[BC] technical difficulties with automation

[Rich Wood]

------ At 02:23 PM 11/11/2005, Donna Halper wrote: -------

>What would cause a station like WBZ, for example, to have a 
>commercial playing over the recorded weather, or on WXKS/WKOX, I 
>heard two commercials playing on top of each other.  Aren't these 
>systems idiot-proof?

It's very possible for an automation system to play two things at 
once. Even from the same drive, the speed of the drive will allow it 
to play more than one file. The systems are idiot proof for certain 
things but stations often mix things, so you can't prevent that. It 
could be that the traffic computer had a glitch in it's file uploaded 
to the automation. It could be how the commercial is coded. There are 
really a lot of possibilities.

There's a story about WBZ that might just be an urban legend. They 
used a touch screen system. The cleaning lady came in and wiped the 
screen. It fired almost everything at once. If it can go wrong. It will.

Rich

Rich Wood
Rich Wood Multimedia
Phone: 413-303-9084
FAX: 413-480-0010