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DOES ANYONE MONITOR THEIR OWN STATION

W

wllmlos

Perhaps one of you engineers could tell me...how could a radio station play a four minute commercial set at the same time as a song is playing and nobody notices?
I'm retired from the business now..but I remember...if there was a mistake on the air...you'd have 10 people coming out of the woodwork and running into the studio to find out what's going on... and lots of phone calls!
Do the DJs just turn down the monitor? Isn't anyone in the office listening to their own station? Isn't there a hotline that the higher ups can call in?
This has happened more than once. I dont want to mention any names but the initials are WDJO.
 
wllmlos said:
Perhaps one of you engineers could tell me...how could a radio station play a four minute commercial set at the same time as a song is playing and nobody notices?
I'm retired from the business now..but I remember...if there was a mistake on the air...you'd have 10 people coming out of the woodwork and running into the studio to find out what's going on... and lots of phone calls!
Do the DJs just turn down the monitor? Isn't anyone in the office listening to their own station? Isn't there a hotline that the higher ups can call in?
This has happened more than once. I dont want to mention any names but the initials are WDJO.
Click to expand...

Many radio companies have decided that having a live op or a staff member to monitor the station is equal to throwing money out the window, so now what you have is a computer that's programmed by someone who very likely has several other jobs that also were occupied by different individuals.
 
wllmlos said:
Perhaps one of you engineers could tell me...how could a radio station play a four minute commercial set at the same time as a song is playing and nobody notices?
I'm retired from the business now..but I remember...if there was a mistake on the air...you'd have 10 people coming out of the woodwork and running into the studio to find out what's going on... and lots of phone calls!
Do the DJs just turn down the monitor? Isn't anyone in the office listening to their own station? Isn't there a hotline that the higher ups can call in?
This has happened more than once. I dont want to mention any names but the initials are WDJO.
Click to expand...

That makes no sense. They have one of the better systems in place. Naturally, from time to time you'll get an odd spot in the hard drive. I have seen some systems skip an event or two. Pretty rare. I have heard even the best of stations, with live operators, screw up big time. Happens to the best of them.
Here is the real question..... Do you bill the clients for this?
 
Major market-Chicago...#3 market in the country. Top 5 radio station with two engineers standing in front of the board, unaware that their conversation was going out over the air over a song.

Mistakes happen everywhere you have human beings running a radio station. Now, we just have computers to help us make them more frequently and for longer duration.
 
Sgeirk said:
Major market-Chicago...#3 market in the country. Top 5 radio station with two engineers standing in front of the board, unaware that their conversation was going out over the air over a song.

Mistakes happen everywhere you have human beings running a radio station. Now, we just have computers to help us make them more frequently and for longer duration.
Click to expand...

Those mistakes of commercials running over program material and multiple commercials playing over each other are not that uncommon and I hear it locally as well as over the internet. The internet I chalk up to the software meant to cover commercials that they can't carry on the stream going amok. The local ones are most prevalent on the stations running automated and / or off the satellite.

However back in the good old days there were mikes left open, records cued on air, the wrong spots played and all as well. I know I was there and I've done that. But yes we either got someone running in to see what was wrong or often listener calls too. One difference you had one station in one building and monitor speakers all over even in most offices. So someone always heard. Today with the clusters and all there are no in house monitor speakers and listeners just don't care because they aren't as involved.
 
I remember once listening to WBNS-FM/Columbus one evening when it was Hot AC, and the night jock at the time, Amy Dunn, left the mike open while taking phone calls underneath the song playing over the air. Someone eventually called in and told her that her mic was open. I wish I had been taping that, it cracked me up.
I've also heard dead air at times locally on Mix 107.7 during live and local dayparts. We're only human, born to make mistakes. ;D
 
One of my favorites; I was in Lexington 25 years ago where we aired Mutual News. I took a lot of pride in being tight to end my song right to the news sounder. Well - I knew I was on time because I heard their theme/sounder but then dead air. I'm sweating bullets trying to make a quick decision on what to do next. Just then I hear, from the network, someone banging on a window with a distant voice yelling "you're on the air!"
The news guy just started the news like nothing had happened...funny stuff.
 
I sure do miss the old Mutual News. Sounded like Mutuable they way they prounounced it.

I have to wonder if anyone is monitoring WSCR 670 in Chicago in analog, because the there's still an audible rasp
following the modulation that's been there for quite a while now.
Maybe CBS radio radio stations only monitor themselves in digital mode when the exciter's on, so they don't even know
that don't sound just plain bad anymore bcause of the HD hiss, they now sound horrific because of the
parasitic oscillation riding the audio.

I would be SO ashamed if this were my pt 15 sounding like that, and there they are, a major market 50kw sounding
totally amateur. I just can't figure it out at all. Do they need help or what?
 
55KRC has not switched to their night signal pattern/power in months. I've noticed that they now have louder processing than WLW at my location.
 
microbob said:
55KRC has not switched to their night signal pattern/power in months. I've noticed that they now have louder processing than WLW at my location.
Click to expand...
If WLW is still running hd, they can't be loud anymore. If there should be a moment of -100% modulation, the carrier is gone and the
digital decode is completely lost as there is no carrier for reference. So they have to limit modulation to 94% or something like that.

::) As if the decode doesn't already drop out for every little burp.
 
WLW is still running IBuzz. 55KRC does not and has never installed AM HD. WLW really does sound awful and Powel Crosley is now turning in his grave. The average listener probably doesn't notice the degradation in signal which is why CC and the other big radio groups don't do anything to fix the problem.
 
microbob said:
WLW is still running IBuzz. 55KRC does not and has never installed AM HD. WLW really does sound awful and Powel Crosley is now turning in his grave. The average listener probably doesn't notice the degradation in signal which is why CC and the other big radio groups don't do anything to fix the problem.
Click to expand...

WLW is almost painful to listen to now, the sound quality is so bad. I have to say their analog is better than WTAM, but that's really not saying much. ::)
 
I have another question for the engineers. Why are they now just interupting songs and commercials with the EBS Test tones?
It wasn't that long ago that they made a big deal with the introduction...the tones...and the closing.
 
As of last night, WKRC was on their night time power. I noticed they were off the air for a about 45 min after midnight and the returned using the right power/pattern.
 
wllmlos said:
I have another question for the engineers. Why are they now just interupting songs and commercials with the EBS Test tones?
It wasn't that long ago that they made a big deal with the introduction...the tones...and the closing.
Click to expand...

The test is likely sent automatic (since there is no one in the studio) .. so it has no clue to what is on the air.
 
almaniac27 said:
microbob said:
WLW is still running IBuzz. 55KRC does not and has never installed AM HD. WLW really does sound awful and Powel Crosley is now turning in his grave. The average listener probably doesn't notice the degradation in signal which is why CC and the other big radio groups don't do anything to fix the problem.
Click to expand...

WLW is almost painful to listen to now, the sound quality is so bad. I have to say their analog is better than WTAM, but that's really not saying much. ::)
Click to expand...

I have a tough time listening to WLW on an analog radio here in central Ohio, the hiss is so obnxious. Local WTVN is the same way. I can't listern to it until after dark.
 
microbob said:
55KRC has not switched to their night signal pattern/power in months. I've noticed that they now have louder processing than WLW at my location.
Click to expand...

That could be a huge forfeiture if they get caught. Switching problems? No one cares?
 
wllmlos said:
One of my favorites; I was in Lexington 25 years ago where we aired Mutual News. I took a lot of pride in being tight to end my song right to the news sounder. Well - I knew I was on time because I heard their theme/sounder but then dead air. I'm sweating bullets trying to make a quick decision on what to do next. Just then I hear, from the network, someone banging on a window with a distant voice yelling "you're on the air!"
The news guy just started the news like nothing had happened...funny stuff.
Click to expand...

We used to have the mutual sounder on cart. If the song ended a little early and the station ID wasn't enough to soak up the extra time, we'd pop in the cart. Basically, it sounded like mutual was running a longer sounder.
Never dead air, NEVER!!!!!
 
jry said:
microbob said:
55KRC has not switched to their night signal pattern/power in months. I've noticed that they now have louder processing than WLW at my location.
Click to expand...

That could be a huge forfeiture if they get caught. Switching problems? No one cares?
Click to expand...


Probably a CC budget cut and one engineer handling all 4 AM stations.
 
jry said:
microbob said:
55KRC has not switched to their night signal pattern/power in months. I've noticed that they now have louder processing than WLW at my location.
Click to expand...

That could be a huge forfeiture if they get caught. Switching problems? No one cares?
Click to expand...

It's Clear Channel, so the FCC won't do anything to them.
 
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