Voice-Tracking?
Kevin Martin
area (central NJ) uses it ... 1070 WKMB Stirling, NJ, a small 250-watt
daytimer playing country music. They voice-track a Top 20 countdown,
and also the early evening shift (4 PM to signoff). They do a good job
at making it sound real ... sometimes they record the DJ rambling a
bit or fumbling his/her words in the introduction of the song.
They also have young "studio assistants" reading the weather every 20
minutes or so, and the voice-tracked DJ introduces them by name. But
most of the time their DJs are live and real, and when the studio
assistants gain some experience they get their own show ... it is fun
to hear young, non-pro DJs on the air! They even play some vinyl on
the air. When I visited their studio, there were stacks of dusty LPs
on the floor. The rest of the stuff (including the voice-tracks,
liners, and commercials) are on carts, played by a cart machine that
sounds like it's been there since the station went on the air in 1972.
Kevin M.
Rick Charles
> Do (m)any stations use voice-tracking anymore? Only one station in my
> area (central NJ) uses it ...
You are JOKING, right? I'm sure that more than one station in your
area uses Voice Tracking, but if done right, a normal listener will
never figure it out. From talking with a good friend of mine at BE
(broadcast electronics) Voice Tracking is more RAMPANT now, than ever,
especially in the smaller markets. In our market Biloxi/Gulfport
(#136 and climbing) there are only TWO stations that I know of that
don't voice track at least SOME of their shifts.
Rick "DaVoice" Charles
Tune me in with Real Audio
M-F 5-9am CST at:
www.jammin97.com
WUJM "Jammin' 96.7"
Biloxi/Gulfport Ms.
rad...@bigfoot.commmmmmmm
wrote:
> Do (m)any stations use voice-tracking anymore? Only one station in my
> area (central NJ) uses it ... 1070 WKMB Stirling, NJ, a small 250-watt
> daytimer playing country music. They voice-track a Top 20 countdown,
> and also the early evening shift (4 PM to signoff). ... <Snip!>
> They also have young "studio assistants" reading the weather every 20
> minutes or so, and the voice-tracked DJ introduces them by name. But
> most of the time their DJs are live and real ... <Snip again>
> When I visited their studio, there were stacks of dusty LPs
> on the floor. The rest of the stuff (including the voice-tracks,
> liners, and commercials) are on carts, played by a cart machine that
> sounds like it's been there since the station went on the air in 1972.
Many, many stations -- quite a few in larger markets, even -- are
using voicetracking these days, via the various digital systems. How
have you missed this? The technology is (unfortunately for jox)
becoming very popular with the big-three radio owners, as a way to cut
costs. ("Hey, let's have the midday jock voice evenings ... and the PM
driver do overnights. And everyone voicetracks the weekends!") AM/FM
even has its own proprietary system that its stations use, called
Prophet. (Pronounced the same as "Profit").
Geno
Bob Smith
> using voicetracking these days, via the various digital systems.
An interesting phenomenon I've noted in the markets I follow (mostly
Northeastern and all in the top 50 nationwide) ... every one of the
many stations that voicetracks its shifts has seen its Arbitrons 12+
and 25-54 decline since starting it. A listener can tell something's
different (and that something is wrong, and canned) even if he or she
can't put a finger on precisely what it is. It sounds canned. It
sounds dead, lacks energy and urgency that a good live personality
will always have. One effect I've noted that might be worth
researching ... do tracked or automated stations suffer a lot of churn,
a lot of people who might tune in for one song they like, then wander
away? And does a station playing the same music but using strong live
personalities, manage to hold those listeners even through several
songs they might not otherwise stick around for? That can make a HELL
of a difference in the ultimate AQH and cume each station will have,
and be able to sell.
I bet you can build a good argument that tracking and automating
is a false economy.
As far as talk is concerned, the analogue is the station that
gives itself largely over to the satellite. And the same thing
applies. I've yet to see a syndicated schedule come CLOSE to beating a
good live local lineup in total audience or prime demos in any sizable
markets, and that's even true of local hosts that compete with the
biggest national names ... and, more often than not, win. (It's no
accident that Stern's truly dominant market is his home market where
he IS a local act ... and just ask Limbaugh or Bob Grant how well they
perform outside of New York, and whether they beat the best of the
locals in each large market.)
Bob Smith, afternoons WXXI-AM 1370, Rochester NY
[PAT Note: I'm glad you support my thinking on that. Yesterday in some
private correspondence with someone about me possibly doing some
sales work for his station (a new aquisition for him), he mentioned
having it automated a great deal but I suggested having it live as
much as possible, with local stuff would always be better, IMO, then
using automation as filler when needed, such as overnight. I would
think that would make it easier to sell ads, etc. PAT]
Jim Burgan
> area (central NJ) uses it ...
When the station I work at purchased DAD-Pro in 1997, I thought it was
the great "Satan" of radio and I vowed that I would never, ever voice
track my shift. That was 2 years ago and these days I voice track
about 90% of my airshift and I love it! I can voice track a five hour
airshift in about 90 minutes and the only errors are those that I
allow to stay. I would defy anyone to say that they can tell if I am
voice tracked. The overall quality is better and it frees up time for
other things. I believe every station in this market voice tracks to
some degree (except one).
The original question asked if stations voice-track anymore; modern
voice-tracking is relatively new and is in it's infancy. It will only
grow.
[PAT Note: The guy who does classical music overnight (used on WFMT
and by some PBS affiliates) Peter Van de Graff is all voice-tracked.
He told me once it takes him 'a couple hours at most' to prepare a
six-hour overnight program. And although it is okay, with decent
classical music programming, somehow it just does not seem 'real'.
As someone mentioned, you cannot put your finger on exactly *why*
it sounds odd, but it does. Maybe if you know ahead of time how it
was done, you start looking for errors that do not exist, or for
things so minor they would not be noticed had not you been tipped
off beforehand about it. PAT]