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Computer ran radio - the day of glitches at WDEL and WILM

M

MikefromDelaware

I was out running some errands this afternoon, and tuned into WDEL to catch the CBS Radio News Roundup. WDEL apparently was having some issues with their computer system as prior to the program coming on, you heard the beeping and voice saying CBS radio channel 43 over and over for a few minutes. Then the Roundup came one. Then with about 20 minutes left, the CBS feed cut out and then a pre-recorded local Money talk show came on. I called the station and someone explained that they were having some issues with the computer and the network feed which was why the tail end of Roundup didn't air.

However, WDEL wasn't the only Wilmington station having computer problems. I switched over to WILM and when the local newscast came on at a spot break (pre-recorded as the station seemed to be in auto pilot), the WILM newscast was from yesterday, where the news anchor was telling everyone to stay off the roads as Delaware is in a state of emergency, and Governor Markell has said only emergency personel may be on the roads, etc, and the storm is due to end later today. Talk about a major problem. WILM really should look at what their computer is doing. It also was cutting off stuff mid sentence to go to the next thing.

Maybe, its worth the extra cost to have at least one person in studio to prevent such a failing. I realize that isn't going to happen as even FM stations are doing this during off hours to save money, but they generally are only playing music, and not conveying real info as WDEL or WILM generally do. I wonder how often that has happened at other news/talk stations around the nation, where an old out dated newscast was aired by the computer, or is this a radio first.
 
Two possibilities:

Don't forget snow on satellite dishes can play havoc with broadcast feeds, whether or not the station is manned by real live people, or computer-run. Blowing drifting snow compounds the problem.

And networks can change channels for feeds with little notice.
 
We had major issues at WDEL during big snow storms with AP, CNN, etc. Someone needs to remember to take a broom and clear the dishes on a regular basis. Of course, that requires someone to actually BE there!

At one time, the OM at WDEL/WSTW could correct computer issues from home. That is vital in this day of small staffs. But there is nothing anyone can do if a person cannot get into work and record updates. Or if someone forgets to properly record an update. Hence, Saturday's news will air on Sunday.

One Memorial Day I was sleeping in and suddenly remembered that if I did not get to a particular station in 45 minutes and update the news, news from the previous Monday would air! That was not a computer glitch, it was a "human" glitch.
 
We had a problem across the bridge in Jersey with Friday's weather of two weeks ago airing on a Monday on LIFT FM (wzfi & sister station w2b0ak).
 
Hi Mike. Allan Loudell told me you had called, so I figured I'd see this thread.

Our problem stemmed from the fact that we had programmed the computer to air CBS channel 43 when we went to the Westwood One Super Bowl pregame show; but obviously that was the wrong channel. I'm not sure yet if they changed the feed or if we just had the wrong channel programmed in.

We actually had two people in the building at that time (solely for WDEL, not including WSTW), but neither was quite sure what to do. So they called me at home - I was napping after having spent the better part of three days at the station. I was able to log in remotely and determine what channel the pregame show was on. In the meantime, I put a pre-recorded CBS Weekend Roundup segment on the air, but that was only 8 minutes long, so I put the pre-recorded Moneytalk program on - which was 22 minutes -- giving me more time to figure out what was happening.

At 4pm we were able to get the correct WWI channel on the air, and everything ran smoothly from there on. We did not miss any part of the actual game.

For the record, over the weekend, we had 12 people in and out of the building, working staggered shifts. (12!!!) And kudos to Frank Gerace, who ended up sleeping in the building Saturday night. We also had all four members of the TrafficWatch team on standby, but we decided not to do road reports until the travel ban was lifted.
 
Chris, we had a similar problem at WNRK back in the day when we aired the Superbowl and it came from CBS in those days. CBS gave us the wrong channel for the game. The boss called me prior to game time (I was only there part-time by then, full time elsewhere). I had to go over to the station and try to find the game.

It has been close to 10 years since I have had any involvement with CBS feeds. Does this still happen often?
 
Westwood One sucks plain and simple. 8 years ago I was board opping the PreGame of an NCAA Game and they announcers kept screwing up the out cues. I know it was not my screw up. I didn't realize they screwed up the out cues until I ran out of local commercials to air.

The following is what is not word for word of Westwood One's out cues:

"You're listening to Westwood One's Coverage of the NCAA" was the cue for network spots.
"You're listening to coverage of the NCAA on Westwood One" was the cue for local spots.

The announcers kept screwing it up. I ran out of local commercials, told the GM and he said just let the network spots run for the rest of the pregame.
 
Hi Chris, thanks for the back ground info. Pretty cool that you can access the system for WDEL from home. I can remember airing CBS weekend Round Up on reel to reel at WILM (someone would prerecord it earlier so it could air during my air shift - that was when WILM was still at 12th and French). I can remember having to put a PSA on while getting the satellite settings changed (there were those times when CBS did switch what channel they were sending a feed and no one seemed to know anything about it. There were other satellite feeds too where I'd have to jump through some hoopes to get the correct program on due to satellite settings changing. It's a very weird feeling to tell your listeners that coming up next is the so and so show and you pot it up and there's another program airing or a beeping and a voice saying CBS radio channel 43, beep, beep, beep.

Another problem we had one time at WILM back at 12th and French, was one day there was an EBS alert check from flagship WSTW and for some reason the EBS channel didn't shut off after the alert check and WSTW's calls and the start of music started playing before I found a way to pot it down (normally it shut off at the end of the alert check). Of course back then at WILM, as a weekender, there were many times I'd be the only person there (Saturday afternoon or evening), you had to be able to think on your feet quickly when something didn't work correctly. Unlike a music station, where you could simply put some music on to fill while you figured out what was wrong all we had at WILM then was carts with sound for news stories, featurettes (usually 2 minutes in length), spots, and PSA's, other than reel to reels or CD's of half hour or full hour programs. So I'd grab a couple 60 sec PSA's or a featurette and use them while I figured out what to do when those unusual emergencies happened. Technology is great when it works, but when it doesn't work, look out !
 
HI CHRIS,

That's what I like to hear! Lots of people working at a radio station. Your station has a good owner!

We're trying to get there with our small radio station network - employ more people , grow locally and play an integral part of the lives of people in our community!

WDEL does a great job! josh - LIFT FM RADIO NETWORK
 
MikefromDelaware said:
Technology is great when it works, but when it doesn't work, look out !
Click to expand...

Truer words have never been spoken.

Thanks guys.
 
In the 90's, at least, Westwood One would schedule certain times a day when a staffer needed to monitor the netword feed. New commercials would be fed for those needing them for make-goods, changes in commericals for various newscasts and games would be annouced and CHANGES IN SAT. CHANNELS would be given. Stations with small staffs were at a disadvantage, but I tried to monitor the feed at least several days a week.

These days, I would think CBS or whoever could arrange for changes to be sent by e-amil to affiliates, or as text messages to the OM's or CE's cell phones. There is no reason for someone to have to guess at what channel a program will be on.
 
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