Like Raaaaaiiiin, On Your Wedding Day

KSTP-AM's supernaturally-lame afternoon host "Sterling" made it into the Strib:

"I'm fairly new here, but do we have to be whipped into a fervor about the snow? Here in the Twin Cities," he added, "it's going to snow."

Only Sterling wasn't "here" at all. He was sitting in Columbus, Ohio, where the weather was clear and 51 degrees.

Although he mentioned Ohio later, saying he "had worked and lived there," he never told listeners that he was broadcasting his noon-to-2 p.m. show from its capital city, and has done so every day since early September, when he started full time at KSTP.

Advances in broadcasting apparatus and access to local news through the Internet have made it easy to broadcast from almost anywhere. No longer are radio personalities shackled to the station, and many do shows from other locations, such as a home studio across town. And of course, many stations carry syndicated shows that clearly address national audiences.

It's true - it happens,and much more than you think. Disk jockeys will do shows remotely, or even just record the interstitial bits and send 'em to a station via the 'net, to be cobbled into a show by computer, at a radio station where no human hands touch the actual program.

Lately, however, there's been a rise in "local" talk shows whose hosts broadcast from far away -- a development that troubles some industry observers.

Well, what should trouble "industry observers" is quotes like this:

"There's a lack of talent in the industry," [Sterling] said, talking about the shortage of radio personalities that often sends a station looking out of town.

That a host like "Sterling" - who is saved from the title of "worst talk show host in the Twin Cities" only by the presence of Willy Clark, Wendy Wilde and Andrew Colton, but who may qualify as "least coherent" - could get away with saying such a thing should really trouble those "observers".

(Via the Fraters)

Posted by Mitch at October 16, 2006 06:11 AM | TrackBack