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April 30, 2022 8:28 am  #1


In Defense Of TV News Simulcasting On Radio

This comment won't be popular with some, but...Listening to the simulcast of CP24 on Newstalk 1010 this morning, I was a surprised how good it sounded. 

During the newscasts there were many more different voices from reporters on the scene and actuality reporting than you would ever hear on a regular radio newscast.  The musical bridges between some stories or moving from local to international news sounded really good on radio, and effective. 

All of the newscasters and reporters could actually read and weren't stumbling through their reports. From an audio point of view the whole package sounded more engaging and a much better use of sound than what is heard on a regular Newstalk 1010 cast, with more stories covered and more content. The 8am package sounded like a real production, again with excellent use of audio and bumpers between segments. 

Sports had lots of actuality from the Jays and Leafs games last night and everything flowed with no dead air or gaps between reports and stories.  

In the hour of listening so far, I have only noticed one visual reference in a report, a reporter mentioned the scaffolding behind her as police get ready for protests this afternoon in downtown Toronto.  Understanding that you are listening to the audio of television for most listeners won't be much of an issue since radio still is theatre of the mind. 

 

April 30, 2022 12:48 pm  #2


Re: In Defense Of TV News Simulcasting On Radio

They have to have at least one "As you can see..." story so it can air over and over and over again throughout most of the day on CP 24.


RadioWiz & RadioQuiz are NOT the same person. 
RadioWiz & THE Wiz are NOT the same person.

 
 

April 30, 2022 9:53 pm  #3


Re: In Defense Of TV News Simulcasting On Radio

Another annoying aspect about TV on radio (and you often hear this on CityNews 680 when they use a City TV report) is that you don't always know who's speaking in the clip.

Nine times out of ten, the person is supered on air, with their name and position and because of that, the reporter rarely actually says the name. So you can hear what the "expert" is saying - you just have no idea who he or she is or who they represent. 

 

April 30, 2022 11:20 pm  #4


Re: In Defense Of TV News Simulcasting On Radio

RadioActive wrote:

Another annoying aspect about TV on radio (and you often hear this on CityNews 680 when they use a City TV report) is that you don't always know who's speaking in the clip.

Nine times out of ten, the person is supered on air, with their name and position and because of that, the reporter rarely actually says the name. So you can hear what the "expert" is saying - you just have no idea who he or she is or who they represent. 

So easy to remedy in the writing process.  Then maybe super it to remind the viewer.

 

May 1, 2022 12:07 pm  #5


Re: In Defense Of TV News Simulcasting On Radio

I watched the simulcast this morning but this time on CP24.  Radio Bob is correct, often in the lead up to the video clip the copy identified who the person was prior to the clip running- eg. "Premier Ford said." and sometimes the name would come up on the screen.  One time the copy read "police say" and when the clip played the officer was identified with a super. 
 
If the story was more of a feature with short cuts of people commenting, there were no supers on TV identifying who they were.  I am sure there are times when voices on the radio aren't stated but do have the name showing on TV with a graphic. However the listener is aware that they are hearing the audio from CP24. The large majority of 1010 listeners will be familiar with CP24 and likely watch them with some regularity.  Often going in to a commercial break the anchor said you are watching CP24 and listening on Newstalk 1010 or something to that effect.

So again, what I heard yesterday on Newstalk 1010 with the simulcast was excellent and a totally different sound and feel to the station.

 

     Thread Starter
 

May 1, 2022 2:16 pm  #6


Re: In Defense Of TV News Simulcasting On Radio

I haven't really listened to TV on the radio (other than the band) for at least 20 years when some stations would do it as a cheap way to fulfill foreground programming promises, but I have to agree it's not the worst. The audience is smart enough to know it's a simulcast and will have imperfect moments. Radio people naturally get a little defensive about it as we do with anything that's a net-negative for jobs.

Notable: FRESH Radio in Kingston is now airing their co-call-lettered TV station's 6pm weeknight news. They have no regulation that requires news and it doesn't save them any money. There's no local news radio in the market and the station is making a play to sound more local in the face of their direct competitor dumping their local heritage.

Last edited by RadioAaron (May 1, 2022 2:17 pm)

 

May 1, 2022 2:36 pm  #7


Re: In Defense Of TV News Simulcasting On Radio

Both Bell and Corus air their 6 PM weekday CTV & Global news shows over CFRB and CFMJ (CFIQ?) every night. Good for people coming home in their cars, I suppose, but it's just not the same to me. The copy for TV reports is written differently, often taking shortcuts because video cues fill in a lot of info that isn't always quite as clear if you're only hearing the sound. 

This is from someone who's written news for both media. The writing just wasn't quite the same. Not saying it's wrong or bad - just different.

I strongly suspect it's simply a way to fill time without having to actually hire anyone to fill a time slot. That's almost certainly what happened on 'RB after Dave Trafford left the weekend morning show slot. After all, this stuff is on anyway, so why not just go with it? It's certainly a lot cheaper, which is the real reason it's happening.

I remember the hue and cry when the Jays TV audio was simulcast last year on the Fan. It was passable, but it wasn't ideal. In the end they're just not the same animal.

 

May 1, 2022 2:49 pm  #8


Re: In Defense Of TV News Simulcasting On Radio

RadioActive wrote:

This is from someone who's written news for both media. The writing just wasn't quite the same. Not saying it's wrong or bad - just different.

Well, it's definitely worse than if the same resources were being put into a full radio-only news hour, but that's not what it's replacing in any of these cases. Yeah, the 'RB weekend morning is saving money, but the other examples aren't really.

 

May 1, 2022 7:21 pm  #9


Re: In Defense Of TV News Simulcasting On Radio

I would chalk up the TV-ism ("as you can see...") as old habits dying hard.

I can tell you that one of those outlets doing TV on the radio did send a memo (at least on the local level) at the start of all this to their TV news producers to tweak their writing for radio ie. not just directly referring to what's being seen on video, but describing it as well for radio listeners. The enforcement has probably laxed over time though.