As a result, disc jockeys are becoming an endangered species. Despite the fact they have historically powered a station’s ratings, it is now felt that the format’s popularity doesn’t need a voice. The new perception is that people will tune in just for the music…and commercials of course. Automation is now the king. A typical example is at the Clear Channel headquarters in San Diego, California, where 14 stations are under one roof. The company either owns outright or manages that many stations in the market. That’s deregulation for you. Well, apparently only three people are needed to operate all of the stations. All the segments are pre-recorded and what on-air people they still have do what is called, “voice tracking.” That means they pre-record their talk segments and the computer puts them where they’re supposed to go so they’ll be heard at a later time in between song sets. The listener thinks he or she is listening to “live” radio but “it ain’t necessarily so.”
Local Radio?
The other factor in radio today is that some local stations aren’t that at all. An announcer in some central location (could be anywhere in the country) does all the sound bytes for stations up and down the line. Some talk segments can be pre-recorded and some are still done live but they aren’t local. From the station owners’ view this is sometimes necessary when a station in a smaller market can’t afford to pay the price of a top DJ. Many would answer, “so what? Maybe we want a local, folksy sound from somebody who knows the town and most of the people in it.”