It definitely isn't 2 minutes, it is around 30 seconds. This is why I'd love to know the circumstances of the fault and what was going on during the downtime - the emergency tape kicks in way too late, and I would put good money on it being manually triggered (i.e. fired off from the playout system rather than the silence-detector automatically kicking in the emergency DAT).
I would also suggest the emergency DAT kicks in AFTER Arctic Monkeys. It sounds to me like the first track is played as a stopgap, then the emergency DAT (starting with a Radio 1 sweeper and running into Gorillaz) is played out manually directly afterwards.
If I'm right, I'd be interested to know why the silence detector didn't kick in after 30 secondsish and switch control to BH.
Ah the natural conclusion of automation - if you automate anything it increases the possibility that something can go wrong, and if it does there's no-one to fix it. And beyond that, the listen again is automated, so therefore it means the screw-up is available to listen to over and over again. D'oh.
I'm quite surprised by how much of Radio 1's output in recent days has been automated. It's reminding me of some of these extremely cheap local radio stations that are on tape 20 hours a day. I've definitely heard myself listening more to commercial stations like XFM Scotland in recent days because of it.
Ah the natural conclusion of automation - if you automate anything it increases the possibility that something can go wrong, and if it does there's no-one to fix it. And beyond that, the listen again is automated, so therefore it means the screw-up is available to listen to over and over again. D'oh.
I'm quite surprised by how much of Radio 1's output in recent days has been automated. It's reminding me of some of these extremely cheap local radio stations that are on tape 20 hours a day. I've definitely heard myself listening more to commercial stations like XFM Scotland in recent days because of it.
However... take your average Local FM and when you mean automation you really do mean automation. The playout system is scheduled to play out certain things at certain times, or a show may be voicetracked and if a fault occurs it will take as long to sort it as it takes for someone to get to the station and push some buttons. With Radio 1, you can be pretty sure, even on Christmas Day, that automation is ultimately controlled by a human being, be it a BA or a tech op.
I must say that I am surprised that there is only one sweeper on there so far. I thought that there would be a lot, because there are no DJs to tell people what they are listening to.
Also, I am wondering how often the tape's lineup of songs is changed?
Obviously regularly to keep it fresh - but 6 months, 3 months, what?
A silence detector is used, which starts the CD after a set amount of silence (I think it's 2 mins for Radio 1) and then turns it off the moment audio is restored. Also, as I understood it the emergency CD's are playout out at the masts, not at Broadcasting House, unless they recently changed it.
Emergency 'tapes' for the networks are centralised so if there's a breakdown the tape goes out nationally. Apparently Radio 1's is at Broadcasting House, but i would have thought that Radio 3 and 4's would be elsewhere as they originate in BH
Very unlikely to have tapes at the transmitters - it would be impossible to monitor them all to ensure that that they hadn't come on when they shouldn't and switched back after a fault. Also when the tape changed someone would need to go round and change them all!
I love the fact it was hastily fixed when the Scissor Sisters came on. Could just hear people tuning in for the latest in dance music and being more than a wee bit baffled when they heard that...
It is no doubt provoking so much discussion because it's so rare for something to go so badly wrong at Radio 1. It actually looks to some degree like they've mis-timed how long The Chart Show Live Relived was due to last. Normally the chart show actually finishes at about quarter to 7. That seems a bit too simple though.
You really know it's not your night when you're trying to fix a programme and then the emergency tape goes up the spout though. Still, not as bad as the radio station referred to in Media Guardian that played a Daniel Bedingfield song seven times in a row on Christmas Day...
EDIT: It sounds like they've crashed in to Pete Tong's show five minutes late, rather than starting at the beginning. Probably wise if they've got a night of recorded shows - I can't remember when Newsbeat comes back on but they'll have to keep to time for that.
However... take your average Local FM and when you mean automation you really do mean automation. The playout system is scheduled to play out certain things at certain times, or a show may be voicetracked and if a fault occurs it will take as long to sort it as it takes for someone to get to the station and push some buttons. With Radio 1, you can be pretty sure, even on Christmas Day, that automation is ultimately controlled by a human being, be it a BA or a tech op.
It's might not be automation at all, a pre-recorded programme that long that would most likely just be played in manually from server or DAT. There's very little to automate in the first place. And there would be someone there looking after the broadcast.
Emergency tapes (although I doubt they'll actually be tapes) for the networks are centralised so if there's a breakdown the tape goes out nationally. Apparently Radio 1's is at Broadcasting House, but i would have thought that Radio 3 and 4's would be elsewhere as they originate in BH
Very unlikely to have tapes at the transmitters - it would be impossible to monitor them all to ensure that that they hadn't come on when they shouldn't and switched back after a fault. Also when the tape changed someone would need to go round and change them all!
I was forgetting the BBC use RBS at the masts (in the same way they do for TV) unlike commercial stations which have emergency CD's at the mast. With commercial stations, when the mast looses the feed, the silence detector kicks in and plays the CD. However with the BBC it just tunes into the nearest mast and rebraodcasts it (you can tell this is happening as the RDS changes from Radio 1 to BBC R1). I was obviously having a blank moment earlier.
I love the fact it was hastily fixed when the Scissor Sisters came on. Could just hear people tuning in for the latest in dance music and being more than a wee bit baffled when they heard that...
It is no doubt provoking so much discussion because it's so rare for something to go so badly wrong at Radio 1. It actually looks to some degree like they've mis-timed how long The Chart Show Live Relived was due to last. Normally the chart show actually finishes at about quarter to 7. That seems a bit too simple though.
You really know it's not your night when you're trying to fix a programme and then the emergency tape goes up the spout though. Still, not as bad as the radio station referred to in Media Guardian that played a Daniel Bedingfield song seven times in a row on Christmas Day...
EDIT: It sounds like they've crashed in to Pete Tong's show five minutes late, rather than starting at the beginning. Probably wise if they've got a night of recorded shows - I can't remember when Newsbeat comes back on but they'll have to keep to time for that.
Yeah, I was gonna comment on the whole mis-timing of the Chart Show Live thing. Pretty bad really.
"Whoops, we've acidentally forgot to record half an hour of the show. Still, we got most of it".
I was listening to my Local Radio Company station a while back. It was a national show. Of course, the local adverts are put in, but on my station (dunno about the rest) it went a bit wrong, and they didn't play, so I heard the emergeny tape for a minute or so each time. I must have heard Beyonce's Crazy in Love so many times that evening.
Also there were a lot of silences after each Newsbeat - there have been all week.
Also there were a lot of silences after each Newsbeat - there have been all week.
A lot of mis-timings!
Usually it's down to the DJ or tech op to fire off their stager after the Newsbeat sign-off, but the recorded programmes had gaps of silence for, let's say, exactly 2 minutes. The situation would therefore be reversed, with Newsbeat having to time their bulletin and make sure the end stab finished by the time the next bit of the show began. I heard a fair few cockups with that as well, but "DJ newsreading" is fairly hard at the best of times.
