Our AM station is in need of a new automation system that will do live-assist during the morning hours, and a system that can handle remotes, ball games, break-ins for election results, and still hit a network for news for two employees who are pretty much computer illiterate. LOL Can learn, though. Any suggestions? Thanks for your replies.
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New Automation System Recomendation
- Thread starter blondenimitz
- Start date
First thing to understand--there is no such thing as an easy to use automation system. Second, there are a million and one cheap systems--but if the designer gets tired, or bought out, or goes bust, you will be out of luck. Use an established company. Third, while I hate windows, anyone under 30 grew up on it. Avoid Linux systems unless you want to become a guru and put a cot in a back room at the station.
With that in mind, I would suggest either BSI's Simian, (www.bsiusa.com) or Prophet systems. Perhaps Media touch-- /www.imediatouch.com; since touch-screen is easy to use for live assist. BSI also has a new system that can use touch screens.
Avoid:
*Systems that require you to buy their computer or use "proprietary" sound cards or switching devices. You want to be able to move the system to another computer when the original computer gets senile, or goes up in a puff of smoke. I just did a quick run to Columbus yesterday (2 1/2 hours each way) to pick up a new XP box; our 4 year old box was getting flaky/ buggy.
*Systems using servers, or complicated networks. With one station, the automation can be in the on-air studio, you can transfer spots into that computer with a simple peer-to-peer network.
Look for:
*Systems that work with simple traffic systems like Natural Log. (If you already have a traffic system, find out what systems they recommend or have worked with in the past).
We've used Simian on our two FM's for the last five years; both stations satellite fed. We use their Wavecart for live sports. With a new computer, a Simian system with traffic software could be set up for about $4,500.00.
With that in mind, I would suggest either BSI's Simian, (www.bsiusa.com) or Prophet systems. Perhaps Media touch-- /www.imediatouch.com; since touch-screen is easy to use for live assist. BSI also has a new system that can use touch screens.
Avoid:
*Systems that require you to buy their computer or use "proprietary" sound cards or switching devices. You want to be able to move the system to another computer when the original computer gets senile, or goes up in a puff of smoke. I just did a quick run to Columbus yesterday (2 1/2 hours each way) to pick up a new XP box; our 4 year old box was getting flaky/ buggy.
*Systems using servers, or complicated networks. With one station, the automation can be in the on-air studio, you can transfer spots into that computer with a simple peer-to-peer network.
Look for:
*Systems that work with simple traffic systems like Natural Log. (If you already have a traffic system, find out what systems they recommend or have worked with in the past).
We've used Simian on our two FM's for the last five years; both stations satellite fed. We use their Wavecart for live sports. With a new computer, a Simian system with traffic software could be set up for about $4,500.00.
I second Tom's advice. I personally run a RCS system (Player101 and another product of theirs) for my own internet station but from 2002-2006 I was an IT guy,Music Director and DJ at a small FM station and we had a simian system from BSI and it was very great (if you had rock stable hardware)..we used it for background recording of ministry shows, airing of news updates, satellite shows live and MOHD automation and I even voicetracked mornings for about 6 months with it while we where between talent...
I too second TomT's advice, except I would be leery of BSI. I heard of a station up North from me almost going off the air due to all the hassles they encountered with support (or lack of it) from BSI. On the other hand, I've heard and have seen many stations running one form or another of Prophet. Everybody I know loves Player101 when they have the budget to go for it.
For those with less of a budget I've found the Pro bundle of StationPlaylist to be very robust, reliable as well as being able to run on generic hardware without any issues. The companion scheduler is very flexible as well, making this a great deal for those stations without a big budget (under $500). The support listserv is very responsive as well as email support.
Here's an vendor link for StationPlaylist as well as the StationPlaylist Review I wrote for trade paper Radio World.
For those with less of a budget I've found the Pro bundle of StationPlaylist to be very robust, reliable as well as being able to run on generic hardware without any issues. The companion scheduler is very flexible as well, making this a great deal for those stations without a big budget (under $500). The support listserv is very responsive as well as email support.
Here's an vendor link for StationPlaylist as well as the StationPlaylist Review I wrote for trade paper Radio World.
O
OttoM
Guest
Here's the thing:
With very little effort you can come up with someone who's had a bad experience (support or operationally) with ANY automation system. But that doesn't necessarily mean the specific system is garbage.
And you can't always trust opinions posted on a message board as they can be easily influenced by a number of factors unrelated to how good or bad a specific system is.
My suggestion is to do a little research. Find another station that runs a format similar to yours, call them up and ask for the Chief Engineer. Ask him or her what they use and what they think of it. Most engineers will take time to talk to you if you ask them NICELY.
I think you'll get a LOT more valuable input that way than what you'd get from an Internet message board.
With very little effort you can come up with someone who's had a bad experience (support or operationally) with ANY automation system. But that doesn't necessarily mean the specific system is garbage.
And you can't always trust opinions posted on a message board as they can be easily influenced by a number of factors unrelated to how good or bad a specific system is.
My suggestion is to do a little research. Find another station that runs a format similar to yours, call them up and ask for the Chief Engineer. Ask him or her what they use and what they think of it. Most engineers will take time to talk to you if you ask them NICELY.
I think you'll get a LOT more valuable input that way than what you'd get from an Internet message board.
Rob Stutson said:With very little effort you can come up with someone who's had a bad experience (support or operationally) with ANY automation system.
I have yet to hear of a bad experience with StationPlaylist. Has anyone on here had a less than great experience with their support or product?
BobOnTheJob said:Rob Stutson said:With very little effort you can come up with someone who's had a bad experience (support or operationally) with ANY automation system.
I have yet to hear of a bad experience with StationPlaylist. Has anyone on here had a less than great experience with their support or product?
I tried their demo, but it was so restricted that I never got a good feel for what it could actually do. It may be a great program but many features don't work in the demo. As a result, I purchased something else that I'm happy with.
R
rocketgal
Guest
I'd agree with Rob...you can always find someone who has had a bad experience with anything. I'd add that you can also always find a crazy fanboy for any product out there as well.
I picked up StationPlaylist and it seemed barely adequate for people broadcasting out of the basement, although the standard version seemed unstable to me...and really was pretty ugly. But hey, I've heard of people automating with WinAmp and iTunes, so YMMV.
Rox
Linux is only free if your time is worth nothing.
I picked up StationPlaylist and it seemed barely adequate for people broadcasting out of the basement, although the standard version seemed unstable to me...and really was pretty ugly. But hey, I've heard of people automating with WinAmp and iTunes, so YMMV.
Rox
Linux is only free if your time is worth nothing.
"Linux is only free if your time is worth nothing."
Never a truer statement for us old farts. I did the engineering for our channel upgrade back in the '80's on a Commodore 64, but my computer experience after that was limited to piloting a word processor. Apart from billing software, our live station ran reasonably well with a simple sequencer for audio tapes; my business partner and I handled the routine studio and transmitter maintenance--he did most of it as I was busy with a law practice.
Had to abruptly return to the inner workings of software six years ago when my one business partner retired, sold out to another fellow--and most of the air staff quit ( a blessing in disguise, as it turned out, in many ways). My new business partner got sales revved up, but he was clueless on engineering.
Leaving me and the weekend guy ( a high school junior) to figure out a Simian install. I had worked with Wave Station years before, the weekend guy had never seen a computer-based automation system. However, he had grown up with Windows (as has most kids his age), so he was quite comfortable keeping our computers running. Once he started working with it, he picked up Simian quickly. Now he does 90% of the work in keeping two automated stations and the office computer network running.
A Linux based system would have kept us both baffled, we probably would have spent twice as long just getting Linux to work, let alone a Linux-based automation system.
Never a truer statement for us old farts. I did the engineering for our channel upgrade back in the '80's on a Commodore 64, but my computer experience after that was limited to piloting a word processor. Apart from billing software, our live station ran reasonably well with a simple sequencer for audio tapes; my business partner and I handled the routine studio and transmitter maintenance--he did most of it as I was busy with a law practice.
Had to abruptly return to the inner workings of software six years ago when my one business partner retired, sold out to another fellow--and most of the air staff quit ( a blessing in disguise, as it turned out, in many ways). My new business partner got sales revved up, but he was clueless on engineering.
Leaving me and the weekend guy ( a high school junior) to figure out a Simian install. I had worked with Wave Station years before, the weekend guy had never seen a computer-based automation system. However, he had grown up with Windows (as has most kids his age), so he was quite comfortable keeping our computers running. Once he started working with it, he picked up Simian quickly. Now he does 90% of the work in keeping two automated stations and the office computer network running.
A Linux based system would have kept us both baffled, we probably would have spent twice as long just getting Linux to work, let alone a Linux-based automation system.
Almost all the major distributions of Linux, including Open SUSE and Ubuntu, are very easy to get up and running. Put the instal DVD in the machine press a few keys and you are there. And most applications are pretty much that easy to get up and running. The one exception would be a specialized program such as Rivendel, which, while mature, still requires some tinkering if the install does not go smoothly.
In short, you do not need to be a Linux systems engineer to enjoy the benefits of using the free OS. In many cases, a current version of SUSE or Ubuntu is much more stable and much quicker than Windows.
In short, you do not need to be a Linux systems engineer to enjoy the benefits of using the free OS. In many cases, a current version of SUSE or Ubuntu is much more stable and much quicker than Windows.
Chuck said:I tried their demo, but it was so restricted that I never got a good feel for what it could actually do. It may be a great program but many features don't work in the demo.
From the StationPlaylist website
The trial edition of Creator has all functionality of the Pro edition, but has a limit on the number of categories, spot groups, rotations & schedules that may be created.
I certainly did not feel that the demo was at all restricted - and went ahead and bought it as a result.
easyfm said:I certainly did not feel that the demo was at all restricted - and went ahead and bought it as a result.
I'm glad you like it. My experience was different, as I needed to try it with many more than four categories, four spot groups, or four rotations or schedules. What I already had would do way more than that. I was looking for something that was an improvement, not a step down. Perhaps your initial requirements were more modest than mine. I was looking to upgrade from something that had been running flawlessly for nearly six years.
It is very likely that SPL would have been better what I was using, but the limited demo did not convince me. I think a better marketing scheme is to provide a demo of the full-blown version that times out in 10-14 days. That way, you can see if it meets your needs or not.
I remember when I wrote the review for StationPlaylist I had played with the demo for more than a month prior to going ahead and purchasing the full Pro bundle. Having a couple of extra machines allowed me to move my data to freshly installed copies of the demo to keep on testing under various hardware and OS conditions. While I agree the demo may be a bit restrictive, I can see it from the publisher's view. I know, in my case anyways, it turned out to be a sound investment. I already installed it at another station and I have received positive feedback from folks who read my review.
All in all, I suppose automation systems are like cars, there's a different one for different likes, desires or needs.
All in all, I suppose automation systems are like cars, there's a different one for different likes, desires or needs.
Bill DeFelice said:All in all, I suppose automation systems are like cars, there's a different one for different likes, desires or needs.
I think that is a very fair assessment. Most all automation systems work, but some may be better than others for your particular situation. There is also the issue of what feels comfortable for you. That varies from individual to individual. It is probably why there are a couple of dozen (maybe more) automation systems to choose from.
I think one problem people might have with SPL is there are SO MANY features and options. I still haven't figured out the break notes but then I run it on a simple automation format with no timed events or birds to pick up and I only work with it 1 or 2 days a week.
spacetrucker said:I think one problem people might have with SPL is there are SO MANY features and options. I still haven't figured out the break notes but then I run it on a simple automation format with no timed events or birds to pick up and I only work with it 1 or 2 days a week.
The best piece of advice I can pass to you (or anybody else who uses StationPlaylist) is to sign up for their Yahoo Groups listserv. You can ask questions there and gain some insight on some of the features you haven't gotten into yet. I discovered better ways to implement options once I bounced my thoughts off other users who had already gone through what I was trying to accomplish. Also, the author of the program is an active participant in the discussions as well.
Bill DeFelice said:I too second TomT's advice, except I would be leery of BSI. I heard of a station up North from me almost going off the air due to all the hassles they encountered with support (or lack of it) from BSI. On the other hand, I've heard and have seen many stations running one form or another of Prophet. Everybody I know loves Player101 when they have the budget to go for it.
For those with less of a budget I've found the Pro bundle of StationPlaylist to be very robust, reliable as well as being able to run on generic hardware without any issues. The companion scheduler is very flexible as well, making this a great deal for those stations without a big budget (under $500). The support listserv is very responsive as well as email support.
Here's an vendor link for StationPlaylist as well as the StationPlaylist Review I wrote for trade paper Radio World.
Bill:
Allow me to second your views on Station Playlist. Now, if you've got the cash to go with a better more elaborate system, it won't hurt you to do that. But, I'm working with one internet station and an LP-FM (which may soon be 2 lower powered stations) that are or will be running Station Playlist. I am very impressed with what this software does for the cost.
The LP-FM is running a hybrid oldies/classic hits format (50's to early 80's). SPL is easy to schedule (it takes just a few minutes to schedule 7 days of programming, and the only reason it takes that long is that we air a custom-produced syndicated show that takes a little TLC to get loaded correctly). It made a major improvement to the sound of this station immediately. And, as I understand it, the program will work with some recommended traffic software programs (we don't have to worry about traffic software yet...the LP-FM sells advanced underwriting on an annual basis and we far over deliver what we promise). I still have to learn the track tool for voice tracking...in some cases, I understand you may need two sound cards in your computer to accomplish this, but...everything I've worked with in this program is very, very impressive for the cost. (About $400-$500 dollars.)
The Yahoo Group is fantastic. Most any problem you'll have has been covered by others. Often you can find several options there to solve your problem.Bill DeFelice said:spacetrucker said:I think one problem people might have with SPL is there are SO MANY features and options. I still haven't figured out the break notes but then I run it on a simple automation format with no timed events or birds to pick up and I only work with it 1 or 2 days a week.
The best piece of advice I can pass to you (or anybody else who uses StationPlaylist) is to sign up for their Yahoo Groups listserv. You can ask questions there and gain some insight on some of the features you haven't gotten into yet. I discovered better ways to implement options once I bounced my thoughts off other users who had already gone through what I was trying to accomplish. Also, the author of the program is an active participant in the discussions as well.
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