The wonders of pc driven stations

[Jim_Hicks]

I was listening to KYW at 4:05pm Wednesday as I drove back to Newark from Dover DE. Suddenly, the power must have gone out at the studio for a couple of seconds. I figure with the high winds a power line got knocked off for a second or two. But that was enough to crash the computer. This happened in the middle of a sound bite, which suddenly vanished. So here is the anchor with no sound bites, sounders, jingles, commercials, etc. And when the live wx reporter came on, she could not hear him and ended up cutting him off. It took nearly 10 minutes to reboot everything. And all this during afternoon drive. Thankfully, an engineer was in the building to help her out of this mess.

We have come to rely on computers so much now in radio/tv that many stations no longer have any cart backups. If you are airing a talk show with people like Rush and Hannity you have little problem, they can talk forever and they generally run something even during local breaks (some of what Rush runs is way funnier than his show). But on a news station with a tight clock, you are really out of luck during the reboot time.

There is a lot to be said for back-up plans when the computer crashes.

 

[OldNumber7]

Low-tech isn't always much better

> We have come to rely on computers so much now in radio/tv
> that many stations no longer have any cart backups.

I remember working at stations where -- during brownouts or while on the backup generator -- the voltage was so low the cart machine capstans couldn't get up to full speed. The on-air talent had to fly without a net (maybe grab LP records???) or else play really bad sounding music and spots.

 

[KeithThompson]

It's a little difficult to have a cart backup when you can't get them anymore.

Seriously, I don't think that carts are even being manufactured anymore.

By the way, in case of a sudden computer crash, we keep a song cued up on the reel to reel in the studio that we can immediately put on the air until the system reboots or we can grab CDs.


> I was listening to KYW at 4:05pm Wednesday as I drove back
> to Newark from Dover DE. Suddenly, the power must have gone
> out at the studio for a couple of seconds. I figure with the
> high winds a power line got knocked off for a second or two.
> But that was enough to crash the computer. This happened in
> the middle of a sound bite, which suddenly vanished. So here
> is the anchor with no sound bites, sounders, jingles,
> commercials, etc. And when the live wx reporter came on, she
> could not hear him and ended up cutting him off. It took
> nearly 10 minutes to reboot everything. And all this during
> afternoon drive. Thankfully, an engineer was in the
> building to help her out of this mess.
>
> We have come to rely on computers so much now in radio/tv
> that many stations no longer have any cart backups. If you
> are airing a talk show with people like Rush and Hannity you
> have little problem, they can talk forever and they
> generally run something even during local breaks (some of
> what Rush runs is way funnier than his show). But on a news
> station with a tight clock, you are really out of luck
> during the reboot time.
>
> There is a lot to be said for back-up plans when the
> computer crashes.
>

 

[exciter]

Re: It's a little difficult to have a cart backup when you can't get them anymore.

We keep an ipod in the studio. It's plugged into the board.

> Seriously, I don't think that carts are even being
> manufactured anymore.
>
> By the way, in case of a sudden computer crash, we keep a
> song cued up on the reel to reel in the studio that we can
> immediately put on the air until the system reboots or we
> can grab CDs.
>
>
> > I was listening to KYW at 4:05pm Wednesday as I drove back
>
> > to Newark from Dover DE. Suddenly, the power must have
> gone
> > out at the studio for a couple of seconds. I figure with
> the
> > high winds a power line got knocked off for a second or
> two.
> > But that was enough to crash the computer. This happened
> in
> > the middle of a sound bite, which suddenly vanished. So
> here
> > is the anchor with no sound bites, sounders, jingles,
> > commercials, etc. And when the live wx reporter came on,
> she
> > could not hear him and ended up cutting him off. It took
> > nearly 10 minutes to reboot everything. And all this
> during
> > afternoon drive. Thankfully, an engineer was in the
> > building to help her out of this mess.
> >
> > We have come to rely on computers so much now in radio/tv
> > that many stations no longer have any cart backups. If
> you
> > are airing a talk show with people like Rush and Hannity
> you
> > have little problem, they can talk forever and they
> > generally run something even during local breaks (some of
> > what Rush runs is way funnier than his show). But on a
> news
> > station with a tight clock, you are really out of luck
> > during the reboot time.
> >
> > There is a lot to be said for back-up plans when the
> > computer crashes.
> >
>

 

[jondavidvox]

Confucious Say.....

Truly, I'm not one of those old, angry guys who hate progress....After all, I went from Stereo Records to Carts, to CD's, to Hard-Drives, from 2-track to Multi-track, from Analog to Digital, from Manual to Fly-By-Wire. But....

Now, after a near decade of these Windows-based computer nightmares that substitute for radio station control rooms, I will say this...

They just don't work. (As Control Rooms...They are however, pretty good automation systems.)

They're simply not as intuitive, capable, flexible, or as reliable as the Pacific Records BMX III-32, 9 Tomcat, 2 MTR-10 control rooms of the 90's.

I know, and even agree that moving tape over a head is just not competitive. But jeeze, with computers shouldn't we have at least MORE capability, and MORE flexibilty, not less?

Last Friday, my VoxPro crashed in the middle of a winner. My paperless control room, I-Net capable computer suddenly decided I needed to reset my password, again in the middle of a break, and the main studio-ops computer played 2 seconds of a song, then segued into the next element....twice.

And if the main crashes....We then go to live mics, and 2 Denon CD's. (No problem, I'm now a Talk Show Host filling in on a music station only as a favor, but still....)

All that having been said, honestly, I can see the possibilities these systems represent. But they're not there yet....not by a long shot. (Perhaps their manufacturers should ASK real On-Air Broadcasters what they need, instead of TELLING them what they need.)

Fortunately, as radio comes to grips with the frank fact that a stack of songs AND commercials is not competitive with a stack of songs alone, live & local entertainment value will/must return to terrestrial airwaves.

But we must start Radio's Rehab now....And before we can find and train the Stars of The New Radio, we must provide the tools they will need to win. And a competent, human-commanded control studio must lead the way.....

By the way, the last time I brought this up 6 years ago, I got canned for saying it. Hopefully, those all-powerful, all-knowing Gods of Radio have learned. If not now, then they will soon....You get a lot of time to think in an unemployment line.

Jon-David Wells
Fearless Broadcaster