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DOES ANYONE MONITOR THEIR OWN STATION
- Thread starter wllmlos
- Start date
I remember one time on 55KRC when Rich King introed Don Webb. Don started the news but Rich hadn't potted down or tuned off his mic. Don did the entire newscast with Rich yacking to his friends in the background. That was a human error. But this issue of automation errors on the air makes me very angry. If the guy who owns or runs the station doesn't feel it is necessary to have one person listen, then why should I listen? It becomes painfully obvious that you are listening to the output of a sound card on a computer and I feel no connection to the station and I don't want to listen to it. Profit systems can do everything but be a human.
Last year, actually almost exactly one year, I moved from Los Angeles to Southeastern Iowa. As I often have insomnia I resorted to my usual remedy for boredom in the wee hours, George Noory. I noticed that on the local station in town that when at the top of the hour they went to CNN news that almost exactly one minute into the news it would cut off and that there was silence until almost exactly 4 minutes after when local material came on.
I e-mailed the station and told them what was happening and received a standard issue "thanks for listening" reply but the problem went on. So a couple of months later I sent another e-mail this time being more specific and even suggesting some probable causes. This time I got in the mail the thank you with some discount coupons to local stores and some free coupons for Pizza Hut.
I don't think that they really care especially late at night, when most of the local spots are PSAs or self promotion.
I e-mailed the station and told them what was happening and received a standard issue "thanks for listening" reply but the problem went on. So a couple of months later I sent another e-mail this time being more specific and even suggesting some probable causes. This time I got in the mail the thank you with some discount coupons to local stores and some free coupons for Pizza Hut.
I don't think that they really care especially late at night, when most of the local spots are PSAs or self promotion.
nmoore6676 said:Last year, actually almost exactly one year, I moved from Los Angeles to Southeastern Iowa. As I often have insomnia I resorted to my usual remedy for boredom in the wee hours, George Noory. I noticed that on the local station in town that when at the top of the hour they went to CNN news that almost exactly one minute into the news it would cut off and that there was silence until almost exactly 4 minutes after when local material came on.
I e-mailed the station and told them what was happening and received a standard issue "thanks for listening" reply but the problem went on. So a couple of months later I sent another e-mail this time being more specific and even suggesting some probable causes. This time I got in the mail the thank you with some discount coupons to local stores and some free coupons for Pizza Hut.
I don't think that they really care especially late at night, when most of the local spots are PSAs or self promotion.
And, I completely agree with you. The lack of interest some radio companies show in their AM properties is one reason why AM is dying quickly. I can appreciate that there are companies for whom the AM is priority #465, but...if it's on the air and you're trying to sell it, one would think you'd put someone in charge and hold them accountable for the on-air sound of the station.
Why does any of this surprise you? STUPID ownership and STUPID management has received what they wanted. They always hated talent and engineering. They always wanted to replace skilled, experienced well paid people with automation. They always wanted to eliminate localism in favor of satelite delivered garbage with minimum wage flunkies baby sitting...to once in a while listen between text messages. Right. Constant yapping about this left vs. right broken record BS is radio, right? Forget innovation. Forget localisim...just do it on the cheap. Ever know somebody who was very good looking, very active, very athletic? Over the years he/she poisoned themselves with booze and smoking and then when you meet them 20 years later, they look like they're 110 and filled with cancer. That's where we are with radio. Listeners have moved to other sources because STUPID ownership and STUPID management has abandoned them...clear and simple.
RADIO---Circling the drain thanks to management and ownership.
RADIO---Circling the drain thanks to management and ownership.
N
nocomradio
Guest
We used to have a little, very local Country station that had about three on-air personalities who sounded very amateur at best. The gaps, silence, talking in the background, and open mike stuff was the norm, not the exception.
One night, as I was leaving the house around 6PM, I turned them on and there was a CD skipping away. I left the radio on for about 5-10 minutes to see when they'd finally catch it. They didn't so I switched stations. Nearly 1 hour later I checked back and it was still skipping! I think it took around an hour and a half to stop it. This was a station that was staffed until at least 11PM each day. I always wonder what had befallen the DJ on shift that night. Long bathroom run, dinner, out back with his girlfriend......
Their DJ's also sounded like the were broadcasting from a tin can.
One night, as I was leaving the house around 6PM, I turned them on and there was a CD skipping away. I left the radio on for about 5-10 minutes to see when they'd finally catch it. They didn't so I switched stations. Nearly 1 hour later I checked back and it was still skipping! I think it took around an hour and a half to stop it. This was a station that was staffed until at least 11PM each day. I always wonder what had befallen the DJ on shift that night. Long bathroom run, dinner, out back with his girlfriend......
Their DJ's also sounded like the were broadcasting from a tin can.
One word describes the root of the problem: CONSOLIDATION. What that really means is that at least some if not all of a cluster is neglected. Add to that the inherent cheapness big Corp broadcasters have toward talent costs and you've got all different kinds of issues making it to air that never would have before. And, engineering is rarely this issue. It's improper programming of stuff OR bad programming/hardware of automation systems. Some operators have automation systems with ancient hardware. Owners wouldn't think of driving a car that was 10 years old or using a 5 year old computer, yet they'll piss and moan about regulary updating automation hardware. Even if it's a true engineering issue, many stations don't even have someone full-time to tend to issues. Small guys generally don't. So their engineer is only on-cal if someone breaks. It's up to the rest of the staff to tell them what doesn't work. Most contract engineers aren't even on remote control dialout duty. With tons of stations required to make a living being a contractor, there's no way to deal with all the remote controls calling them. Again, it's a cheap issue.
D
dellmonte57
Guest
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.
I'm sure Marty will knock me down for picking on the little guy...however WDJO is guilty and my undrstanding is that the owner has his ad agency housed with the radio station in the same office and he is the guy responsible for the sound coming out of the speakers. They claim 5,000 watts and 60,000 listeners is that true?
dellmonte57 said: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.
I'm sure Marty will knock me down for picking on the little guy...however WDJO is guilty and my undrstanding is that the owner has his ad agency housed with the radio station in the same office and he is the guy responsible for the sound coming out of the speakers. They claim 5,000 watts and 60,000 listeners is that true?
Well, the Arbitron topline numbers are available. I think right on this site. Anyways, they have shown something like a .8 and that probably equates to around 60K. They have 5000 watts from the transmitter site in the burbs. Coincidentally, the Cincinnati numbers are due out tomorrow.
microbob said:1480 used to have a stronger signal before they moved their tower site. Not sure if they could get a daytime power increase or whether what if anything could be done to improve the signal.
The problem is the short sticks. They are not as efficient.
Dial position is the other culprit. The higher on the dial, the less the coverage.
JRY is correct here.
While I can't remember how high the old WCIN towers were, they were on a hill so yes, back then, the 5 Kw signal carried farther, particularly in the daytime.
Back then, they cut to 500 watts directional at night. I could be wrong, but I think the current WDJO might actually have a better night signal at 300 watts than WCIN used to have with 200 watts more. I would lose it two I-75 exits north of the station...Then again, there's a lot more interference these days...
While I can't remember how high the old WCIN towers were, they were on a hill so yes, back then, the 5 Kw signal carried farther, particularly in the daytime.
Back then, they cut to 500 watts directional at night. I could be wrong, but I think the current WDJO might actually have a better night signal at 300 watts than WCIN used to have with 200 watts more. I would lose it two I-75 exits north of the station...Then again, there's a lot more interference these days...
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.
This is not correct. I listen to WKRC almost everyday. They almost always DISAPPEAR from my radio every night at sunset. During the day, they have a "killer" signal here in Central KY. Yes, on RARE occasions, they have forgotten to make the switch, but certainly not everyday for many months.
I agree, however, that WLW sounds like crap here with their IBUZZ noise.
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