Broadcast Dialogue

then basketA terrific article (November) that underlinesthe positive aspects of the CHUMmove to downtown Toronto. It is wellwritten and very enjoyable. I am proudto have been included and I love my picture.Can I get a couple of 8 x 10s?Bob LaineTorontoJust wanted to comment on October’sissue of BroadcastDialogue. Itwasa good collectionof articles dealingwith all the assaultson traditionaldeliveries ofradio and televisionformats andprogramming.Thinking outsidethe old box and tryingto cope with today’stechnologiesis a tough path forcurrent managementand staff to dealwith. New devicesdrive audiences toseek more convenientways of receivingtheir tunes, moviesand programs. Themarketplace will be achanged landscape inafewshortyears.Itwasagoodread.Keep up the good work. I always learnsomething.Michael Du BoulayEdcom Multimedia ProductsKitchener, ONWOW! Duff Roman, Ron Bremner and thetribute to Henry Champ. Are you sure youcan follow-up next issue with such highqualitycontent? You are indeed settingthe bar higher, again. Well done, andthanks.Jim PattersonView from the Duck PondLakefield, ONExcellent column from Dan Roach inNovember (Grrr. Attack of the angry engineer).I read the article he mentioned andremember smiling as I was reading it.Years in talk radio and a personal penchantfor the technique has made mejaded to opinion that seems designedjust to @&%# disturb. And that columnwas presented perfectly to generatethought and discussion. Of course radioisn’t dead. Unfortunately, the main peoplescreaming that it is, are 40+ adultswho figure if itisn’t being donethe way they didit,thenitnolongeris relevant.I’m incrediblylucky in that notonly did I growup ‘in’ radio inthe last 30 years,but I also hada front seat tothe Internet andtechnologyside of thingsand watchedhow they allcould mergein the broadcastfacility. Ihave grownthrough cartmachines tocomputerautomation, recipe cards toSelector, razor blades to Pro tools andContinental transmitters to Internet encoders.I’m acutely aware, though, thatthese “new” options aren’t mutually exclusive.Computers fail and people revert towhatever means they have of getting audioto air, music scheduled, content cut-up,or broadcast.I’ve watched over the past few yearsas three very distinct camps started forming.Those with a fear of the future, desperateto hold onto the “glory days” ofthe past because that’s what they knewand that’s what makes sense to them.Those with a keen eye to the future, immersedin current technology, computersand Internet culture but with the samedistaste and lack of knowledge of the pastthat’s shown by the other group towardthe present. And the third group thatunderstands the smell that emanated froma new box of Ampex-456, stacks of recipecards, small red, green and blue circle stickersfrom Grand & Toy, the fact that ITCcouldn’t design two models that used thesame interconnecting cables, and the cigaretteashes on the McCurdy board, all cametogether to lead us to where we find ourselvesas broadcasters today—Axia IP audio,WideOrbit automation, PPM encoders, etc.Every last successful product being usedout there today can trace its DNA back to aCPU-free control room, and that foundationis what current and future successfulbroadcasting will continue to be built upon.In the same way a good architect studiesdesigns over the decades to come upwith better, stronger and more usable plansfor today, today’s designers of radio needto rely on the same references to the past.Oh, and anyone who thinks the day of terrestrialtransmitters has passed only needwait for the next blackout or disaster. Internetradio is great, ‘till the switch loses powerand doesn’t have battery backup, or thecell tower loses its power.Of course, it’s the way of the future butthat doesn’t mean that a lot of today’s technologywill be left in the past.Iain GrantTorontoWant to expressyour point ofview?Broadcast Dialogue welcomesyour letters. Whether you havea comment on somethingyou’ve read in BD or somethingelse entirely in mind,share it with us.E-mail your letter to:howard@broadcastdialogue.comBROADCAST DIALOGUE—The Voice of Broadcasting in Canada DECEMBER 2009/JANUARY 2010 5