Broadcasting Terms
From Freepedia
With every new technology a number of terms and slang words develop to assist in the rapid communication of ideas between the users of the technology.
Below is a glossary of terms used in Broadcasting.
Contents: Top - 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
A
- A/D
- Analog-to-digital conversion.
- Absolute Event
- A scheduled event whose start time is determined with an assigned time based upon the facility master clock.
- Access Time
- The total time requried to find,retrieve and commence using information, also known as Lead Time.
- Actives
- Listeners who contact the radio show regarding requests, contests or other interaction.
- ADC
- Analog to Digital Converter. A device to convert analog signals to digital.
- Aircheck
- The recorded copy of a broadcast. This can be a digital or analog recording.
- Analog Recording
- Recording of audio using an electronic signal that varies continuously. The main drawback of analog recording is the introduction of inherent noise to the recorded signal.
- Analog Transmission
- The broadcasting of a signal using an analog recording. Examples of use include Radio.
- Arbitron
- The company that provides the Industry accepted standard for audience measurement.
- Archive
- An archive is a term for storage an can refer to the following:
- * Storage of master material under controlled conditions
- * Long term storage of material on an offline storage medium.
- * Archive Copy is a master copy intended solely for storage and not to be used in distribution.
- Artifacts
- A defect in the recording caused by modifying the original recording that demonstrates something undesirable.
- ATR
- Audio Tape Recorder.
- Average Quarter Hour
- The term used in audience measurement by Arbitron. It is defined as the number of persons listening to a particular station for at least five minutes during a quarter of a hour. Typical audience measurements may be in the order of ten thousand for the larger shows. (e.g. Jerry Springer scored 1,600 in the 12+ age group in the spring 2005 figures. Rush Limbaugh scored 16,400 in the same report) Incidently the new phenomenon of Podcasting is comparatively popular due to their content and the asynchronous nature of the media. Some shows like Daily Source Code by Adam Curry are thought to have audience measurements in the hundreds of thousands.
B
- Backsell
- The technique where the DJ announces the song title and/or artist of the song that has just played.
- Backtiming
- Where the DJ calculates the intro time on the song in an attempt to talk over the intro of the song and finish just prior to the vocals commencing.
- BBC
- British Broadcasting Corporation.
- Bed
- A production element, usuallly instrumental music or sound effect played in the background of a spoken commercial, promo or other announcement.
- Bel
- A measure of voltage, current or power gain. One Bel is defined as a tenfold increase in power. If an amplifier increases a signal's power by a factor of 10, it's power gain is 1 Bel or 10 decibels(dB). If power is increased by 100 times, the power gain is 2 Bels or 20 decibels. 0.3dB is considered doubling.
- Bias
- A constant amplitude high frequency signal added to the recording signal to improve the signal to noise ratio and reduce the distortion of an analog recording.
- Billboard
- A short announcement to identify a sponsor at the beginning or end of an production element such as the news or traffic/weather reports.
- Book
- A slang term for the Arbitron rating period.
- Bumper or Bumper Music
- A pre-recorded production element containing voice over music that acts as a transitionto or from a stop set and other content.
C
- Call Letters
- The official name of the radio station in the USA.
- Cans
- Slang for headphones
- Clutter
- An excessive number of non-programme elements (such as commercials) appearing one after another.
- Copy
- The written material used in producing a PSA, promo, or commercial that is meant to be read out by the DJ or presenter.
- Crossfade
- The technique where a DJ, producer or engineer fades out the out going track at the same time as fading in the new track.
- Coverage
- percentage of households that can tune into a radio station within the theoretical broadcast radius.
- Cueing
- Whilst the previous record was playing the DJ would attempt to find the beginning of the song on the next record. The DJ would place the needle down in approximately the right area then move the record back and forth Cueing on the turntable until the beginning of the song was found. When the previous song completed playing the DJ would introduce the next song and turn the record deck on and the record would quickly whirl up to speed with a characteristic distortion. This was later minimised by the use of a slip mat.
- Cue Burn
- Cue burn relates to the days of vinyl records (33rpm , 45rpm). Whilst the previous record was playing the DJ would attempt to find the beginning of the song on the next record. The DJ would place the needle down in approximately the right area then move the record back and forth Cueing on the turntable until the beginning of the song was found. This cueing back and forth would rub the vinyl and damage te records creating a characteristic noise.
- Cume
- Short for cumulative audience. A similar term of measurement to a newspaper or magazines' circulation figures.
D
- DAB
- Digital Audio Broadcasting
- DAC
- Digital to Analog Converter.
- Daypart
- The radio station's broadcast day is normally split up (starting at 6am) into a series of 4 hour sessions containing one or more shows.
- DB or Decibel
- One tenth of a bel. See also Bel.
- Deadair
- The time on-air where there is no audible transmission. This silence can be down to any of the following:
- * DJ, Producer or Engineer error
- * Equipment error or failure
- * Act of God
- * Deliberate silence for rememberance.
- Dolby Digital
- Also Dolby D. The standard for 5.1 channel (surround sound) audio. Six discrete channels are used (Left, Center, Right, Left Rear Surround, Right Rear Surround, and Subwoofer).
- Drive Time
- Drive time refers to the period of time where the majority of radio listeners travel to work. This is traditionally 6-10am and 2-6pm and is normally accompanied by the stations highest listenership. Commercials are normally more expensive during such times.
- Drops
- The are excerpts of TV, movies and other audio programmes that are used to accentuate programming.
E
F
- Feedback
- The noise produced when the amplified sound from an output (e.g. loudspeaker) is picked up by the input (e.g. microphone) feeding that speaker.
- Format Clock
- A format clock is a diagram produced by a programme director or a producer to illustrate where each programming element appears in a typical hour.
- Front Sell
- The act of introducing a song about to be played.
G
- Gain
- Volume
H
- Hit The Post
- Where a DJ continues to talk right up to the point where the vocals commence.
I
J
- Jingle
- A produced programming element usually in the form of vocals to accompanying music often produced in-house to identify the show, DJ or the station.
K
L
- Lner
- A piece of written text that the DJ says over the intro of a song or between spots and songs. Liners are designed to invoke the imagination.
- Log
- A written record of broadcasting. There are typically three logs:
- * A Music Log recording what songs where played.
- * A Engineer's Log detailing technical production settings.
- * A Commercial Log recording which commercials were played during the day.
M
- Miscue
- A mistake by the DJ or production engineer resulting in two audio elements being played at the same time, e.g. and interview and the next song.
N
O
P
- Playlist
- The official songs that a radio station will play during a given week. The playlist is not usually chosen by the DJ. However, in Podcasting the Podcaster (the DJ equivalent for Podcasts) will normally choose the music, most of which will be chosen from Podsafe Music downloaded from the Podsafe Music Network
- Pot
- Potentiometer. A round knob control for increasing or decreasing the volume on a channel.
- Production Element
- A Production Element is a piece of audio that is used in the final audio mix. This may include commercials, music, sound effects, audio effects (e.g. echo) station id or programme signatures or announcements.
- Producer
- The person who performs or manages the day to day business operations of a radio station.
- Promo
- An announcement (either recorded or live) used to promote the station's image or other event. In Podcasting referes to a promotional short inserted into another person's podcast to promote the podcast described in the promo.
- PSA
- Public Service Announcement
Q
R
- Ramp
- The Intro
S
- Slip mat
- A slip mat was a mat that was placed on a record deck between the deck and the record. Normally made by the DJ, it was cut significantly oversized when compared to a vinyl record. The DJ would cue the record to the beginning of a song and then holding onto the mat would turn the turntable on whilst the record stayed at the beginning of the song. The DK could then introduce the record and then release the mat onto the already spinning deck thus reducing the spin up speed to 33 or 45 rpm. The effect was to reduce the whirl effect produced byt he turning on of the turntable.
- Soundbite
- A small portion (usually one or two sentances) of an audio recording (often an interview) used to illustrate a news story in the words of the interviewee (c.f. a quotation from a politician).
- Spot
- A Commercial
