WBZ & WODS Technical Flubs

["Mark Watson" <markwats@attbi.com>]

  I tuned in to WBZ Radio early this New Year's morning on my way home to
hear the 2 AM CBS News. WBZ usually carries the network news till the first
break, which is 3 minutes into the news, when they go to the traffic
report.Then the traffic sounder and report, plus the network spot and
another spot all play at the same time. This went on for about 10 seconds,
when it suddenly went quiet for a few seconds, then a 4th completely
different spot played with no problems.

    And just moments ago, listening to the "Top 72 of 1972" countdown on
WODS (Oldies 103.3) 11 o'clock came and went with no top of the hour ID, Dan
McCoy going on with the countdown. In the middle of the 5th Dimension's
"Last Night I Didn't Get To Sleep At All" at 11:06 AM the song suddenly
disappears, followed by a few seconds of dead air, then the top of the hour
ID fires off, which has a vamp for the jock to talk over teasing the
upcoming hour's music. Dan McCoy's comments here: "It's just after 11
o'clock with Dan McCoy, and I have no idea what just happened, as we
continue with the top 72 of 1972 with a great love song by Climax" as the
closing jingle takes over. Isn't 11:06 a bit more than just after 11
o'clock? And I've also heard the Oldies 103.3 top of hour ID fire off 5 or 6
minutes past the hour on other occasions in the past few months, in regular
format not during a countdown as they are doing today. Why does the jock
wait that long to do the top of hour? He/she certainly can't be losing track
of time.Or does the hour's music log factor in to this top of the hour
tardiness.

Mark Watson