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Who handles the dump button these days?

W

wadio

I heard a radio talk show host use the F-word this morning.

These days all my listening is online so I assume the word was dumped from the on-air feed. But it got me wondering how things work in this age of budget constraints and computerization.

Is the dump button handled by a producer who's probably too busy screening calls and doing other chores to listen very carefully? Does the host have access to the button? Or is there an AI algorithm that can identify the seven deadly words and bleep them? The latter seems inevitable but are we there yet?

Anyone know?
 
wadio said:
Is the dump button handled by a producer who's probably too busy screening calls
Click to expand...

Depends on the station. Some talk shows also have board ops, and some of them run the dump button. Some talk shows have call screeners who are separate from the show producer, who is more involved in show planning and booking guests. Then again, some shows have guest bookers. So the staffing varies depending on the show and budget.

If a host used the f word, he should be fired on the spot. The dump button is not for the host. The host is supposed to be the adult.
 
TheBigA said:
Depends on the station. Some talk shows also have board ops, and some of them run the dump button. Some talk shows have call screeners who are separate from the show producer, who is more involved in show planning and booking guests. Then again, some shows have guest bookers. So the staffing varies depending on the show and budget.

If a host used the f word, he should be fired on the spot. The dump button is not for the host. The host is supposed to be the adult.
Click to expand...
I've been at a talk station with a "First Morning" show with a 7 person air crew, board op, producer and over 20 news writers and reporters on staff (total 37 people for just 6 AM to 9 AM) and there the board op handled the obscenities or expressions that were illegal in that country.

At an LA talker, there was a screener and the talent for most shifts. The talent ran their own board, and handled the dump button.

In every other talk station I have supervised, NY, Chicago, Miami, Dallas, Houston, San Juan, Quito, Santo Domingo and a couple others it was always the board operator that handled the dump button. That was generally the only person who had to listen to the station with full attention all the time. When the talent ran their own board, they also handled the button.

In all those years, going back to the late 70's, never had anything improper get on the air in a talk show.
 
So there's no artificial intelligence for this yet? I'll bet it could be done in the not too distant future. Of course the problem is, if if it misses something you can't sue or fire a computer!
 
We had a long list of words and phrases, over which stations had already been fined by the FCC for using. This was when the Fairness Doctrine was still in effect and none of them were considered to be indecent. Even now, you still have to deal with the Personal Attack Rule!
 
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