Remote Possibilities

Do They Work And What Are the Risks?

There's probably nothing that can set off a program director as much as after they finally get the weekend jock and music schedules set, the new part-timers executing the format properly or when they have a plan for a great Saturday afternoon promotion that would get the station some great press, they're told a car dealership or a funeral home has been sold a remote. As a major-market programmer, I personally have been faced with this situation on numerous occasions. Since, in many cases we can't eliminate them, we're going to examine some possible solutions and offer some suggestions as to how to maximize the potential and minimize the risks of remote broadcasts.

First of all, there are some basics that can make any station's remote go smoother and sound better. The first basic, naturally, is the technical area. As a rule of thumb the larger the broadcast, the higher the technical demands.

To ensure the best integrity for your station, full-blown remotes should convey as close a quality as possible to the studio broadcasts. Anything less is an invitation to tune-out. Regardless of what the sales people say, the best way to keep your listeners is to limit those sponsors and remote cut-aways from a sponsor location to just one per stopset.

Tech Talk & Timelines

As the person in charge, it helps if you plan and know what the technical requirements and timelines are. The telephone company normally requires 15 to 20 working days to order special, equalized phone lines. The cost of the line from the remote location to the studio is a rate based on mileage. The major cost is the installation of the lines. And remember, if you are broadcasting music in stereo, you need a pair of phone lines. That difference in cost between these different services is usually not very significant. Personally, I recommend that music be played from the studio. It's easier to log, control and maintain that way.

For some remote situations, ISDN (integrated service digital network) phone lines make sense. These lines allow for digital real-time information to be transmitted over phone lines, offering full-spectrum audio. Naturally, to use ISDN lines you need digital encoders and decoders.

Next we look at monitors. While you want the audience members at the remote site to be able to hear the station while the remote is going on, you also need to make sure the speakers have some sort of muting system when you are live on the air. I have heard some really bad feedback problems develop when this feature is not in place.

There are some who say this is an engineering function ... and it may be. But I have also observed interns and van drivers setting up remotes who are not technically equipped to handle this. If the speakers are left up at full volume, there will be feedback on the air during times of low level -- in between words, when a song is fading out before the jock speaks, etc. You should have the engineer pre-set the relay system that lowers the volume automatically on the speakers right before the microphones are opened.

Should we ever look at a remote as an opportunity to build audience? Since most remotes take place on the weekends, we have an opportunity to build some new cume from people who get to listen to our stations longer -- if we do the right things. But if we're constantly interrupting our content and flow with remote cut-ins, have we missed an opportunity to build audience ... to increase the number of P1s and build a component of participation, so that those bonds become even stronger? Probably. That is unfortunate, but true.

The problem is that today's Urban stations have to understand that they need to invest more into their own content creation, because now they'll have to compete with their own listeners. Amateurs are creating content which is just as good, if not better, than what we are doing.

The real advantage Urban radio had was in the infrastructure inherent to creating content, but now here comes a remote and some of that effort is going to be lost.

Talk to a GM today and he'll tell you that remote dollars are often dollars that couldn't be converted into traditional spot buys, and that the only way to get them was to agree to do a remote. And the station needs the money. I spoke with a very successful East Coast GM recently -- one who obviously came from sales -- and he said, "Remotes are revitalizing some struggling stations in smaller markets. Our format is on the line. Our jobs are on the line." He's right, but what he may not have taken into consideration is that if the station permits enough remotes and the format continues to get compromised, so will the station's ratings and the bottom line. They'll both be directly affected. So will the future and careers of programmers and air talent, who are affected by these remote decisions but have no say in the matter.

Innovation, imagination, creativity and style -- once characteristics most sought after in our business -- have been stifled because of the need to make money by any means possible. Merger mania created huge debt loads for radio buyers. Many stations that were taken over, bought out or spun off are currently struggling under heavy debt loads so the pressure is on. And so the concept of remote possibilities looms large.

Content & Presentation

If we're going to have to live with the fact that remotes are a necessary reality, what can we do about it? The answer is to develop compelling content that will shine through even the darkest remote. Who is the station appealing to during the remote? Is it the handful of people at the remote or the thousands listening to the radio? The answer .. and the key ... is to make the remote listeners-friendly. Air personalities should not get carried away with the people who have come to see them perform. Always make it entertaining for the listeners.

Playing games with the people in attendance at the remote site is not something that should be done on -air. Those types of things can be done on the mic when the listeners are haring music or commercials. When the remote air personalities are on-air; they should talk to the radio listeners. The largest audience at a remote -- and the one that counts -- is the one that's listening to the radio. Make sure everything that happens at the remote is for the benefit of the listener.

Most of the remotes are sales-driven. A car dealer wants the station to be at his location to give away prizes, balloons for the kids, etc. These types of remotes are usually a detriment to the format and the station, as they usually do not live up to the expectations of the client or the listener. It's nearly impossible for the jock to get on the air and be truly exciting about free hot dogs and test drives. To most listeners, this type of content is boring. The music freaks are the first to flee. However, turning the parking lot at a car dealership into an afternoon concert or art fair can give listeners compelling reasons to stop by and make a case for the quality and quantity of listeners to your station.

I've seen too many remotes where the jock just sits in a booth or at a table barely making eye contact with passersby. Whether or not your hosts stand up in the studio, they must stand at remotes. Keep them dynamic on the same level as people walking by. If they must sit, have them sit on risers. Have plenty of signage, station paraphernalia, music giveaways and more on hand to give out. Print up postcards with the station website information on them.

Make sure the jocks have the commercial log, music log, weather, PSAs and copies of all the promos and copy. Replicate the information they have in the studio as closely as possible. That way, when they are on -air, they can do their show just as they do it in the studio. Keep communication back to the station open at all times. A separate phone (cellular or otherwise) will enable hosts or an engineer/producer to be in touch with the person in the control room in the event of any emergency, to communicate music changes, etc.

"Remote" is not necessarily a bad word. Remotes can be a way for stations to get out and interact with their listeners. The key is to make the remote sound good on-air. The "sound" of the station should not change or suffer with a remote. Remember, consistency is a key element of any successful station. If you do remotes, take the time to plan them out so listeners still hears their favorite station.

There are no simple answers to what has become a complex problem even in the smallest of markets. Market realities have changed our world. They now include unpredictability, constant overwhelming advances in technology, information overload, intense and multiplying competition and remote possibilities. Remotes are yet another tool that is changing the form and shape of weekend radio. As Marshall McLuhan once said, "As we shape our tools, our tools shape us."

Word.