T
trackertalent
Guest
The birth of the tape cartridge in the late 1950s brought about a major change in radio, first by providing a convenient way of storing, handling and playing commercials, promos and other programming elements. As the Top 40 format evolved and air talent became more creative, the use of carts increased and, subsequently, the number of cart machines in many studios also rose, to six or more.
When the number of radio stations (competition) began to grow, programmers realized the importance of maintaining continuity... keeping things moving. On-air patter would be occasionally peppered with a 'drop-in' or other brief entertaining snippet from cart. Air talent mastered the art of 'talk-ups;' being able to feel the intro of a song and get some final thoughts across before the song's vocal began. Segues between programming elements had to be tight but not sloppy. The goal was keeping listeners glued to the radio and, preferably, to your station. From this wise thinking, 'd e a d a i r' became a dreaded, mortal sin. Having no sound for more than a couple of seconds (if that) struck terror into the hearts of programmers, who feared - and rightly so - that the listener would spin a dial (in those days) or press a button, and *poof*... instantly become someone else's listener instead.
And so it came to pass that the radio rule was tight on-air production and absolutely no dead air. Even allowing a song to begin fading without talking over it or firing off another element was unacceptable to programmers... and listeners who came to expect a steady stream of entertainment.
As a side note, the more creative air talent on the progressive rock FM stations knew their music so intimately, that they would create 'sets' (usually three or more songs) that allowed them to artfully cross-fade songs of the same key and tempo, creating a very ear-pleasing blend. Club DJs 'discovered' this much later.
So... what happened? Why are we today hearing songs completely fade out before the next element begins playing? Even some produced sweepers, in which background sound effects are used, are allowed to die a slow, painful death before the next song fires off. The only radio formats that I can remember that allowed songs to completely fade before the next element began was Classical, and a now-deceased format known as 'Beautiful Music.' Loose programming worked for these two formats.
This snore-fest of bad on-air production is the result of laziness. Pure and simple. And I'm not talking about a jock who makes an honest mistake here and there, a console button that refuses to cooperate, or even an occasional automation anomaly. Today's automation systems are pretty reliable. The laziness comes into play when elements (songs, commercials, promos, sweepers, etc.) are loaded into the system. These elements are not properly adjusted for airplay. While some automation systems try to make things as easy as possible, those who are loading elements still have to make sure levels are correct, and that intros are trimmed properly and that the back ends of songs and sweepers, etc. have an 'EOM' marker or 'sec tone' appropriately placed so that the element doesn't fade to oblivion. Some automation systems have an 'auto-trim' feature. Don't trust it unless you would also trust someone with no radio experience to be a reliable board-op. A quality product requires commitment and, at the very least, that commitment is TIME.
It's bogus that a programmer can claim to want their station to perform to the best of its potential, yet their on-air sound is no more polished than a damp, mildewy dishrag. Fact is, a station sounds only as good as it does when it's automated. When your last live air talent each day switches to automation then turns off the lights and leaves, the station should not sound like someone turned off the lights and left. Do you not care what happens between 7 or 8 PM and 6 AM the next day? Has it ever crossed your mind that perhaps the reason your sales department can't sell those hours is because you haven't given anyone a reason to want to buy airtime during those hours? And what about the very real possibility that you're fueling the mass exodus of radio listeners who realize they can make better programming choices with their iPods? And they don't have commercials.
If this is your station, are you really proud of the way it sounds? Really? Do you feel that listeners and sponsors owe you their loyalty?
If you answered 'yes' to those questions, then your problem is far greater than laziness. You're not nearly as great as you think/say you are.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...
When the number of radio stations (competition) began to grow, programmers realized the importance of maintaining continuity... keeping things moving. On-air patter would be occasionally peppered with a 'drop-in' or other brief entertaining snippet from cart. Air talent mastered the art of 'talk-ups;' being able to feel the intro of a song and get some final thoughts across before the song's vocal began. Segues between programming elements had to be tight but not sloppy. The goal was keeping listeners glued to the radio and, preferably, to your station. From this wise thinking, 'd e a d a i r' became a dreaded, mortal sin. Having no sound for more than a couple of seconds (if that) struck terror into the hearts of programmers, who feared - and rightly so - that the listener would spin a dial (in those days) or press a button, and *poof*... instantly become someone else's listener instead.
And so it came to pass that the radio rule was tight on-air production and absolutely no dead air. Even allowing a song to begin fading without talking over it or firing off another element was unacceptable to programmers... and listeners who came to expect a steady stream of entertainment.
As a side note, the more creative air talent on the progressive rock FM stations knew their music so intimately, that they would create 'sets' (usually three or more songs) that allowed them to artfully cross-fade songs of the same key and tempo, creating a very ear-pleasing blend. Club DJs 'discovered' this much later.
So... what happened? Why are we today hearing songs completely fade out before the next element begins playing? Even some produced sweepers, in which background sound effects are used, are allowed to die a slow, painful death before the next song fires off. The only radio formats that I can remember that allowed songs to completely fade before the next element began was Classical, and a now-deceased format known as 'Beautiful Music.' Loose programming worked for these two formats.
This snore-fest of bad on-air production is the result of laziness. Pure and simple. And I'm not talking about a jock who makes an honest mistake here and there, a console button that refuses to cooperate, or even an occasional automation anomaly. Today's automation systems are pretty reliable. The laziness comes into play when elements (songs, commercials, promos, sweepers, etc.) are loaded into the system. These elements are not properly adjusted for airplay. While some automation systems try to make things as easy as possible, those who are loading elements still have to make sure levels are correct, and that intros are trimmed properly and that the back ends of songs and sweepers, etc. have an 'EOM' marker or 'sec tone' appropriately placed so that the element doesn't fade to oblivion. Some automation systems have an 'auto-trim' feature. Don't trust it unless you would also trust someone with no radio experience to be a reliable board-op. A quality product requires commitment and, at the very least, that commitment is TIME.
It's bogus that a programmer can claim to want their station to perform to the best of its potential, yet their on-air sound is no more polished than a damp, mildewy dishrag. Fact is, a station sounds only as good as it does when it's automated. When your last live air talent each day switches to automation then turns off the lights and leaves, the station should not sound like someone turned off the lights and left. Do you not care what happens between 7 or 8 PM and 6 AM the next day? Has it ever crossed your mind that perhaps the reason your sales department can't sell those hours is because you haven't given anyone a reason to want to buy airtime during those hours? And what about the very real possibility that you're fueling the mass exodus of radio listeners who realize they can make better programming choices with their iPods? And they don't have commercials.
If this is your station, are you really proud of the way it sounds? Really? Do you feel that listeners and sponsors owe you their loyalty?
If you answered 'yes' to those questions, then your problem is far greater than laziness. You're not nearly as great as you think/say you are.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...