Tuesday, January 31, 2012

DUAL OPEN THREAD: (1) Transition Fail, and (2) Super Bowl Quick HIts

Really gotta thank the faithful Confessors who have kept us up to date on the latest tension over the continued technical problems related to the transition to Victory Park, or perhaps Victory Plaza.  I've been so busy out on the plains that I haven't had time to listen much, much less to write.

Please post any further information re Transition Fail (or Transition Improvement -- the watchword here is fairness) and any thoughts you have on the week in Indianapolis. 

No Top Ten tonight (Rotten Radio instead); listening between the lines I gathered from Jake's narration that this was also the result of a technical fubar.

Again, my hearty thanks and welcome to all new Confessors and commenters.

19 comments:

  1. First bitches!!!
    (Thanks, always wanted to do that)
    And the encoding comments refer to PPM encoding. The station is encoded with a super-secret, undetectable to human ears, signal. A signal that can only heard by the magic boxes of Arbitron's personal people meters. The information gathered from said meters is what forms the ratings of "The Little One". So no encoding, no ratings. Think guys whos jobs and paychecks, and especially bonus checks, are tied to arbitron ratings would be pissed if they found out that their signal hadn't been encoded at times? Think you'd be pissed at an engineer and taking shots?

    xx/oo
    1sider

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  2. Wow, thanks for the info!

    That explains a lot...now, if you'll pardon me, I want to see if I can figure out how this system works...I take it it's a terrestrial thing only, right?

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  3. Read this:
    http://www.indexcom.com/ppm/
    See if it helps.
    And no, it's stream audio also. Although technically it's a seperate feed, since you'll see in thh ratings where KTCK-AM and KTCK-AM(stream) both show up in the ratings, the concepts are the same. The signal is encoded so PPM meters can hear it and record listenership levels.

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  4. Very interesting info, 1sider - I wonder just how much of theunticket's audio archives actually contain valid PPM data. If I get some time this weekend, I'll see if I can spot and decode the PPM data in some pre-Victory audio.

    One small note that caught my eye:
    "Program material with many quiet periods such as talk formats offers less opportunity to produce an encoded signal. This is a simple technology limitation." -- It would seem that the production music and ticker beds are not simply "window dressing", then.

    (Sorry; my inner-nerd just woke up)

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  5. Great stuff 1sider and great follow ups, ap.

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  6. Fascinating. I knew there were SCA and RDS subcarriers in FM radio, but no idea there was PPM. Thanks for the info.

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  7. You have got to come to My Ticket Confession for the dope.

    Sounds like continued problems at The Little One, with little or no improvement. I'm sure stringing up a remote for all shows so close to moving time isn't helping matters.

    Changing subjects: (1) What happened with Ty Walker on The Musers this morning that caused all the tsuris? (2) Why does Ty suffer from so much nut-kicking at The Ticket?

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  8. Regarding transition fail, I was willing to cut the overlords a decent amount of slack for the rough patch the week after the move, but it really doesn't seem like things are getting better. That's troublesome. I get the feeling that it can't just be chalked up to poor planning or localized incompetence; it appears to be a systemic problem. Behind-the-scenes shortcomings like missing amenities and logistical problems are to be expected, but the lack of PPM encoding (fascinating stuff, 1sider - thanks for that!) hurts the bottom line. That's inexcusable. And since these are shared facilities, I assume these problems are not just affecting the Ticket. That could be disastrous.

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  9. so after reading the ppm paper, I now know why 105.3 continually plays its production music so loudly under the hosts (like annoyingly too loud) its so they can blast the ppm encoded signal continually. And here I thought there 100k watt signal would help them

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  10. Very hot HSO's from Mike regarding how the Ticket's non-rights-holding status and their lowly rank amongst other media/press personnel limits their opportunities to get big names on, and he wishes it was otherwise.

    And then the segment intro feeds from the station back home continues to struggle as he speaks.

    The grey wolf certainly sounded a little beaten.

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  11. More, extremely pointed commentary from Those Who Muse So Gently this morning (Thurs, 7:50) about the lack of encoding and how that affects people's livelihood and, most tellingly, the apparent lack of proper remorse or repercussions. Behind the scenes, I imagine things are not very peachy at Victory....any flies on the wall?

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  12. Around 7:50, during the "restaurant racism" segment, they addressed the "encoding" topic semi-head-on. It is without a doubt the lack of PPM encoding that has them in a tizzy (rightfully so). This is a major league f-up by someone that hopefully has their affairs and resume in order.

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  13. Wow, simultaneous posts about the same thing. What a coincidence.

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  14. Yes, well great minds and all...

    It did not sound like any head was about to roll and that in itself seemed to be a point of contention. I wonder who it is....

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  15. The person responsible has been taken care of. Thank you all P1s for being loyal listeners!!!

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  16. "Taken care of"? Like in a Sopranos kind of way?

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  17. Line 4 guy: "Do you have a power bottom?"

    Police Lady: "Where is that voice coming from?"

    Bob: "Don't worry about him."

    Bob (Grubes): "Do you like BJ's?"

    Police Lady: "Yes I do. Does Dallas have them?"

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  18. Ty Walker Chicken, if that's you who graced this combox, I'd like to say "Welcome!" And keep doing that voodoo that you do so well. Stay hard, brother!

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  19. Alright, Plainsman, it's February. I know you've posted more articles about Mike's contract and future than a lot of your readers probably care to have read, but it's now nut-cuttin' time. Let's see what, if anything, happens over the next few weeks. Now on to something more important if there is indeed something more important...

    Gut Feeling / Prediction: One of the Musers is pondering leaving, and will leave before next January. That's right. You heard it here first. This will be the last year at The Ticket for one of the Musers.

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