A loyal reader writes:
“I’m the program director of a radio station that uses a lot of satellite fed music. The satellite service provides call letter drops and liners, etc…with the voices of the satellite announcers. Should I use the satellite announcers to voice these liners or should I use our station’s image voice?”
Assuming the satellite announcers do a decent job of it, I’d go with them. Here’s why:
1. A radio station requires consistency of sound. That does not mean using only one voice. But when someone speaks as “the voice of” your radio station, the audience should be able to recognize that voice.
2. The operational goal from the viewpoint of the end user (the listener) is seamlessness. You want everything to sound as though it’s happening live, in your studio, in the very town where the listener is tuning in.
But if there’s a line of demarcation between your jocks and the overall radio station sound, your seams are showing.
You should, however, feel free to voice your preferences of announcers for your drop-ins. If the service assigns the drops randomly to their announcers, you might be airing too many “station voices.”
Or you might be airing a voice that simply doesn’t present your radio station the way you’d like. Do not simply settle for what they “give” you. (Remember, they’re not giving you anything; you pay for it.)
