Things that stations do that drive you crazy etc...

[its time w (your name)]

Sooo..uh, who was there to take the call? ;D

hahaha... every station has retards who call in oblivious to what's going on. I wouldnt base my research off a couple of shut-ins.

 

[1Letterman]

I'll pit my live, local, up-to-the-minute, happening now, pulse-of-the-city, interactive programming vision against your cheapskate CC, Walmart programming any day, any book, any market, any size. You dont run a business to save money, you run a business to MAKE money. But that's just me in my "dream world." Successful people have been called dreamers for as long as there has been invention.

Anything run by me will be live 24 hours. Real freakin people, and we'll let you know we're there. Good luck competing with me. Have a Coke and a smile.

With all due respect, THANK YOU FOR WRITING THIS.

As someone who moved to Dallas from a very, very successful job in another industry just for the CHANCE to do live, local talk radio again (and then got royally hosed in short order, but I have a feeling you'll hear more about that in the media later this week)--it's refreshing to know there are still people out there committed more to the purpose of broadcasting than the corporate proliferation of carefully measured media profits.

I happen to think passion for what you do--and for what's right--is the very best thing a person can have, and if there ain't passion in the passage above, there ain't none left in the world.

Kudos to the author.

 

[poops]

Sooo..uh, who was there to take the call? ;D

hahaha... every station has retards who call in oblivious to what's going on. I wouldnt base my research off a couple of shut-ins.

Hey its time...... I resemble that remark ;D

 

[Robert Bass]

And when those tubes fail, the engineer will get the blame...

RE operating without someone actually in the studio, is legal. If you do it right, most listeners won't even realize it. But anything that is automated, should be programmed by the station itself, with no voice tracking from outside staff members.

RE Sweepers: Depending on the kind you use, they can work for you. The sweepers need to say more than just "now back to the music" or "getting back to the music faster" etc. An effective sweeper is one that says who you are and what you do.

R

Operating on auto-pilot may be "legal" in practice and for lack of enforcement, but it severely violates the spirit of the license of the station. You cannot serve a community if you are NOT THERE. I would just as soon call up a business that is closed and listen to their answering machine, as listen to a voice-tracked shift.

How about in lieu of a sweeper, which arguably is nothing more than audio clutter, you use a LIVE PERSON to say "who you are."

I dont need the station to tell me "what you do," because I'm not an idiot. As soon as I tune them in, I know "what they do," and I either like it or not.

If you want to save money, fire an overpaid executive or two. Tell them you're "voice-tracking" their jobs. You can pay three of me for what you spend on them. I add tremendous value to your product and inspire listener and client LOYALTY. The suits---??? You wont miss them.

WOW, what an attitude!

You completely missed my point that if you utilize automation CORRECTLY, most listeners won't even notice. I'm talking correctly as in, do it in a way that continues what you do the rest of the day. Want an actual example? Tune to 88.5 FM.

And while you as a regular listener already knows what the station does, new listeners may not.

I don't disagree that technically operating without someone present in the studio is not in true spirit of what broadcasting is all about, but the fact remains this is where the industry is as a whole. If you need a scapegoat, the actual stations should be the last on your list.

R

Hi Robert,

I disagree with your assumption that the listenters (whether new or old) will notice the difference if a station is voice tracked. I travel pretty often, having a chance to listen to other areas than my own, and I can tell pretty quick if a station is voice tracked. No request lines, or any interaction with the listeners is a pretty big give away. It all sounds too contrived when the station is voice tracked, the DJ always says everything right with no mistakes in his/her dialogue. I'd rather listen to Mel Tillis stuttering while DJ'ing a station than some of the smooth sounding VTs that are passed off to us listeners.

BTW a pet peeve of mine is a station comparing them self to another station. You're just giving them free air time. Example KMAS (fictional) 101.7 plays 20 fewer commercials than KCKA (Fictional). Hello.... Free air time.

Poops

I can tell you first hand that we've had calls from listeners at all times of the day or night, thinking someone was actually at the studio, when in fact that wasn't the case.

Also, there is a difference between "voice tracking" and "automation". Our form of "automation" parallels what we do when there are people actually on duty. The thing is, we strive to sound professional, at all times.

That's not to say there are a few dead-giveaways, but for the most part what we broadcast at night, is also what we broadcast during the day. Everything we air is produced locally, except for the short syndicated shows here and there.

R

Sooo..uh, who was there to take the call? ;D

The answering machine.

R

 

[TexasTom]

Regarding the whole voice tracking debate -- it seems to me that this is a case where the same answers don't apply in all circumstances.

Yes, all things being equal, a live presentation is preferable to a voice-tracked presentation. But all things aren't equal -- and we can't expect all stations to be able to run live & local, regardless of their operating circumstances.

Let's face it: anyone who can't generate a large enough audience (and revenue) to support live & local programming on a DFW Class C commercial FM station isn't doing a very good job of programming (or selling) that station. But holding some of the non-comms and small rimshot commercial stations to this same expectation means that those stations would either go broke or else they'd have to sign off the air each night at 10 PM. And if you went out to Sherman/Denison or Paris and tried to run live & local 24 hours a day on a brand new station -- all I can say is that you'd better have *very* deep pockets or else you'll go broke quickly.

 

[VERITAS DE VOCE]

The answering machine.

R

You mean they don't voicetrack that either?

 

[Robert Bass]

The answering machine.

R

You mean they don't voicetrack that either?

Actually, in a way, it is VT'd. Rather than the typical, "You've reached the voice mail of KEOM Radio..." It just says "Mesquite Schools Radio, KEOM" and then the beep. ;D

R

 

[TheRover]

I'll pit my live, local, up-to-the-minute, happening now, pulse-of-the-city, interactive programming vision against your cheapskate CC, Walmart programming any day, any book, any market, any size. You dont run a business to save money, you run a business to MAKE money. But that's just me in my "dream world." Successful people have been called dreamers for as long as there has been invention.

Anything run by me will be live 24 hours. Real freakin people, and we'll let you know we're there. Good luck competing with me. Have a Coke and a smile.

"Walmart Programming" . . .

You have so eloquently summed up the state of Corporate Radio in America, of all Genres, in those few words.

Brilliant ! !

 

[1Letterman]

You know what I really hate?

I really hate it when a station gives you a notepad in the shape of a big cube of little leaflets that have the station logo stamped on the side.

Then, when you use the notepad, at a certain point you notice that the logo on the side disappears as you use the notepad down to the bottom. So you forget what station it's from.

Man, that really singes my drawers.

 

[Robert Bass]

Here's another one...

What is the deal with announcing website addresses, but only saying the "w" twice?

Example:

"Shop at Acme Grocery Store, or see our website at ww.acmegrocerystore.com".

If you're not going to recut the spot to fix this problem, then just edit out the ww. part. Sheesh!

R

 

[Lancer]

I would say "w" all three times, just so I could pronounce it "double-you." Now that sounds really cool.

 

[tomservo]

I've heard that a lot, too. In the early days when commercial websites were just beginning to take off, I'd hear someone read off the entire address, including the "http colon forward-slash forward-slash" part. Another one that is common is people leaving off the first dot, as in www (pause) acmegrocery.com. . .

I kinda figured everyone outside the elderly knew how to say a website address by now. :