Osh in fact does voicetrack XM...it sounded like crap at first, but Osh took the time to reach out to the guy who marries the voice files to the rest of the programming at XM in Washington, D.C. and between them, they've got it sounding pretty good now.
If the jock whose voice is being tracked is also the board op on duty (as mentioned above), then there's great incentive for him/her to make it sound as good as the equipment will allow.
And, no, it's not a new technology. We tried it in 1978 at KOLO in Reno...the idea being to give the station a consistent 7-day sound. What killed it for us was that we couldn't hear the music in our headphones while tracking, so our rhythms and pacing were off. Now, with digital files, jocks can hear the intros they're recording the talk-up to.
As for the new KFRC at 106.9, I listened to about an hour of the streaming today. The music and jingles are mostly from the Michael Spears and Les Garland eras (1973-1980). Someone who was 16 in 1980 is 43 now. A 16 year old in 1973 would be 50. Arguably more salable demos than 60s based oldies.
It doesn't hurt that those years were when KFRC was at its peak. Not to dismiss pre-Michael Spears KFRC (1966-1972), but KFRC was racking up #1 rankings in Arbitron and Station of the Year wins from Billboard Magazine left and right after Spears arrived. Those who were there and remember KFRC might like this, depending on how it's done. And those who are from somewhere else and don't, if it's done well, should only hear a good radio station playing music they like.
Should CBS do the right thing and add live jocks, the beauty of this era of KFRC is that the talent available is good enough not to have to rely on nostalgia. They'd carry it on how good they are today.
---Michael Hagerty
If the jock whose voice is being tracked is also the board op on duty (as mentioned above), then there's great incentive for him/her to make it sound as good as the equipment will allow.
And, no, it's not a new technology. We tried it in 1978 at KOLO in Reno...the idea being to give the station a consistent 7-day sound. What killed it for us was that we couldn't hear the music in our headphones while tracking, so our rhythms and pacing were off. Now, with digital files, jocks can hear the intros they're recording the talk-up to.
As for the new KFRC at 106.9, I listened to about an hour of the streaming today. The music and jingles are mostly from the Michael Spears and Les Garland eras (1973-1980). Someone who was 16 in 1980 is 43 now. A 16 year old in 1973 would be 50. Arguably more salable demos than 60s based oldies.
It doesn't hurt that those years were when KFRC was at its peak. Not to dismiss pre-Michael Spears KFRC (1966-1972), but KFRC was racking up #1 rankings in Arbitron and Station of the Year wins from Billboard Magazine left and right after Spears arrived. Those who were there and remember KFRC might like this, depending on how it's done. And those who are from somewhere else and don't, if it's done well, should only hear a good radio station playing music they like.
Should CBS do the right thing and add live jocks, the beauty of this era of KFRC is that the talent available is good enough not to have to rely on nostalgia. They'd carry it on how good they are today.
---Michael Hagerty
