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March 24, 2022 8:38 am  #1


Radio Station Allows Phone Callers Direct To Air. What Could Go Wrong?

Turns out the answer is plenty, as you might expect. This is a very strange story about a radio station in the far, far north of Canada - in Nunavut - that is more like an unguarded social media bulletin board than a broadcaster. Because it's such a small community and getting it staffed is difficult, they arranged it so that anyone can go on and say anything they want, without being screened. 

"There are two phone numbers listeners can call — one connects them with whoever is hosting the show at that time, and another phone line connects them directly to the broadcast, where they can say whatever they want."

That, as you might expect, has led to inevitable and predictable on-air disasters. 


"On-air hosts are sometimes subjected to verbal abuse from angry or drunk callers....Others have used the airways to share personal information about community members, their workplaces or even share misinformation about COVID-19." 

"In February, while Igloolik was reporting the highest number of positive cases in the territory, local church pastor Peter Awa made waves in the community by using the radio to spread false information about vaccines."

Not sure if the station has an actual format, but unlike the new Today Radio, this place sounds like the callers phoning in to tell their stories are truly unpredictable - if not potentially slanderous. And that alone might make it a reason to tune in. 

Alas, it does not appear to be on the web and they may not even have any reliable Internet connections up there, so the rest will be left to your imagination. 


Former mayor has big dreams for Igloolik’s small radio station

 

March 24, 2022 9:51 am  #2


Re: Radio Station Allows Phone Callers Direct To Air. What Could Go Wrong?

I remember hearing (or maybe seeing) a report on Cross-Country Checkup's 50th anniversary a few years ago. I believe they were the first real call-in show in Canada. The report explained how CBC engineers had to create a mechanical tape delay system that would allow the dump switch system we all know and love today and it involved taping the show live and looping the tape around, as it was recorded, so it would play on the air 30 seconds after recording and if the dump switch was used, jump ahead 30 seconds and slow the tape down slightly until the 30 second delay was restored. It's quite simple in the digital age but in the analog age when a machine had to be built from scratch that would do this, it was quite complicated. (I don't know if the CBC was the first in the world to use a tape delay system and so literally had to invent it but in the mid-1960s there wasn't a machine you could buy off the shelf that would do this so you had to build it from scratch. 

 

March 24, 2022 9:59 am  #3


Re: Radio Station Allows Phone Callers Direct To Air. What Could Go Wrong?

I remember that tape loop. They used it at the very first station I ever worked at and I remember thinking, "what happens if the tape breaks or wears out?" It worked, I guess, but boy did it look like one of those old Rube Goldberg contraptions. 

     Thread Starter
 

March 24, 2022 12:44 pm  #4


Re: Radio Station Allows Phone Callers Direct To Air. What Could Go Wrong?

It's all fun and games until someone gets sued..  

This station would make most lawyers every excited. 

 

March 24, 2022 1:15 pm  #5


Re: Radio Station Allows Phone Callers Direct To Air. What Could Go Wrong?

This thread reminds me about when I used to record music contests that I had won on the radio. Staring in the 70's and continuing up to around 2008. I used various recording devises including Reel to Reel, Cassette, VCR and computer programs such as Audacity. I believe there was a delay at most and maybe all of the stations including CHUM AM and FM, Q 107, CFNY etc.

I remember trying to quickly run to a recording source after I had won and start recording. In some cases I may have had the tape running as I was calling but I remember many instances when I did not and was still able to record the win. There's some recording's that I have uploaded to my site where an incorrect answer is repeated by multiple callers as they were  not able to hear what was going to air live.


Cool Airchecks and More:
http://www.lettheuniverseanswer.com/