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March Ratings
- Thread starter aerie
- Start date
What difference would it make? It's not like there's an easy way to fix the problem.
People in Boston get their news from WBUR-FM. Perhaps the only option is to flip an FM to a WBZ simulcast. But that's not something iHeart likes to do. If the station was still owned by CBS, they would have done it by now, as they did in other major markets.
Boston
Nielsen Audio PPM Monthly Ratings Boston (Market #10) Population: 4,423,400 Black: 379,700 - Hispanic: 566,400 Average Quarter Hour Share for
radioinsight.com
While my ears aren’t the greatest, I do notice the deteriorating audio quality in the ‘BZ Morning News. The audio is highly compressed and more restricted in frequency response than it could be. It would appear the reporters are using cell phones to record their own voices, as well as of those whom they interview. Bloomberg reports in morning are rushed and the words are all blurred together.What difference would it make? It's not like there's an easy way to fix the problem.
People in Boston get their news from WBUR-FM. Perhaps the only option is to flip an FM to a WBZ simulcast. But that's not something iHeart likes to do. If the station was still owned by CBS, they would have done it by now, as they did in other major markets.
Boston
Nielsen Audio PPM Monthly Ratings Boston (Market #10) Population: 4,423,400 Black: 379,700 - Hispanic: 566,400 Average Quarter Hour Share for
The quality of the Morning News is also lower, except for Lori Grande’s traffic reports. Too much emphasis on sports and concerts from the morning news editor, which, to be clear, is NOT Jeff Brown.
I’m hoping something changes for the better, because, if not, I’m ready to tune away,
I find the quality of cell phone microphones to be as good as any studio mics. The mic in the iPhone is better than that of an android.
However its also possible to attach outboard mics to a cell phone.
Reporters have been using phones to send their reports for over 60 years.
Would a cell phone microphone have the directional characteristics of a good studio mic with a cardiod pattern?
Hope this is true, since I have an iPhone.
Maybe ‘BZ’s reporters are using Android-based phones.
I wasn’t aware of this. And if it’s done through some sort of mixer unit, perhaps the mixer has even more compression and restricted frequency response.
Yes, but they used field microphones connected to tape recorders, which, from inside the station mobile unit, were connected to a two-way radio link back to the station, OR they called in a report from a landline. For some reason, these seemed to have better audio than what I, at least, am hearing today.
Also, if the reporter were interviewing someone, that someone was usually identified, and it was typically a one-on-one interview. Now it seems the reporter sticks his phone into a crowd who’s gathered around him and anyone just throws in his/her two cents, and it’s quite often unintelligible. If this is designed for TikTok viewing, it doesn’t work as well for radio.
No, sorry, the “redefining” of local news from ‘BZ is not of the same quality of, say, 1010 WINS, NY.
Yes although not so narrow a pattern that it causes plosives. Early phones were too narrow.
Station mobile unit? That's fine for covering the Boston marathon. That's something you set up and staff in advance. For breaking news coverage, you don't have time for that. You go with whatever facilities you have. Before cell phones, reporters used pay phones. Those had carbon style mics invented during the 30s. Do you want immediate coverage or do you wait for the engineers to show up? I had a reporter covering a riot from a pay phone, and in the middle of a live shot, one of the rioters started shouting at our reporter. Live on the air. That's real radio.
When the president leaves the white house and walks to air force one, he's followed by what is called "the gaggle." That is a pack of reporters who are all shouting questions at him. You're not getting a one on one with the president that hasn't been pre-arranged. This is your shot to get a quote about the news of the day. Are you really going to skip that one opportunity because the audio isn't pristine? Once again, what I'm talking about is breaking news. That's what makes radio what it is. For TV, they need perfect lighting and all that planned in advance. Radio is immediate.
Ever hear an ad on 'BZ read by Dan Rea? I gather he no longer does his show in-studio. But he has to have some of the lowest-quality audio gear; just doesn't sound like "professional quality" that for so many years was striven for.
Wondering if 'BZ even HAS a mobile unit these days.
Not what I was referring to, and I won't get into it lest I veer off into politics.
I'm talking about the younger 'BZ reporters, the guys more so than the gals, who are heavily into social media, and while their "reports" may look/sound good thereon, do NOT translate well to radio.
On a related not: I know it's the thing these days, but news reports from a TV newscast never seemed to me to be a swell idea. The listener has to fill in many a blank that the TV viewer doesn't. But that's my tough luck, isn't it, because news radio networks are going away.
It should come as no surprise that both WBUR and WGBH-FM beat WBZ(AM) in this month's ratings, which prompted my first post to this thread. NPR has better audio and doesn't leave the listener guessing who's being interviewed.
And, lastly: WBZ's audio chain from 1170 SFR to Hull had better quality, IMHO, than the present one from Medford to Hull. I'm using the same radios for listening now as I did prior to the 2018 move. Again, IMHO.
Look for Feildtap from Comrex and The report it app from Tie line. I have had reporters use the phone Mic. I have had host in a pinch use the phone mic when they could not get to the studio in time. I have run a Focusrite Scarlet Solo on an iPhone, iPad and Android as well as other USB mics amd some USB mixers.. You can even connect via Bluetooth. Of course a bad data/Cell connection can mess things up the key is to stand still when in use.
The main factor is that those stations are on FM. WBZ is the highest rated AM station in Boston, and among the highest rated purely AM stations in the country. We are at a point where fewer people are able to receive AM radio. iHeart is having similar problems with other AMs around the country.
I stopped listening to Dan Rea about 15 years ago when he called someone a bimbo.
Did they ever use analog VHF or UHF “land mobile” phones before cellular?
nowradioguy your showing your age and your loss of hearing it is normal but it is you. Your having trouble with people who don't have the big pipes of Ed Murrow or Walter Cronkite. And the narrow chips in the car radios of today don't give you that deep booming base of the AM stations of yesterday. But this all changed years back no one has a mobile unit today in radio. WBZ reporters are using the same technolgy to file reports today at 1 Cabot that they were using at 1170. Now not the same as 30 years ago but the same as 5-10 years ago.
Yeah that AM listening crown is a pretty low bar. Sadly so.
I listen to WBZ regularly. Why do I like WBZ? Because I’m older.
But even I have to draw the line at Dan Rea. Unlike others I have no problem with his politics—my problem is that show sounds like a live stream or zoom with 3 assisted livings. Dan rambles like he’s chatting with maybe a dozen friends of similar age, he goes on and on and on (that part is frankly a little concerning because it’s recent years), and he just endlessly reminds listeners how “fair” he is. It’s unlistenable radio. It used to be unlistenable for liberals. Now it’s just bipartisan unlistenable bad radio
Every fifth or 6th caller is some one interesting, and I swear Dan knows EACH interesting caller personally. There are no interesting callers Dan does not know. That alone leads me to believe there can’t be many people listening. Anyone know what Dan’s ratings are and what that translates to in quarter hours? Curious.
WMEX continues at 0.3...how they survive is beyond me!
This is part of it, but it doesn’t address the rest of the issues. E.g., I can still discern whether something is originating from a studio-quality setup vs an AoIP link and a cheap mic/mixer combo.
I’be been using the same two radios at home for about 28 years now.
However, I agree that car AM reception sucks, and this has been the case for more than 25 years or so.
From what Fybush reported, the audio facilities at 1170 SFR were analog; the Medford facility uses whizz-bang digital. The latter may require less maintenance and afford better flexibility, but I think the 1170 audio sounded better.
Would you or anyone here know if the STL link for 1170 was T1, and if that for Medford is AoIP? T1 was a very reliable and high-quality link.
Being one that likes richly textured AM processing ("make your ears bleed"!), 'BZ went down the toilet sound-wise when they started AM $tereo and dropped the rich compression and subtle reverb (like WINS still uses)....I used to like to A/B the AM and FM top-of-the-hour morning new simulcast (with Gary Lapierre (sp?)) and compare the difference.
When was there a morning simulcast on AM and FM of Gary Lapierre’s newscasts in the morning?
Back when they still had 106.7 (mid-late 70s).