Listening Is Everyone’s Responsibility…

I recently called the Program Director of the station I was listening to, so I could find out if he was aware of the problems on his midday voice tracked show. It was easy to tell it was voice tracked outside of the market because I have heard that same personality on other stations when doing my routine Alexa radio scan of other markets.

It Was Ugly...
He asked me what I heard, I told him, "During a song-to-song transition I heard a recorded liner/drop/jingle that said, ‘Now back to more music.’ It gets better, at the end of the fade of the next song a new song started but a few seconds into it, the previous song came back on again."

No Excuse...
You would think in the middle of the day somebody would catch something as glaring as that. But not necessarily. Air staffs are smaller and many of them are still working from home because of the pandemic.

A Nightmare...
It was a 10-minute sequencing train wreck in the middle of the day. The PD confirmed his middays were voice tracked from an outside source. He thanked me and said he would check to see if his station was having problems with its automation system. He also said, "It's the thousand little things that can add up and hurt a station's numbers and image."

Use Your Ears...
I agreed with the PD because it's never one thing but a bunch of little things. By themselves, the little things are small glitches, but too many of these minor occurrences mean your station's presentation is off the mark. You must listen to your station regardless of whether it is automated, semi-automated, syndicated (Weekly/Weekends/Holiday Specials), or voice tracked.

Air Personalities
I'm not blaming the PD or engineering, because everyone needs to stay more on point with all that's going on around us right now. If you voice track your show locally on a daily basis, listen to it when it airs. Even though you probably listen before putting your tracks into the automation system, sometimes we sound different to ourselves once it goes out over the air. It’s also a good way to make sure the automation system sounds right.

The Small Things Add Up...
The more the unnecessary is eliminated, the sharper the on-air moments for a station. There was a time when PPM and Trends didn't exist and only two Diary rating books a year were released. Those rating periods only lasted a few weeks. The programming goal was no mistakes. It was an insane attempt to be flawless, but it taught me something invaluable. The more the unnecessary is eliminated, the sharper the on-air moments for a station. A programming buddy of mine says, “Listen to your station like a listener and not a radio insider."