WFAN

[Sid Schweiger]

>>At least in the case of Shannon and WPLJ, the cart racks (and the row of 8 ITC Deltas above the board) are there because he's the boss and that's what HE likes to work with.<<

That's a change from five years ago.  Back then they were Pacific Recorders Tomcats...the ones with the wider audio tracks and the narrower cue track.  Their audio specs were considerably better than the standard audio carts, with all three tracks the same width.

>>I think he - and some of the other old-timers like Rick Dees in LA - believe, not without justification, that the "classic" gear is more reliable than that newfangled digital stuff<<

I was told that his primary concern was drop-ins.  Supposedly he tried a 360 Systems Shortcut and hated it.

The "newfangled digital stuff," when properly configured and maintained, is just as reliable as the "classic" gear.  The key is maintenance.  Just as tape equipment required constant cleaning and alignment (and remembering that most standard carts had horrible audio specs and would occasionally be eaten by the machines), digital gear requires standard computer maintenance as well as constant monitoring of disk space (everyone saves stuff, but no one ever deletes it until "drive full" messages start popping up).  Unless a station has an in-house expert on digital automation systems, paying someone from the factory to come on-site and configure everything is worth the money, because things will work properly from day one.

>>(I was never privy to those stats at BZ, but I know we had a LOT of double audio and such during our transition to digital circa 1996-97, and I can just imagine what the makegoods must have looked like.)<<

Ah, Scott...you were supposed to keep the 10-kW on-site aux transmitter OFF while the automation was on...didn't they tell you that?   ;-)



Sid Schweiger
MIS Manager, Entercom Boston LLC
WAAF - WEEI - WQSX - WRKO - WVEI
20 Guest St / 3d Floor
Boston MA  02135-2040
Phone: 617-779-5369
Fax: 617-779-5379
E-Mail: sid@wrko.com