technology. Sure, you might be able to get a translator to rebroadcast the HD-2 programming, but the intention was not to give listeners another terrestrial way of hearing the same programming from before. In other words, its totally legal but not the intended purpose.
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Just want to draw your info sources out here, Ford, so don't take this wrong. Who is "HD Radio", and how did you determine what it's (their) "goals" were?
The problem with this thinking is that it doesn't recognize the economics of the technology. Going to HD is a major up-front expense, which (I believe) few broadcasters, if any, have recovered from original programming.
Relatively few people have been motivated to buy into HD, regardless of the programming. Rather, the younger listeners have put their major investments into other means of delivery.
On the other hand, using the HD channels to feed translators that the majority of FM listeners CAN currently hear gives the broadcasters a way to justify their investments a whole lot faster than they ever will if they wait for the listeners to catch up.
Who's right pretty much depends on what side of the fence you sit on... much like politics.
A
AQH
Guest
Just want to draw your info sources out here, Ford, so don't take this wrong. Who is "HD Radio", and how did you determine what it's (their) "goals" were?
The problem with this thinking is that it doesn't recognize the economics of the technology. Going to HD is a major up-front expense, which (I believe) few broadcasters, if any, have recovered from original programming.
Relatively few people have been motivated to buy into HD, regardless of the programming. Rather, the younger listeners have put their major investments into other means of delivery.
On the other hand, using the HD channels to feed translators that the majority of FM listeners CAN currently hear gives the broadcasters a way to justify their investments a whole lot faster than they ever will if they wait for the listeners to catch up.
Who's right pretty much depends on what side of the fence you sit on... much like politics.
Well said.
Just want to draw your info sources out here, Ford, so don't take this wrong. Who is "HD Radio", and how did you determine what it's (their) "goals" were?
The problem with this thinking is that it doesn't recognize the economics of the technology. Going to HD is a major up-front expense, which (I believe) few broadcasters, if any, have recovered from original programming.
Relatively few people have been motivated to buy into HD, regardless of the programming. Rather, the younger listeners have put their major investments into other means of delivery.
On the other hand, using the HD channels to feed translators that the majority of FM listeners CAN currently hear gives the broadcasters a way to justify their investments a whole lot faster than they ever will if they wait for the listeners to catch up.
Who's right pretty much depends on what side of the fence you sit on... much like politics.
Makes perfect sense
Sorry, I should have been more clear in my response. I was simply trying to say that the manufacturers of HD radio equipment and the FCC probably didn't intend on having the HD-2 equate to translator position on the FM dial. I was speculating. That being said, a translator of HD-2 programming makes perfect sense for a broadcaster. There would be no point in having any local programming on KGY oldies because few will actually listen to the HD-2.
In the end, HD radio may be fun to play with, but its certainly not a place where a broadcaster would want to put their best local programming.
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If everyone had an HD receiver, the signal coverage does not extend as far as the analog. And with the HD-2,3,4 channels feeding a translator, the 250 watt limit is still not sufficient to cover the entire market like the analog does.
I equate the use of FM translators with the what happened in the early days of FM, when there were few FM receivers, and AM/FM simulcasting was used to help the transition.
In our small isolated rural market, we're using the HD translators to provide more diversity of programming, since few metro stations cover the market. We concentrate our local talent on live and local morning shows.
I equate the use of FM translators with the what happened in the early days of FM, when there were few FM receivers, and AM/FM simulcasting was used to help the transition.
In our small isolated rural market, we're using the HD translators to provide more diversity of programming, since few metro stations cover the market. We concentrate our local talent on live and local morning shows.
You seem to have an excellent strategy for keeping a hold on the Grays Harbour market. Do you happen to know if listeners are taking advantage of your FM translators by chance? I was truly surprised by how crisp those signals sounded outside of the metropolitan area.
U
Unregistered
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According to Kevin Huffer's Linkedin page, he's no longer PD at KGY.
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