G
GeorgeJetson
Guest
I worked for an oldies station that slowly flipped to a format very close to Jack with running too much automation and lots of up-beat, very good music. The problem we had was we could not find DJs that would follow the rules. They would go on forever with chatter and ignore the music. I even lost my own show when I got promoted and had too much computer work to do my best live on air. Listeners liked the automation. It sounded very good. I did most of the voice over work and sometimes either went live or near live with a remote audio file sent to the on air machine. It was so good I even fooled the morning guy who was just entering the station. The music and liners were uncompressed CD quality and little or no processing made for a very good sounding station. You can look up the history of WPDQ-FM in New Jersey on Pirate Jims website. Over time listeners got very depressed with the automated format. They wanted the surprise and warmness that only live radio can give. Persons often living alone needed someone to call for a request to cheer them up, or just to say hello for someone to talk to. We covered community events and hosted talk shows covering important issues without being boring. Former music DJs can still find work doing talk radio. I am not worried about them. If they have talent you will hear them again. Don Imus, Larry King and others all started out playing music. I like the music on CBS-FM and the liners are very clever. The commercial breaks are excellent and easy to listen to. I never change the dial during breaks. I doubt it will last. As listeners get more depressed the advertisers follow; noticing a down surge in sales. Former DJs will also talk to advertisers and cause problems for the station. My advice to CBS is: Set your Optimod to Classical, better yet set it for the best sound you can get. Forget about being loud. Modern receivers can pick up distant stations better today and processing has gone the way of the pinball machine. Also Ipods are MP3 and not the best quality. You must sound better than Ipod. Do not play compressed audio either. Bring the live talent back. If you can’t afford old timers, find some new blood and take the time to let them know exactly what you expect on the air. WLTW still uses live talent and they do very well.