Lots of avails on the WRKO Boston Red Sox Radio Network?

[Doug Bassett]

--- Paul Hopfgarten <paul@derrynh.net> wrote:

> (WTPL, especially with the Pats, will have board ops
> that sometimes lets all
> the Boston station content through even though it's
> quite clear to me (and
> I'm not even in the business) that the stop set is
> designed for local adds
> on affiliates

I remember from my days as a Patriots board op that
the network would occasionally stray from their own
format, or at least from the format they sent out to
stations.  This was especially true during the pre-
and post-games, when what was supposed to be a
"network" break would occasionally be full of what
were obviously intended to be "local" (WBCN) spots. 
These strayings were more common during the preseason
and became less frequent as the season went along.  Of
course there are errors at the local level too.  Once
in a while an op will "miss" a break, sometimes
intentionally.  When I would run games, I would let
their local break run if we had no paid local spots,
though I would always try and cover the ID at the end
of the break.  It sounded better that 3+ minutes of
the same tired PSAs.

Is it still true that Patriots games cannot be
automated?  It's been about 5 years since I've had to
run one.  One thing I remember is that from a traffic
standpoint is that right around the holidays day games
could be a PITA...too many spots - car dealer spots in
particular - and not enough avails for any meaningful
product separation.  Ford, Honda, Chrysler.  GM,
Subaru, Ford.  Ford, pet store, Toyota.  Etcetera, so
on and so forth.  If the local sales staff would have
had any interest in selling 30s instead of 60s (and if
the clients had any interest in buying them) it would
have been less of a problem.  That's a another rant
for a another time.

Doug Bassett
Brattleboro VT


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