The "Live Overnight Stations" thread

[If only you knew]

Driving home late most nights I flick around and hear what sounds like a lot of voice-tracking. I drive for a living as well as djing in clubs and I've also noticed this in many parts of the country. I've heard Jason Maine take live calls on occasions so I'm left with the thought - are 104 the ONLY station to be fully live at all times? (apart from repeats of shows)....

Answers on a postcard please!

[frankie says relax]

Yeah ,it seems jas' is the only one although i think liam cobourn
does a night show on 98 ...
Not many could match a show like Jas .

[mattbrat24]

Automation and no djs can be poor radio, so it is good to see fm104 putting the hard lines in...

Well done 104...

Regards,
matt

[North West Listener]

The Q-Network in Ulster is also presented live all night long. They do an overnight programme called the "Q Overnight Network" from 1-6. The Q102 tel./text no's are used, proving the output is from Derry City, but it also goes out on Q97.2 on North Coast and the new Q101.2 (Tyrone/Fermanagh).

Highland Radio has automated music (no presenters) from 1-7.30 a.m..

BBC Radio Foyle (an opt-out of BBC Radio Ulster) is back with Radio Ulster from 5 p.m. (Mon-Fri), which in turn joins up with BBC Radio 4 at midnight, which in turn joins up with the BBC World Service at 12.50 a.m.!

ICR FM from Inishowen is on a blank carrier overnight. Their contract with the BCI doesn't allow for anything else.

Drive 105 (pirate in Derry/Donegal border area which seems to aim for the over 30's market) seems to be automated from early-mid evenings onwards.

TCR Radio (Donegal/Tyrone border area - country music pirate mainly geared at Strabane area) at least used to have live presentation until at least well into the night.

Cool FM (pop station available on FM in most of East Ulster) and Downtown (broadcasts throughout Northern Ireland, aimed more at older listeners), which have always belonged to the same company (now part of Scottisg Radio Holdings) , join together from 1-6 a.m., but with Cool FM's format. Seems live, although I did hear a presenter say on-air not all all that long ago that he was simulataneously recording the following night's programme!

North West Radio (Sligo, south Donegal, part of Leitrim) repeat their day-time talk programmes in the middle of the night.

Nationally, you'll be aware that Today FM goes automated, as does 2FM during the week.

[NoelRock]

"Nationally, you'll be aware that Today FM goes automated, as does 2FM during the week."

That's a shame, we have no 24/7 live station across the country? There's a strange one...

[North West Listener]

It's a funny wee country we live in, isn't it?

2FM went 24/7 in 1987. It's only recently they've cut back on overnights. Has to be the cut-backs! Even the news on the hour now shared with RTE Radio 1 on overnights. On a week-night (say at 2a.m.), listen in to the tail end of the news bulletins on 2FM - The timing is terrible - It can take ages for the jingle to kick in!

[NoelRock]

It is indeed a funny little country. The problem is that it's growing rather quickly - but choice seems to be shrinking. Bizarre.

1987 - ah that year has special meaning to me. Yeah! Now that I think back I've always wondered what was happening over at 2FM at night - they seemed *way* off the mark at times.

[Dane Bowers]

There are overnights in 98, just they're all pre recorded. Jason Maine is excellent, nobody could beat him!

[Sarah Baybay]

Its always amazed me with all the talent there is and the amount of ppl itchin to get on a big station , that all the main stations are automated at nite ?????????????????????????

eh....

WHY?????

[7incher]

Liam Coburn is indeed voicetracked and lately there seems to be weird overlaps and a flanging type effect on some of his links. Anyone else hear this? The boy Jase is still setting the pace and long may he continue to do it.

[Original Tyrone Gobshite!]

The Q-Network in Ulster is also presented live all night long. They do an overnight programme called the "Q Overnight Network" from 1-6. The Q102 tel./text no's are used, proving the output is from Derry City, but it also goes out on Q97.2 on North Coast and the new Q101.2 (Tyrone/Fermanagh). Q101 in it's first few weeks actually had live shows on a sproadic basis between 1-6am, particulary at weekends. However since about May all night shows are taken from the Q overnight network.

[Macers]

Energy 94 do it in Dublin with Mel Byrne but go automated the odd day....

[Turiel]

Possibly because its an extra employee to pay Sarah! Nobody wants to pay someone to do 2-7am when they can get away with using a computer. Besides for us anoraks, have you ever heard a listener say "Oh I don't like the way 98fm are automated at night"? I'm not disagreeing with the idea, im just guessing how the PCs think!

[corkdood]

96FM in Cork is live 7 nights a week with Vincent O'Keefe/Rob Allen

[Vdub]

niel is repeated between 2 and 5 week nights on 96 fm.

[herbert]

I am very surprised TODAY FM does not have live overnights, I'm sure they're not short of a few €€€€.

I have said before on this board that 2FM definitely should go back to live overnights, remember overnights with Gerry Wilson, Bob Conway, Mike Ryan (where is he now??), Paul Scanlon.

And if not, they should just play wall to wall music, instead of repeating the weekend programmes.

[North West Listener]

On the subject of overnights on RTE, and regarding the shared news on Radio 1 & 2FM that I referred to earlier.....

This morning at 2 a.m., RTE Radio 1 was completely silent until 2.02 a.m. - no news! Meanhile, 2FM was treating the nation to Carly Simon's "Your so vain". At 2.02, Radio 1 resumed with what sounded like automated programming, 2FM continuing with Carly. At 2.03 a.m., the 2FM news jingle was fired - "Live on the hour, every hour, this is 2FM news"! Then a short message from the newsreader that there would be news at 3 a.m.! Then more silence for a bit of a minute. Then a bit of one song. Then the 2FM "Rewind" programme, starting with a repeat of Will Leahy from Saturday.

I'm not blaming the newsreader in question, who actually sounded good on-air - the whole thing may well have been outside her control, but this was the output at 2 a.m. (not a particularly unsociable hour for many of us in this country - This isn't the south of England or Germany (and no offence intended to the people of those places!) where more people may choose to go to bed early!) on TWO national radio stations. While a third national station is automating pop through the night, and some locals are automating music or repeating their morning talk programme, sponsored by the local dairy or whoever else!

Does it really require that many euros or pounds sterling to do the thing properly? If, going by what has been said here, FM104, Q Network, Energy 94 can do it, then surely the nationals and more of the locals can make the effort? Many people like the radio for a bit of company. People at home, people on nightshift, people out driving - People appreciate a real person there, even if just to take their phone call or text message and give them a "big shout out"!

In 1988, Donegal Community Radio was live until 3 a.m., 2FM was live round the clock. In some respects, have we moved on at all?

[Sarah Baybay]

Originally posted by North West Listener
Does it really require that many euros or pounds sterling to do the thing properly? If, going by what has been said here, FM104, Q Network, Energy 94 can do it, then surely the nationals and more of the locals can make the effort? Many people like the radio for a bit of company. People at home, people on nightshift, people out driving - People appreciate a real person there, even if just to take their phone call or text message and give them a "big shout out"!

In 1988, Donegal Community Radio was live until 3 a.m., 2FM was live round the clock. In some respects, have we moved on at all?
totally agree ......... if 2FM want to be the main station (dunno whether that will ever happen tho!) then they have no choice but to keep up with the other stations that DO provide live overnighters.
I know a few ppl that work the night shifts and they listen to Energy cuz its the only decent station that does give a 'shout out' and because Mel of course has such a luvly personality (which definately makes a huge difference to listening to just an automated playlist)!!!

[patdj1]

Hey!

I think people get a bit "unnecessary" about Voice-tracking. I first used Wizard's V/t in Auckland (NZ) during '99 and 2000 doing Drive and really got to love it. In the first place, we HAD to use it because I was doing two different shows (one on the 24-station national network and one, with local references, traffic and all that shit, in Auckland only) at exactly the same time!

Drive was 3-7 and I'd get in the studio about 2:00 and start putting stuff down and recording incoming calls. There were requests, eyewitness traffics, me takin' the piss outa nutbags and all that stuff you'd expect from Live AND YOU'D NEVER KNOW that I was actually well ahead of myself.

You can record and edit calls just like would Live, ('cept faster 'cos it's digital) you can save calls from the day before and build them into "today", you can insert your bits from Production, PLUS, you can tell selected punters that they'll be able to hear themselves at whatever time!

Admittedly, I like to work closer to Real Time (sometimes by a minute or two) than most but although my shift ended at 7:00, I could be Off the Bus before I was Off the Air! (The other cool thing is, you can go out and drive in the City and listen to yourself! Instant aircheck!)

Like any technology, if you use it right, it's all good.

Having said that, my favourite quote at the moment is this one:-

"For a list of all the ways technology has failed to improve the quality of life, please press 3."


Cheers!

Pat Courtenay

[rodge]

Pat just to throw a spanner in the works... but what if the pre recorded voice over's failed etc!!!!!! You would be on the bus and all hell would be breaking loose...

No, it is great to read the above, as a non radio person it is facinating to see this stuff on this board.
Great stuff

:)

[patdj1]

Hey, Rodge.

Admittedly, there can be that kind of stuff-up, but the better the system, the less is that likelihood. One problem that Wizard (probably the best of that technology available) has is a "Turkey-gobble" effect, which is a sort of high-pitched bubbly-squeal (digital distortion) that can happen either if your voice level is too high OR IF THE HARD-DRIVE IS GETTING TOO FULL. That hard-drive problem usually happens on Fridays when everyone, including News, Programmers, Creative, Production and weekend pre-recorders are loading up the next two days' stuff for say, 5 or 6 networks.

New Zealand's "The Radio Network" - currently owned by Tony O'Reilly - is a bit of a guinea-pig for the Wizard manufacturers, and their constant upgrades are the result of the reporting of these kinds of glitches. Generally speaking, Max Headroom is no more.

Overall, as one who tries to regard a Radio Show as a piece of "Live Production," I've become quite attached to automated systems....although some of my mates in TRN re-named Wizard, the "F@*%in' Piece O' Shit!" after hearing me call it that once too often!


Cheers,

Pat Courtenay

[KJ]

although some of my mates in TRN re-named Wizard, the "F@*%in' Piece O' Shit!" after hearing me call it that once too often!

lol


Just an observation ........... 98 Overnighters are still very glitchy. Is it the software or is someone not doing their job?

KJ

;)

[patdj1]

Hey, Kelly!

I was thinking about that whole Automation thing this morning, and from what I've seen, yes, most of the software's pretty ordinary and makes it difficult to FEEL live, conversational, real.

The problem seems to be that it's like designing cars: if you tell ten computers what you need from a car design (room, power, weight, drag-coefficient, cost etc) probably every one of them will come up with exactly the same design. Of course, that's no good to Ford that wants to LOOK different from Mazda that wants to LOOK different from Toyota that wants to LOOK different from....and so on it goes, to the possible detriment of the Product.

So, RCS (blyaaah) and Netia (zzzzz) can't be designing systems that LOOK like, say, Wizard, no matter how much better the Product might be if they did!

Apart from that, yeah; give some people a good operating system and they'll still find some way to stuff it up.
It's funny how a lot of Broadcasters just automatically come over all "ordinary" when they realise they're recording....but then, the humble MICROPHONE has been having that effect on the majority of LIVE Broadcasters for decades!

Cheers,

Pat Courtenay

[Anorak]

It does seem a shame that - admittedly with greater resourses - that the BBC can broadcast (how many networks now?) live 24 hrs, but RTE cannot even manage one.

Fascinating stuff about the NZ network Pat, but I think theres a slight difference in what you were talking about and a station recording a whole programme hours (days?) in advance. At least in your case it still has a topical feel to it.

[patdj1]

Hey, Anorak!

Yeah, although, when I was working with that system, every other w/end I had to pre-record a Saturday B'fast for Auckland ON THE FRIDAY EVENING. The "challenge" there was to find ways to talk about Friday night's Super-12 Rugby WITHOUT KNOWING THE RESULTS!
I developed a neat trick of suggesting that "we don't really need to talk about that game do we?" which implies that either victory was a foregone conclusion OR (in the case of an Auckland defeat) that the miserable outcome was better left to die a silent death.

Tee hee!

Cheers,

Pat.

[Anorak]

Same technique can be applied to the weather...
here in Ireland, you can say "oh well, rain again".
There you can say "aren't we lucky so-and-sos, its another scorcher"!