• 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

Coronavirus On The Radio (Don't Touch That Dial....)

If you've been paying attention lately, you know we've got a little problem out here in Seattle.

So how has coronavirus affected those in radio? Are there contingency plans? (When people call in sick from now on, believe them.) Any awareness campaigns in effect? Are routines changing?
 
I wouldn't want to be face to face with a microphone, if you know what I mean.

I know. The black foam screen of a Shure SM5B could host entire civilizations of bacteria culture. With arts.
 
I know. The black foam screen of a Shure SM5B could host entire civilizations of bacteria culture. With arts.

And sure, you spray it with Lysol, hoping to kill the germs, and that windscreen stinks right under your nose for the entire shift.
 
I wouldn't want to be face to face with a microphone, if you know what I mean.

i wonder if any stations are making provisions for each staffer to have their own mike.
 
If you've been paying attention lately, you know we've got a little problem out here in Seattle.

So how has coronavirus affected those in radio? Are there contingency plans? (When people call in sick from now on, believe them.) Any awareness campaigns in effect? Are routines changing?


I don't know how COVID-19 has affected Radio Specifically but in California such as the Sacramento and San Francisco Media Markets they have to go to Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, CA (Lead Quarantine facility in the USA) and in these areas you are left with what ever the CDC and Solano County, CA health officials are telling them.


Please be advised multiple states are currently declaring COVID-19 investigations this week.
 
If I were a guest on some talk show, I'd wipe down the headphones first with a good disinfectant wipe.

I heard yesterday, that there is serious talk that NAB might be cancelled this year. Final decision supposed to come later this week. I guess it makes sense, because there is typically a large contingent of attendees from Asia. If you've ever attended NAB, or any Vegas-located convention, you can see how fast a bug like COVID-19 could spread like an Australian wildfire.
 
During flu season I have seen stations hand out windsocks to the air talent to rotate in versus just dowsing the mic with Lysol. I'm seeing that more stations are using pop filter in front of mics like the RE-20 and RE-27 and MXL ans Audio Technica. This type of mic and pop filter is much easier to simply wipe down versus the foam wind scream. A good example is Bonneville Seattle. You can see the mic set up on their live studio camera feed.

https://sports.mynorthwest.com/710-espn-seattle-live-in-studio/
Notice on the 710 ESPN feed the camera auto follows voice talent.

https://mynorthwest.com/watch-live-kiro-radio/

It easy to simply wipe down this set up when needed between air shifts or more often.
 
https://fox6now.com/2020/03/03/amazon-employee-tests-positive-for-covid-19/

https://www.seattletimes.com/busine...d-positive-for-illness-caused-by-coronavirus/


Now there is a report saying that an Amazon employee was investigated for COVID-19 and the test was positive. But Its not known which division this was though. I know Amazon has a broadcasting division such as Amazon Prime video and makes Fire TV streamers but that is not known for now as Washington state has to deal with the fallout though.
 
But Its not known which division this was though. I know Amazon has a broadcasting division such as Amazon Prime video and makes Fire TV streamers but that is not known for now as Washington state has to deal with the fallout though.

Fulfillment Center
 
And headphones...ears can carry germs too. It should be standard practice. Most stations I worked at, the talent had their own headphones.

Don't forget keyboards, mice and all control surfaces the DJ might touch. The entire workstation area, carts, CD's, album covers, chairs etc. need to be wiped down between shifts.

What about anything on paper the DJ reads from?
 
Don't forget keyboards, mice and all control surfaces the DJ might touch. The entire workstation area, carts, CD's, album covers, chairs etc. need to be wiped down between shifts.

What about anything on paper the DJ reads from?

Has anyone used carts since the mid to late 90's?

Copy is usually on screen now... few stations use CDs and, except for really obscure specialty shows, nobody uses LPs (most studios do not have a turntable and have not for decades)
 
Has anyone used carts since the mid to late 90's?

I can remember somewhere in the late 90s using a digital program that looked like a cart deck on the screen. This was before flat screens. But you'd touch the screen and it would play like an old cart. Even with the ka-chunk. Over 20 years ago.
 
The whole sentence: Carts? What's a cart? CDs? What's a CD? Paper? What's paper? There is no paper at all in studios.

The only "album" I have seen in a studio in the last 30 years or so was a staff member showing off their wedding, baptism or other photo collection!

I'm always amused that the term "album" had lasted as long as it did. It was a reference to a set of 78 rpm records in a box with bound sleeves. An "album" was a group of disks in those sleeves that looked like a photo album... and the practice died with the 78 rpm record nearly 70 years ago, but the term has taken that long to die.

It's sort of like "dialing a number" on the phone. A "dial"? Really?
 
Glad I gave you guys some hilarity.

An 'album' is simply a collection, usually bound together. A photo album. A record album (could be one or more individual physical recordings). Single or multiple CD's or DVD's. Everybody still knows what you mean. Hey, I could have said "tapes". :)

My point was, of course, the entire studio needs to be wiped down and not just the microphone. Or you could dress each DJ and traffic guy in an isolation suit with a personal mic tucked inside the face mask. :)
 
Glad I gave you guys some hilarity.

An 'album' is simply a collection, usually bound together. A photo album. A record album (could be one or more individual physical recordings). Single or multiple CD's or DVD's. Everybody still knows what you mean. Hey, I could have said "tapes". :)

My point was, of course, the entire studio needs to be wiped down and not just the microphone. Or you could dress each DJ and traffic guy in an isolation suit with a personal mic tucked inside the face mask. :)

Of course, the solution being used already at some stations is to have the talent do the show from home or voice-track from home. Since a lot of shows are already done from remote locations already (Seacrest is a good example), it's an easy transition for those who still are not doing it.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom