Style and Substance

Broadcast Tips Information that doesn’t turn up or seem obvious from other sources
The Programmer's Role in Newcasts	Not that many programmers were around when the old news ran, so we have to teach you the protocol. First and foremost, news is ALWAYS on time. No matter what else is happening, how cool the song that’s playing is or whether the caster has all the stories written the way they’d like, the news starts on schedule. What to do to accomplish this: 1) The last song you play leading up to the news should be an instrumental. You can fade any song, but if you don’t want your audience to be disappointed, you need to fade something that won’t be noticeable. If you have news in the middle, or at the end of your show, you should pick out a song to lead into it when you’re pulling the rest of your music. 2) Pick out a station ID of twenty seconds or less (none of those goofy, long station ID’s can be used before the news, because they are too long. The ID must be twenty seconds or less). Put that ID on to play so that it ends at exactly the time the news is scheduled. We’re going to try very hard at keeping the correct time on the board. 3) At EXACTLY the correct time, play the theme, fire and fade up the caster’s mic. Start the theme hot, then bed it down and cue the caster. They have a standard script for their intro and extro. You can do other things while waiting for them to finish, but be prepared when you hear the weather, it’s their last segment. They have an extro script, pay attention to it and play the theme on time. 4) After you’ve played the theme, play another station ID. Then move on.
Stay Tuned	More to come.

Broadcast Tips

Information that doesn’t turn up or seem obvious from other sources

The Programmer's Role in Newcasts

Not that many programmers were around when the old news ran, so we have to teach you the protocol. First and foremost, news is ALWAYS on time. No matter what else is happening, how cool the song that’s playing is or whether the caster has all the stories written the way they’d like, the news starts on schedule.

What to do to accomplish this:
1) The last song you play leading up to the news should be an instrumental. You can fade any song, but if you don’t want your audience to be disappointed, you need to fade something that won’t be noticeable. If you have news in the middle, or at the end of your show, you should pick out a song to lead into it when you’re pulling the rest of your music.

2) Pick out a station ID of twenty seconds or less (none of those goofy, long station ID’s can be used before the news, because they are too long. The ID must be twenty seconds or less). Put that ID on to play so that it ends at exactly the time the news is scheduled. We’re going to try very hard at keeping the correct time on the board.

3) At EXACTLY the correct time, play the theme, fire and fade up the caster’s mic. Start the theme hot, then bed it down and cue the caster. They have a standard script for their intro and extro. You can do other things while waiting for them to finish, but be prepared when you hear the weather, it’s their last segment. They have an extro script, pay attention to it and play the theme on time.

4) After you’ve played the theme, play another station ID. Then move on.

Stay Tuned

More to come.