KFWB - Teletype is Back

[david]

Anyone notice that KFWB has returned the Teletype background sound effect this past week?
At one point 1010 WINS New York discontinued the Teletype, but received many complaints and decided to revive it.

I think this is a smart move for KFWB. First of all, when using a non-digital tuner, hearing that sound lets listeners know they're at 980 without looking at the dial. Second, it implies a serious all-news operation, which KFWB needs to emphasize again as its “brand” has gone soft. With the albatross of the Dodgers' contract gone after the upcoming post-season (yes I believe the Dodgers will be in the post-season this year, and will ultimately lose to the Angels in 5 games in the World Series, but I digress), KFWB can return to being a true 24/7 all-news operation.

I am also pleased to see the thrice hourly newscasts beginning once again with a package of headlines, rather than the “big story” tease they had been running recently - which made it feel like an eternity until one got to hear anything other than that "big story".

 

[calguy]

Anyone notice that KFWB has returned the Teletype background sound effect this past week?
At one point 1010 WINS New York discontinued the Teletype, but received many complaints and decided to revive it.

I think this is a smart move for KFWB. First of all, when using a non-digital tuner, hearing that sound lets listeners know they're at 980 without looking at the dial. Second, it implies a serious all-news operation, which KFWB needs to emphasize again as its “brand” has gone soft. With the albatross of the Dodgers' contract gone after the upcoming post-season (yes I believe the Dodgers will be in the post-season this year, and will ultimately lose to the Angels in 5 games in the World Series, but I digress), KFWB can return to being a true 24/7 all-news operation.

I am also pleased to see the thrice hourly newscasts beginning once again with a package of headlines, rather than the “big story” tease they had been running recently - which made it feel like an eternity until one got to hear anything other than that "big story".

Well KFWB has a different Program Director now. Still, I believe that it's been quite a while since 980 used this effect. KNX was the last to use teletype, but has been without it for many years now. Funny thing is that teletypes have been obsolete for years. If anything I would only use it on an oldies station trying to evoke those days of yesteryear. The last teletypes we had were actually quite quiet, not a sound you could use for effect.

 

[Shiny Knob]

Wow. That's amazing.

I was the engineer who actually flipped the switch and turned off the KFWB teletype, back in 1993 or so. It was determined that the clockwork sound of those old teletypes was anachronistic and also was reducing modulation. WB was still running a mono signal into a stereo emulator as their AM Stereo offering. The teletype didn't get along well with the stereo generator.

So we turned off the teletype and indeed, we did gain a little loudness. That was pretty important with our 5000 Watts when we were competing with the KNX 50,000 Watt signal. We were stomping the life out of that audio, but it did get us into houses in the San Fernando Valley, which it wasn't doing very well before we started diddling with the processing.

The valley signal became an issue when we got a GM who lived way out in the west end of the Valley. He couldn't hear WB at home, and it was our job to fix that. And we did too!

That teletype sound was the bane of the production interns. Every week, one of them had the boring job of dubbing a fresh, extra long teletype cart. Then they would slam it into the cart machine during a commercial break, when the SFX bus was muted. That teletype almost never missed a beat. And when it did, man was there a mad scramble to get it fixed.

-Knobby

 

[ercjncpr]

Thanks for the memories, Knobby.

Actually the teletype has been back on 980 for a few weeks now, I was wondering when someone was going to comment on it. BTW, March 2008 will be the 40th anniversary for KFWB as all news. April 2008 for the 1070 David G. Hall Masoleum ;D

 

[Bob E. Nelson]

Thanks for the memories, Knobby.

Actually the teletype has been back on 980 for a few weeks now, I was wondering when someone was going to comment on it. BTW, March 2008 will be the 40th anniversary for KFWB as all news. April 2008 for the 1070 David G. Hall Masoleum ;D

I'm not in a position to hear 1010/WINS from here -- but is the teletype also on that station as well (like I remember it from the 60's and 70's)?

 

[vsa]

Thanks for the memories, Knobby.

Actually the teletype has been back on 980 for a few weeks now, I was wondering when someone was going to comment on it. BTW, March 2008 will be the 40th anniversary for KFWB as all news. April 2008 for the 1070 David G. Hall Masoleum ;D

I'm not in a position to hear 1010/WINS from here -- but is the teletype also on that station as well (like I remember it from the 60's and 70's)?

1010 WINS is running teletype in the BG. Listen for yourself at:

http://www.1010wins.com/

 

[Bob_Hudson]

At KPRI and KCBQ in San Diego we had real live teletypes in the newsroom and while they seemed to run continuously, they would often pause and if it happened during a newscast it sounded more than awkward. At KHJ we four teletypes blasting away about four feet from my ears as I sat writing my newscasts, but once I got in the announce booth all was quiet and it was a welcome respite from the clacking of those machines. I can't remember where I worked that used a teletype tape (it might have been KRLA) but it was nice because you pause to catch your breath and the background sounded nicely filled the gap.

What I hated were those stations that felt compelled to run music behind traffic reports.

 

[Gregg]

I am so glad to hear this news. I think ALL of the all-news radio stations should continue to use the teletype sfx as a subtle way of letting their audiences know who they are (except maybe KNX and WCBS NYC where two all-news stations compete).

These days, especially when there's virtually no music on AM anymore, I think the teletype sfx make an all-news station easily idenitifiable. Every other AM station has somebody talking, be it talk, religion, sports, etc. But only KFWB, WINS and KYW let you know who they are the moment you tune them in... sort of like a tv network logo that's always in the lower right corner of the screen.

So the three remaining Group W-Westinghouse Broadcasting all-news stations (now owned by CBS) still continue to use the teletype sfx... KFWB LA, WINS NYC and KYW Philadelphia. (WMAQ Chicago was also a Group W all-news station in Chicago. I'm not sure if WMAQ continued to use the teletype sfx but CBS decided not to operate two all-news stations in Market #3 a few years ago and switched WMAQ to all-sports WSCR.)

To critics of the teletype sfx, who say real newsrooms no longer have teletype machines printing out the news on reams of paper, that's true. But listeners don't know this. I also think that all three stations keep the sfx so low in the background that even if it isn't your cup of tea, I doubt anyone would find the sound objectionable or annoying. You actually hear it more when you tune the station in than when you're right on the signal on a dial tuner.

I also think the 20 minute cycle (practiced by KFWB and WINS) is much better than the 30 minute cycle practiced by other all news stations. In today's fast paced world, I think it's smart to do your top stories every 20 minutes instead of making listeners wait a half-hour to get to the top of the news. By the time most stations get to the news stories used toward the end of the 30 minute cycle, you're really hearing some not-so-interesting information. And clearly you should hit listeners with the top headlines as each news cycle begins.

While KFWB (and KNX) don't do so well in the LA ratings, WINS is NYC's top AM station, book after book. And now that Howard Stern is on satellite, WINS is usually #1 in morning drive. They often say on the air that they're the most-listened to radio station in America (I guess using weekly cume ratings).

So that teletype sfx is being heard by the biggest cume audience in the U.S.





Gregg
[email protected]

 

[Garrett]

You all failed to mention WEEI in Boston! WEEI ran the teletype, and they had been a CBS News Radio station and continued to be after CBS Sold them in the 80s. Right around the time that CBS merged with (got swallowed by) Group W Westinghouse, WBZ took over the News Radio format and WEEI went all sports. Today, WBZ is now very much like sisters WINS and KFWB, but guess what, they never brought with them teletype. I guess they figured why use what they never had to begin with. It's also interesting that Boston is one market that has had a CBS O & O News Radio station on two different frequencies at two different times.

 

[News6397]

WMAQ had the teletype sfx when it was a Westinghouse All-News station. It was, at least initially, on a continous loop cart, and if you listened closely, you could hear the splice.