A reader asked, "Is anyone live at night or overnight anymore?"
Good question. The central Pennsylvania radio airwaves have fewer live on-air personalities at night, during the overnight and on weekends. Following a national trend, many local radio stations are automating at those times.
The part-time air personalities who used to fill those slots are a dying breed. Sure, many full-timers don't care for part-timers because some weekend warriors can make a mess of a studio or lounge. But many full-time personalities forget that they cut their teeth working weekends and overnights.
Automating saves money, but the profit can't be that great. As a part-timer, at least when I was an on-air personality 10 years ago (can't believe it has been that long), I earned slightly more than minimum wage. I used to joke that I could make more working at a convenience store, but that wasn't as glamorous as radio.
But there is a savings in automation, so many stations record hours' worth of airtime, making it sound as if a personality is actually in the studio.
There is still something missing, though. Maybe it is the banter between the person in the studio and the meteorologist or traffic person. In the early morning, it's also nice to hear that live voice if you're feeling lonely.
It sounds to me as if the WINKs, 103.3 and 104.1, are jukeboxed. It also appears WSOX-FM 96.1 got rid of its weekenders. I think WRVV-FM 97.3 "The River," WRFY-FM 102.5 "Y 102" and WYCR-FM 98.5 "The Peak" are live, at least on Saturdays. WLAN-FM 96.9 "FM 97" sounds live at times on Saturdays; other times, it clearly is not. Weekdays, I know that the only live, local broadcast time is during Damian Rhodes' all-request lunch hour show at noon. (He records the rest of his shift.)
Give credit to WROZ-FM 101.3 "The Rose." It is live until midnight during the week; then it switches to automation during the overnight. Weekends are live all day, but it's back to automation for overnight. The Rose carried an overnight guy until 2009.
WKZF-FM 92.7 is live during the day and goes automated at 7 p.m. until the next morning. Weekends are fully automated, unless there's a live remote event somewhere.
Missing his reports: For more springs than I can remember, I listened to Jack O'Rourke on news station KYW-AM 1060 in Philadelphia.
O'Rourke, who died last September at age 80, was a fixture for Phillies coverage from spring training until the fall (lately deep into October).
This spring, it seems odd not to hear his voice giving reports from Clearwater, Fla.
Fox cancels Monday drama: According to Variety's Stuart Levine, "Terra Nova" was canceled after its first season, as the show proved too costly for its middling ratings.
Freeing TV airwaves: The Federal Communications Commission will have to write the rules in the coming months, but according to The Associated Press, a new law could result in fewer TV stations on the air, in exchange for faster wireless data services for smartphones and tablet computers.
The goal would be to give television a smaller piece of the airwaves. Bidding for freed airwaves likely won't begin until late 2013 or early 2014, the AP reported.
On Demand: Comcast had more than 23 billion On Demand views in 2011, averaging 400 million views per month, the company said in a press release. The most popular movie view for 2011: "Bridesmaids."
Staff writer Eric Stark discusses trends and tidbits in broadcast media each week in the Sunday News. He can be reached at estark@lnpnews.com.
