Computers in Broadcasting
by John Ingham
There is scarcely an aspect of radio broadcasting today that is not enhanced by the advent of the modern computer! From the earliest years of broadcasting, if you had a microphone, a music player and a transmitter, you had yourself a radio broadcasting station - your broadcasting hours were limited only by your available staff!
At long last, as the computer has come of age, it has become almost indispensable to broadcasters in so many ways. Here at 5MBS, computers have replaced ...
- card-index systems in our music library and our membership list;
- type-writers in the office for program preparation and all administrative functions;
- tape cartridge players for play-out of pre-recorded announcements etc.
- tape recorders in production and replay of recorded programs;
and people during those hours when most of us would prefer to be tucked up in bed!
While the advent of the tape recorder allowed the pre-recording of studio and location programs, some-one still was needed to play those tapes to air. But with our 'Digital Radio System' (DRS) computer, we are no longer limited to one or two hours of playback by the size of tape spool. In fact, if required we could transmit programs completely unattended continuously for up to 7 days! Just the ticket for over the Christmas season when we'd all rather be with our families.
Another feature of our 'DRS' computer is the ability to record and playback simultaneously - even playing back a live program before its recording is complete! This would be most useful if ever we decided to rebroadcast a program originating in the eastern states! By way of example, suppose we were offered a live program from Sydney such as the final judging of the MBS Performer of the Year, but it started at 7pm eastern time (ie 6:30 pm our time) which would of course disrupt our regular 'Jive at 5' program. We would be able to delay such a broadcast by 30 minutes, even while it is streaming in to us! This would be all-nigh impractical using several manually operated tape recorders!
Our DRS system can be used to pre-record and playback a hosted program, or 'capture' music directly from CDs at a speed up to 40 times faster than normal playback - this is how we provide our 'Overnight Music'. We could even allow the computer to generate its own playlists, but it has a terrible taste in Music! Besides, we like to publish our Overnight Music playlists ahead of time on our web site so that you know what to expect. Check it out.
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