THE PERILS OF VOICE TRACKING A ByrnesMedia Guest Article Greg Gillispie On June 27, just before 7 p.m. eastern time, it was announced that the bassist of one of British Rock's Holy Trinity, The Who's John Entwistle, had passed away. Yet listening to a number of Classic Rock radio stations that evening, the listeners would have never known anything important to them had happened.
Why? Because those stations are voice tracked at night and no one took the time or made the effort to alter the previously scheduled programming.
Apparently some PDs are too busy, too tired, or even worse, too lazy to go to the radio station to either reschedule the music, imagers, and breaks or turn off the digital automation and do something that is becoming a rarity in our business - emotionally charged live radio. This is a sad commentary on where technology and multi-tasking have taken radio.
In 1997, when Joanna Lynch and I wrote the textbook, Process and Practice of Radio Programming, a new wrinkle was being added to radio's complexion. It was called "virtual radio." Pioneered by the old Research Group, emerging digital technology was enabling radio stations to create presumably the same quality of content with fewer people. We asked the Research Group's Michael Dalfanzo what would happen should a preeminent rock star collapse on stage during a concert in the evening when "virtual radio" was in control. His response about trying to find the voice talent and seeing if he/she would come back to the studio to re-cut the breaks was troubling, in that the immediacy that made radio such an urgent medium would be gone.
Obviously, the concept of voice tracking has been refined since the advent of "virtual radio." Still many radio stations rely on a talent that is oftentimes far away from the station to get back to the studio to re-cut the breaks should an emergency occur.
But that is only a small part of the problem. Someone has to reprogram the music. And if the voice tracking talent cannot be reached, one personality, presumably with enough music knowledge and passion to cover a story such as John Entwistle's passing is replaced by a voice from a different daypart or even worse a different station within the building.
Economically, radio will not go back to being live 24/7 anytime soon. That is today's reality. But within that reality, PDs need to have contingency plans on what to do in situations such as the evening of June 27. It is inexcusable for a Classic Rock radio station to get to coverage of the passing of a rock luminary such as John Entwistle the next morning! And in today's terrorist climate, a rock star's passing could seem rather insignificant if an act similar to 9-11's happened after 7 p.m.
Radio is and always has been a medium about now. It is up to those that operate radio stations to keep it that way or expedite the audience's reliance on another medium that moves immediately to update people on stories and events that are important to them.
Greg Gillispie has 29+ years of experience includes on-air work in Toledo, Detroit, and Denver, Program Director stints in Omaha and Pittsburgh, over 15 years of consulting radio and television stations, Internet companies, and networks, and training the Playmate Radio Team. Greg is co-author of the textbook, Process & Practice of Radio Programming. Contact Greg via e-mail at Ggillispie@aol.com. |