1 of 1- paterson1
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Is Automation Killing Radio?
Took some time to listen to Dick Williams (The Tall One) Solid Gold Rock and Roll Show this morning on CFPL. Great music, tight production. The show was sounding great. Dick was coming off of a set of music and was going to go into a bit he called Seniors Moment, sounded like it was going to be a funny break...however after about 10 seconds...Dick was cut off abruptly and into commercials. Or I should say one commercial, since after the spot and a little dead air went back to the show. Dicks breaks have 4 commercials. It was jarring and sounded like crap. This is happening way too much on radio, and has got to end.
I have heard national syndicated programs with the same issues, and on top of that poor audio quality. At least Williams breaks were clear and at proper audio levels. Why is this problem not being dealt with and getting fixed? I know I harped on about this a few days ago but this has been going on for years. Again, what good is technology if it doesn't work properly? And if it is a people problem, get it resolved, it can't be that difficult to train people properly since this is now the industry standard technology found at most stations. When the automation is working properly it sounds fine. But too often on voice tracked programming the commercials breaks or announcers segments seem to get butchered.
Radio better step up the game for voice tracked shows, or it will be shutting off the lights and transmitter soon. With other media always improving picture and sound quality, radio seems stuck in first gear and decades behind everyone else. And these technical problems confirm and magnify radio's dated and old fashioned image.
The audience that will listen or put up with these on going technical problems is getting smaller every day. You can't run a station that sounds ok 40% of the time and the rest of the day it is a roll of the dice depending on flawed technology. It is no wonder that younger generations no longer listen to radio.
Having said that, other than the technical flubs, Williams and his show is fantastic.
Last edited by paterson1 (May 29, 2021 12:30 pm)
- Radiowiz
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Re: Is Automation Killing Radio?
paterson1 wrote:
Having said that, other than the technical flubs, Williams and his show is fantastic.
Long story short, you're listening anyway. No need to fix anything. You'll buy the products advertised anyway.
RadioWiz & RadioQuiz are NOT the same person.
RadioWiz & THE Wiz are NOT the same person.
- paterson1
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Re: Is Automation Killing Radio?
Having said that, other than the technical flubs, Williams and his show is fantastic.
Long story short, you're listening anyway. No need to fix anything. You'll buy the products advertised anyway.
And that is the exact attitude that is killing radio, along with the automation Radiowiz. Buy the products? Nah, don't live in London and don't need anything they have advertised...
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Thread Starter- PaulR
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Re: Is Automation Killing Radio?
A Corus Entertainment Sales Manager once said to me: "I don't care what anything sounds like as long as I make more money!"
- kevjo
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Re: Is Automation Killing Radio?
As someone who has worked with various types of automation software I can confidently say that while technology can and does screw up at times it's more often than not the result of human laziness or lack of proper training. Most software will work quite well as long as it has been properly configured upon installation and daily correct data input by the user.
Stations that are content with continual technical foulups are symptomatic of the current state of the business in that many owners don't know and don't care about radio. As long as they can save bucks and ad dollars roll in, life is good.
There are still independent owners who still have a passion for radio and the difference is evident in the end product.
- turkeytop
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Re: Is Automation Killing Radio?
I had the same complaint about CKOC Hamilton when they first flipped to Bloomberg a couple of months back. But they seem to have the problem fixed now.
I started out with nothing and I still have most of it.
- Tomas Barlow
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Re: Is Automation Killing Radio?
Syndicated shows are a low priority task usually saved for junior staff who are poorly trained and overworked. The person who did it obviously didn't check their work. I once caught a minute of dead air in a nationally syndicated show because I took the time to open each segment and look at it in editing software. I was the only person to notice out of over 100 stations. It was fixed before the show aired.
- paterson1
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Re: Is Automation Killing Radio?
A Corus Entertainment Sales Manager once said to me: "I don't care what anything sounds like as long as I make more money!"
Well the Corus Entertainment Sales Manager may not need to care anyway if they keep butchering the commercial breaks. Advertisers and agencies won't be impressed when their ads suddenly appear out of a break that gets cut off, or when another spot or promo is played at the same time as their commercial, or the ad is clipped at the beginning. Radio should be getting slicker and easier to listen to, not regressing back to the days of dead air and a sloppy unorganized on air sound.
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Thread Starter- Radiowiz
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Re: Is Automation Killing Radio?
A Corus Entertainment Sales Manager once said to me: "I don't care what anything sounds like as long as I make more money!"
Well the Corus Entertainment Sales Manager may not need to care anyway if they keep butchering the commercial breaks. Advertisers and agencies won't be impressed when their ads suddenly appear out of a break that gets cut off, or when another spot or promo is played at the same time as their commercial, or the ad is clipped at the beginning. Radio should be getting slicker and easier to listen to, not regressing back to the days of dead air and a sloppy unorganized on air sound.
...and that's exactly the point well made!
Radio is an advertising business. Talk or music is just the bait.
Upsetting the listener is okay, as long as they stick around long enough to hear and ad and buy that product.
Messing up the ads and how they air is a NO NO!!!! (It's also an UH OH and an OH NO! lol)
RadioWiz & RadioQuiz are NOT the same person.
RadioWiz & THE Wiz are NOT the same person.
- Dale Patterson
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Re: Is Automation Killing Radio?
One time I was listening to CKOC on a Sunday afternoon and they had two music streams running at once. This went on for hours. Either nobody from the station was listening to the station or there was nobody handy to fix it. Don't know how long this went on, but it seemed like forever.
"Life without echo is really no life at all." - Dan Ingram