Editing Broadcast automation

{{Short description|Systems that can run a broadcast facility in the absence of a human operator}}
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{{Automation}}

'''Broadcast automation''' incorporates the use of [[broadcast programming]] technology to [[automate]] [[broadcasting]] operations.  Used either at a [[broadcast network]], [[radio station]] or a [[television station]], it can run a facility in the absence of a human [[Operator (profession)|operator]].  They can also run in a ''live assist'' mode when there are on-air personnel present at the [[master control]], [[television studio]] or [[control room]].

The [[radio transmitter]] end of the [[airchain]] is handled by a separate [[automatic transmission system]] (ATS).

==History==
Originally, in the US, many (if not most) [[broadcast license|broadcast licensing]] authorities required a licensed [[board operator]] to run every station at all times, meaning that every [[DJ]] had to pass an exam to obtain a license to be on-air, if their duties also required them to ensure proper operation of the transmitter.  This was often the case on overnight and weekend [[shift work|shift]]s when there was no [[broadcast engineer]] present, and all of the time for small stations with only a contract engineer on call.

In the U.S., it was also necessary to have an operator on duty at all times in case the [[Emergency Broadcast System]] (EBS) was used, as this had to be triggered manually.  While there has not been a requirement to relay any other [[Warning system|warning]]s, any mandatory messages from the U.S. president would have had to first be [[Authentication|authenticated]] with a [[Code word (communication)|code word]] sealed in a pink envelope sent annually to stations by the [[Federal Communications Commission]] (FCC).

Gradually, the quality and reliability of electronic equipment improved, regulations were relaxed, and no operator had to be present (or even available) while a station was operating.  In the U.S., this came about when the [[Emergency Alert System|EAS]] replaced the EBS, starting the movement toward automation to assist, and sometimes take the place of, the live [[disc jockey]]s (DJs) and [[radio personalities]]. in 1999, The Weather Channel launched Weatherscan Local, a cable television channel that broadcast uninterrupted live local weather information and forecasts. Weatherscan Local became [[Weatherscan]] in 2003 but was shut down in 2022.

==Early analog systems==
[[Image:WWJQAutomation.jpg|right|thumb|Harris automation system used at the former WWJQ (now [[WPNW]]) in 1993]]
Early automation systems were [[electromechanical]] systems which used [[Repeater|relay]]s. Later systems were "computerized" only to the point of maintaining a schedule, and were limited to radio rather than TV. Music would be stored on [[reel-to-reel audio tape recording|reel-to-reel]] audio tape. [[Subaudible tone]]s on the tape marked the end of each song. The computer would simply rotate among the tape players until the computer's internal clock matched that of a scheduled event. When a scheduled event would be encountered, the computer would finish the currently-playing song and then execute the scheduled block of events. These events were usually [[Radio advertising|advertisements]], but could also include the station's top-of-hour [[station identification]], news, or a [[commercial bumper|bumper]] promoting the station or its other shows.  At the end of the block, the rotation among tapes resumed.

Advertisements, [[jingle]]s, and the top-of-hour station identification required by law were commonly stored on [[Fidelipac]] endless-loop tape cartridges, known colloquially as "carts". These were similar to the consumer four-track tapes sold under the [[Stereo-Pak]] brand, but had only two tracks and were usually recorded and played at 7.5 [[Inch per second|tape inches per second]] (in/s) compared to Stereo-Pak's slower 3.75 in/s. The carts had a slot for a pinch roller<ref>{{cite web|last1=Wikimedia|first1=Commons|title=Cartridge Picture|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NAB-cartridge.jpg|website=Wikimedia Commons|publisher=Wikimedia|access-date=25 November 2016}}</ref> on a spindle which was activated by solenoid upon pressing the start button on the cart machine. Because the [[Tape transport#Capstan|capstan]] was already spinning at full speed, tape playback commenced without delay or any audible "run-up". Mechanical [[carousel]]s would rotate the carts in and out of multiple [[cassette deck|tape players]] as dictated by the computer. Time announcements were provided by a pair of dedicated cart players, with the even minutes stored on one and the odd minutes on the other, meaning an announcement would always be ready to play even if the minute was changing when the announcement was triggered. The system did require attention throughout the day to change reels as they ran out and reload carts, and thus became obsolete when a method was developed to automatically rewind and re-cue the reel tapes when they ran out, extending 'walk-away' time indefinitely.

Radio station [[WSJM-FM|WIRX]] may have been one of the world's first completely automated radio stations, built and designed by Brian Jeffrey Brown in 1963 when Brown was only 10 years old.{{Citation needed|date=July 2011}} The station broadcast in a classical format, called "More Good Music (MGM)" and featured five-minute bottom-of-the-hour news feeds from the [[Mutual Broadcasting System]]. The heart of the automation was an 8 x 24 telephone [[Stepping switch|stepping relay]] which controlled two reel-to-reel tape decks, one twelve inch [[Ampex]] machine providing the main program audio and a second [[RCA]] seven inch machine providing "fill" music. The tapes played by these machines were originally produced in the [[Mid-West Family Broadcasting|Midwest Family Broadcasting]] (MWF) Madison, Wisconsin production facility by WSJM Chief Engineer Richard E. McLemore (and later in-house at WSJM) with sub-audible tones used to signal the end of a song.  The stepping relay was programmed by slide switches in the front of the two relay racks which housed the equipment. The news feeds were triggered by a [[microswitch]] which was attached to a [[Western Union]] clock and tripped by the minute hand of the clock, then reset the stepping relay. Originally, 30-minute station identification was accomplished by a [[simulcast]] switch in the control booth for sister station [[WQYQ|WSJM]], whereupon the disc jockey in the booth would announce "This is WSJM-AM and... (then pressing the momentary contact button) ...WSJM-FM, St. Joseph, Michigan."  This only lasted about six months, however, and a standard tape cartridge player was wired in to announce the station identification and triggered by the Western Union clock.

[[Image:OpenReel-GMS204.jpg|200px|thumb|Solidyne GMS200 tape recorder with computer self-adjustment. Argentina 1980-1990]]
A different technology appeared in 1980 with the analog recorders made by Solidyne, which used a computer-controlled tape positioning system.  Four GMS 204 units were controlled from a 6809 [[microprocessor]], with the program stored in a [[Solid-state drive|solid-state]] plug-in [[memory module]]. This system has a limited programming time of about eight hours.

Satellite programming often used audible [[dual-tone multi-frequency]] (DTMF) signals to trigger events at [[Network affiliate|affiliate]] stations. This allowed the automatic local insertion of ads and station IDs. Because there are 12 (or 16) tone pairs, and typically four tones were sent in rapid succession (less than one second), more events could be triggered than by sub-audible tones (usually 25&nbsp;Hz and 35&nbsp;Hz).

==Modern digital systems==

Modern systems run on [[hard disk]], where all of the music, jingles, advertisements, [[voice track]]s, and other announcements are stored.  These audio files may be either [[data compression|compressed]] or uncompressed, or often with only minimal compression as a compromise between file size and quality.  For [[radio software]], these disks are usually in computers, sometimes running their own custom [[operating system]]s, but more often running as an [[Application software|application]] on a PC operating system.
 
[[Scheduling (broadcasting)|Scheduling]] was an important advance of these systems, allowing for exact timing.  Some systems use [[GPS]] satellite [[receiver (radio)|receivers]] to obtain exact [[atomic time]], for perfect [[synchronization]] with satellite-delivered [[radio programming|programming]].  Reasonably-accurate timekeeping can also be obtained with the use of [[Internet Protocol]]s (IP) like [[Network Time Protocol]] (NTP).

Automation systems are also more interactive than ever before with [[digital audio workstation]] (DAW) with [[console automation]] and can even record from a [[telephone hybrid]] to play back an edited conversation with a telephone caller.  This is part of a system's live-assist mode.

The use of automation software and [[voice track]]s to replace live DJs is a current trend in radio broadcasting, done by many [[Internet radio]] and [[adult hits]] stations.  Stations can even be voice-tracked from another city far away, now often delivering sound files over the Internet.  In the U.S., this is a common practice under controversy for making radio more generic and artificial.  Having local content is also touted as a way for traditional stations to compete with [[satellite radio]], where there may be no [[radio personality]] on the air at all.

[[Image:Placa-audioPC-925.jpg|100px|left|thumb|Solidyne 922: The first bit compression card for PC, 1990]]
A commercially available, for-sale product named [[Audicom]] was introduced by Oscar Bonello in 1989.<ref name="solidyne1">[http://www.lanacion.com.ar/Archivo/Nota.asp?nota_id=187775 LA NACION newspaper article about development of bit compression technology, Buenos Aires, February 5th, 2001]</ref> It is based on [[Audio compression (data)|psychoacoustic lossy compression]], the same principle being used in most modern lossy audio encoders such as [[MP3]] and [[Advanced Audio Coding]] (AAC), and it allowed both broadcast automation and recording to [[hard drives]].<ref name="solidyne2">[http://www.aes.org/e-lib/browse.cfm?elib=2384 New Improvements in Audio Signal Processing for AM Broadcasting by Bonello, Oscar]</ref><ref name="solidyne3">[http://www.aes.org/e-lib/browse.cfm?elib=6674 PC-Controlled Psychoacoustic Audio Processor by Bonello, Oscar Juan]</ref>

===Television===
In television, [[playout]] [[automation]] is also becoming more practical as the storage space of [[hard drive]]s increases. [[Television shows]] and [[television commercials]], as well as [[digital on-screen graphic]]s (DOG or BUG), can all be stored on [[video server]]s remotely controlled by computers utilizing the [[9-Pin Protocol]] and the [[Video Disk Control Protocol]] (VDCP).  These systems can be very extensive, tied-in with parts that allow the "ingest" (as it is called in the industry) of video from satellite networks and [[electronic news gathering]] (ENG) operations and management of the video library, including archival of [[footage]] for later use.  In [[ATSC]], [[Programming Metadata Communication Protocol]] (PMCP) is then used to pass information about the video through the airchain to [[Program and System Information Protocol]] (PSIP), which transmits the current [[electronic program guide]] (EPG) information over digital television to the viewer.

==See also==
*[[Audicom]]
*[[Centralcasting]]
*[[Community radio]]
*[[Emergency Alert System]]
*[[Fidelipac]]
*[[Local insertion]] 
*[[Playout]]
*[[Radio software]]
*[[Station identification]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Broadcast Automation}}
[[Category:Broadcast engineering]]
[[Category:Broadcasting]]
[[Category:Television terminology]]
[[Category:Video storage]]