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January 30, 2022 3:01 pm  #1


There's Nothing Funny About 820's Frequent Wrong Name Intros

Back when Funny 820 first launched its format, there was a woman who backselled all the comedians after their brief stand-up bits. A few years in, someone wisely decided to also provide an intro voice so listeners, few as they may be, would have some idea who they were about to hear. 

The problem is that whoever the guy is doing those pre-taped intros has gotten many of the names wrong. As an example, there's a female comedian named Jackie Kayshian, which rhymes sort of with "vacation." The female at the end gets it right. But the guy that intros her calls her "Jackie Kay-She-Ian." And he gets a lot of others wrong, too. (What he does to Steve Rannazzisi should be against the law!) It would appear the guy made no effort to even check on getting the names right and just sat down in a single session and said whatever he thought was the right pronunciation. Very sloppy. 

To make matters worse, once they air his intro, the lady at the end comes on and says it correctly, only pointing out how wrong he was in the first place. And because they air these same people over and over and over throughout the day, the mistake just keeps getting repeated ad nauseam. 

I suspect this same duo provides similar work for Bell's comedy format in both Calgary and Vancouver, which means it's happening in three markets at the same time. 

I know not a lot of people listen to Funny 820, but if you're going to bother providing this information, at least you should get it right and be consistent. Unlike what normally airs on the station, it's no joke. And it's not only not funny, it's very unprofessional.

 

January 31, 2022 9:07 am  #2


Re: There's Nothing Funny About 820's Frequent Wrong Name Intros

When first seeing the name in the above post, I also pronounced it incorrectly.

 

January 31, 2022 9:15 am  #3


Re: There's Nothing Funny About 820's Frequent Wrong Name Intros

Maybe, but you're not being paid to pronounce it. He is. You might think he could have checked before recording them for on-air use. That's the difference.  

     Thread Starter
 

January 31, 2022 9:32 am  #4


Re: There's Nothing Funny About 820's Frequent Wrong Name Intros

I never listen to the station, but I can't help but wonder why they wouldn't just have the woman who's doing the backselling look after the intros as well. 

 

January 31, 2022 9:46 am  #5


Re: There's Nothing Funny About 820's Frequent Wrong Name Intros

Perhaps they wanted the different voices to separate one stand-up from another.

Whatever the reason, she gets it right, he's wrong about 30-40% of the time. 

One thing every news person learns is to check on the pronunciation of a name before you go on the air. (Unless you're handed a bulletin at the last second and it contains one of those dreaded multi-syllabic names you're expected to read cold, then it's understandable.)

I've heard this kind of thing before, usually from people who are new to a city. Ballioil St. and Strachan Ave. are two of the traps newcomers run into. In St. Catharines, it's often Port Dalhousie. But my all-time favourite cringe-worthy moment came the day I heard a guy on Toronto radio say "Yonge St." The way he said it, it rhymed with "sponge." 

     Thread Starter
 

January 31, 2022 10:39 am  #6


Re: There's Nothing Funny About 820's Frequent Wrong Name Intros

I agree with you that announcers need to check how names should be pronounced. However, if they were just using one person, at least whatever pronunciation was being used would be consistent -- and so any mistakes like this would be less obvious. But whoever is in charge there obviously isn't giving any real thought to issues like this. 

 

January 31, 2022 10:54 am  #7


Re: There's Nothing Funny About 820's Frequent Wrong Name Intros

Fact checking and pronunciation checking before going on air seem to have gone out the window. Just a week ago, I heard a newscaster on a radio station stating that "the Raptors are off until Wednesday" when, in fact, they played a back-to-back so they played on both Tuesday and Wednesday.

 

January 31, 2022 1:46 pm  #8


Re: There's Nothing Funny About 820's Frequent Wrong Name Intros

Speaking of pronunciation, is it T’rawno  or T’rawnto??  Do announcers get schooled on how to say important/repeated words/names? Is there the equivalent for broadcasting of a style guide for written communication?