The Southern Ontario/WNY Radio-TV Forum » Hosts working from home

Ian · March 19, 2020 11:27 am

Who were the first CFRB hosts to work from home? Was is the Motts? I am curious as to the technology that makes remotes so easy. Do the hosts need much training?

6079 Smith W · March 19, 2020 4:00 pm

Ian wrote:
Who were the first CFRB hosts to work from home? Was is the Motts? I am curious as to the technology that makes remotes so easy. Do the hosts need much training?

The Motts definitely worked from home. They live on a farm far from the city, I forget where.

RadioAaron · March 19, 2020 5:25 pm

Ian wrote:
Who were the first CFRB hosts to work from home? Was is the Motts? I am curious as to the technology that makes remotes so easy. Do the hosts need much training?

The biggest breakthrough has been apps that can dial in to stations' remote receivers. TieLine is the most common receiver, which works with the Report-it app. Hosts connect a mic to their phones, hit 'connect' and they've got a high quality broadcast line back to the station. Almost no training needed. To make it sound like studio quality, you can beef it up with some processing and a pro mic. Most would never hear the difference.

Another is VPNs that allow hosts to login and control stations' automation systems. Again, once it's set-up, no training required. This would mostly be used on music stations.

Finally, the main automation systems all have remote-vt software. Once set up, a host can voicetrack a show just as easily as they can from the studio, even hearing the song intros and extros as they go.

Last edited by RadioAaron (March 19, 2020 5:27 pm)

Ian · March 19, 2020 8:55 pm

Thanks RadioAaron. Most of these seem to transfer of control to the remote location. How does the remote host get back-channel off-air comments from the in-studio producer, or is it all totally pre-timed. I assume not, to allow for unexpected changes. For example today John Moore had brief technical issues and used a phone line. Robert Turner had to talk back live on air until the technology resolved its problems.

RadioActive · March 19, 2020 9:39 pm

Expect more of this. Alex Pierson told Charles Adler on Thursday night she's going to spend the weekend learning how to use new equipment they're installing in her home, which is where she'll be broadcasting her GNR640 show beginning Monday. I'm assuming most of the other hosts will be following suit.

She's already worried that she won't be able to find a place quiet enough or be able to keep out her chatty 7-year-old kid. She's also previously admitted she's something of a klutz when it comes to operating the phone lines and getting the technical stuff right. So it could be interesting!

Given everything that's going on, I wonder why Corus waited so long. I'm pretty sure this will apply to the other stations that operate out of Corus Quay as well.

[Edit: I'm not sure what happened but there were bizarre problems at the end of Pierson's show. She promoted a repeat of an earlier interview but after the spot break, a segment with Mike Stafford came on instead. At the end of it, she did her pre-taped extro, and obviously didn't make any reference to the glitch. I also heard someone - likely the news guy - giving on-air cue warnings to the traffic guy. All in all, a bit of a mess at the end of the show. And that's while they were all in the studio! Next week should be fun.]

Last edited by RadioActive (March 19, 2020 10:02 pm)

Muffaraw Joe · March 19, 2020 11:57 pm

Sid Sixcero on the FAN 590 and Brad Barker from Jazz FM are working from home, right now...

betaylored · March 20, 2020 1:45 am

At 640 on the morning show Mike Stafford and Supriya Dwivedi have been adjusting to Mike still being at the station, and Supriya working from home, along with Heather Purdon who I believe produces the show. Props to 640 for highlighting the continued need for blood donations during the pandemic.

And at TSN 1050 the afternoon drive OverDrive team, including Bryan Hayes, and Noodles and O, are broadcasting from their home studios, as are most of the hockey hosts/analysts.

The radio community is doing an excellent job of reminding us to wash our hands, now if they can also remind us to clean our germ ridden phones we'll all be in a good position to #PlankTheCurve

ps. this is off topic, but I am not enjoying hearing John and Jane Q. Public calling in to voice their views on covid19. It's verging on overload. And yawningly predictable content. Wash, rinse and repeat pardon the almost pun.

Last edited by betaylored (March 20, 2020 1:47 am)

RadioActive · March 20, 2020 10:33 am

The power went out in my neighbourhood Friday morning. It didn't last long, about 15 minutes, but you get that sinking feeling - oh no, how long is this going to last?

It led me to wonder: with all the radio people working live on the air from home - and 90 km/h winds expected that could bring down power lines - what would happen if the hydro went out while one of them was doing their show?

Is there some kind of a backup generator that runs the equipment or would they suddenly just vanish? And what would the station do if that happened? I'm aware there's often a "dead air" sensor that goes off and triggers some back up programming once the pause reaches a certain amount of time, but I'm interested to know what would happen if the lights - and their remotes - went out? Has it ever happened?

John D · March 20, 2020 10:44 am

Meanwhile both morning hosts of CNN, showing up at the station every morning. Next week? Who knows.

TomSanders · March 20, 2020 11:09 am

From this morning's Detroit Free Press. Now TV news, like the cultures it covers, will look even more slapdash and DIY. It might become the latest trend in broadcast news. Anchors reporting while propped up in bed. All of this might be signaling -- no pun intended -- the beginning of the end for the broadcasting station model that we grew up on. The one that comes to mind is the large building(s) where the WXYZ stations were housed; actually called "Broadcast House," built in the late 50s at ch 7's transmitter site in Southfield. No more of that. Everything can be done from home now, and just as well, or good enough to get by these days. The only reason to have a building is to house the transmitter or its control point.

https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/television/2020/03/20/coronavirus-detroit-news-tv/2874060001/

Last edited by TomSanders (March 20, 2020 11:34 am)

RadioActive · March 20, 2020 11:22 am

Howard Stern, who gets a ton of money to bring in paying customers to Sirius XM, has been off the air over fears of the coronavirus. He now says he's coming back live on Monday, although there's not a chance he'll be doing it from his original studio. Both he and his colleagues will be broadcasting from their various home sites until further notice.

Howard Stern announces return to radio amid coronavirus outbreak

Fitz · March 20, 2020 12:33 pm

John D wrote:
Meanwhile both morning hosts of CNN, showing up at the station every morning. Next week? Who knows.

I noticed that as well about the CNN morning anchors but they are sitting further apart than usual. Most of the US hosts are still at the studios for now but the interviews have been via Skype and other remote applications. Some of this has resulted in not ideal video and even outages but under the circumstances we can't expect more.

paterson1 · March 20, 2020 1:27 pm

Most of the morning hosts everywhere are in studio. CTV Your Morning, CBC News Network Morning, CP24 and CHCH were all in studio. Ben Mulroney has been away all week but was scheduled to be away for March Break anyway. It does look a little odd when hosts are sitting further apart but it is necessary. But as Fitz mentioned above all interviews are not in studio.

March 20, 2020 4:51 pm

Conrad Black called from the Bridle Path to chat w. John Oakley but his line went down during a good part. Don't you hate when that happens?

RadioAaron · March 20, 2020 7:00 pm

Ian wrote:
Thanks RadioAaron. Most of these seem to transfer of control to the remote location. How does the remote host get back-channel off-air comments from the in-studio producer, or is it all totally pre-timed. I assume not, to allow for unexpected changes. For example today John Moore had brief technical issues and used a phone line. Robert Turner had to talk back live on air until the technology resolved its problems.

The audio connections go both ways, so the on-location host can get the same feed they'd get in the studio - including talk-back from a producer.

RadioAaron · March 20, 2020 7:04 pm

RadioActive wrote:
The power went out in my neighbourhood Friday morning. It didn't last long, about 15 minutes, but you get that sinking feeling - oh no, how long is this going to last?

It led me to wonder: with all the radio people working live on the air from home - and 90 km/h winds expected that could bring down power lines - what would happen if the hydro went out while one of them was doing their show?

Is there some kind of a backup generator that runs the equipment or would they suddenly just vanish? And what would the station do if that happened? I'm aware there's often a "dead air" sensor that goes off and triggers some back up programming once the pause reaches a certain amount of time, but I'm interested to know what would happen if the lights - and their remotes - went out? Has it ever happened?

If it happens at their homes, they're gone but the station plays on.

If it happens at the station, generators kick in and everything sounds normal.

Fitz · March 20, 2020 8:51 pm

on CNN Anderson Cooper is doing the show from Home. May be because of the NY lock down but I have not heard him say why but he said his entire staff is working from home or is home. I thought news services were part of the essential services which are exempt from the lock-down orders so it could be to set an example ?

Lorne · March 20, 2020 9:17 pm

It's because of concerns that one of his staff may have the coronavirus.
https://www.mediaite.com/tv/cnns-anderson-cooper-broadcasts-from-home-while-self-quarantined-out-of-abundance-of-caution/

paterson1 · March 21, 2020 11:19 am

Ms. C. wrote:
Conrad Black called from the Bridle Path to chat w. John Oakley but his line went down during a good part. Don't you hate when that happens?

John must love when Conrad is on his show. I remember onetime Oakley introducing Conrad Black and asked him only one question. Black managed to use up the whole 15 minutes answering. When Oakley said that they were out of time, Conrad apologized for being "somewhat locquacious." It was very funny.

Last edited by paterson1 (March 21, 2020 11:21 am)

March 22, 2020 6:33 am

paterson1 wrote:
John must love when Conrad is on his show

J. Moore's 7:48 and 8:48 a.m. Round Tables haven't recovered from the loss of feisty Christy Blatchford. Lord knows, Moore could use a participant of the calibre of Lord Black to bring listeners back

RadioActive · March 23, 2020 12:39 pm

Speaking of hosts working from home, what happened to Anwar Knight? I haven't seen him on CTV's noon news or CTV's morning show in a while. And he's no longer doing the morning forecasts on CFRB.

And while I understand that Global's weather solon Anthony Farnell is working from home, why was he giving the Montreal forecast along with the GTA outlook on their noon news Monday?

Radiowiz · March 23, 2020 1:04 pm

RadioActive wrote:
Speaking of hosts working from home, what happened to Anwar Knight?

I'm not sure about his weather job, but
are his Podcasts current? https://bigbluemarble.earth/

AspectRatio · March 23, 2020 1:57 pm

RadioActive wrote:
Speaking of hosts working from home, what happened to Anwar Knight? I haven't seen him on CTV's noon news or CTV's morning show in a while. And he's no longer doing the morning forecasts on CFRB.

Maybe he was on the "traditional" spring break week (or two) of vacation/time off? He's still active in recent days at https://twitter.com/AnwarKnight .

John D · March 23, 2020 2:37 pm

Whatever happened to reporter Miranda Anthistle of CTV. She hasn't been reporting for quite some time now. Meanwhile in a scrum; with the Premier the other day I saw her sitting in the back of the room. Is she still with CTV?

RadioActive · March 23, 2020 2:47 pm

She's now with Global.

RadioActive · March 23, 2020 6:45 pm

The remotes from home on Toronto stations have all been of varying quality, but I'm not sure I've ever heard one that's as bad or distracting as the one Alex Pierson is doing on GNR640. I have no idea why it's so bad, but it sounds like she's coming from her bathroom with a mic picking up the sound over a transistor radio speaker.

It gets worse when she throws to clips from properly mic-ed press conferences and you can really hear the difference.

Considering how good most of the feeds others in the industry have been getting, this one is almost not broadcast quality. I suspect I'm not the only one who noticed. Her show usually starts at around 6:30:30, but there were several spots and promos before the intro ran, which suggests to me they were trying to tweak things right to the last second, but had to go with what they had.

I like Pierson's show and she told listeners on Monday she may be doing the gig from home for a while. Hopefully, they can fix this long before she's done.

RadioActive · March 23, 2020 8:01 pm

Well, that's better. Whatever they did during the Employment Hour worked. The sound is near perfect on Alex's show after the 45 minute break.

Radiowiz · March 24, 2020 12:38 pm

RadioActive wrote:
Speaking of hosts working from home, what happened to Anwar Knight?

He's on today doing Noon Weather...outside in the woods...walking his dog. A very beautiful 9 year old Golden Retriever.

Saul · March 24, 2020 4:57 pm

Radiowiz wrote:
RadioActive wrote:
Speaking of hosts working from home, what happened to Anwar Knight?
He's on today doing Noon Weather...outside in the woods...walking his dog. A very beautiful 9 year old Golden Retriever.

Two-metre leash, I hope...

RadioActive · March 24, 2020 6:41 pm

Terrible problems again on Alex Pierson's 640 show at 6:30. Or rather, not at 6:30. As I type this, it's now been almost 10 minutes and the program began with two minutes of dead air, followed by at least 8 minutes of generic Global theme music. CHML, which also carries the show, has since gone to alternate programming.

At 6:39 PM, 640 went to a traffic report several minutes early, followed by spots, as they undoubtedly work on whatever went wrong. I would hate to be in the control room while this is going on. (Been there, done that! It's a horrible and helpless feeling, with every second of dead air feeling like an hour.)

[Edit: 6:44 PM: They're back, with what I'm almost positive is a reroll. How do I know? It's the first time there's been a show in two weeks where they're NOT talking about COVID-19. No way that's live. This is the first of the remote shows I've heard on any radio station that's been screwed up this badly. But I'm not surprised. Given how many remotes and codecs they're all juggling, it was inevitable that something serious would inevitably go wrong.]

[Edit 2: She's back on live at 7:05 PM, admitting her equipment got "corona-ed." But it's the same terrible audio that happened the very first night they tried the remote from her home, a tinny sound that's not much better than a phone line.]

Last edited by RadioActive (March 24, 2020 7:08 pm)