Does anyone even notice?!

I go through phases in life where the daily ritual changes. Some periods I’ll find myself listening to a lot of radio and then others where the thing isn’t on at all. The New York city public radio station is WNYC and depending on the time of day or just the way I’m living life it will be on in the background. Sometimes I find I really like it and other times it is just unlistenable because of reasons that escape me - usually this is between the hours of 10 and 2 although both the Brian Lehrer Show and the Leonard Lopate Show both can be very entertaining.

One unsettling thing I’ve noticed though and I haven’t seen it mentioned anywhere else, is how WNYC uses Apple’s voice technology to do its between show and promotional announcements. No reason to hire a person and to go through the motion of repeated takes and verbal gaffes, just type it in and it’s ready to go!

It’s just a sign of the times and a cost saving measure for a station that relies heavily on accounting for every dollar but I still think it’s not a good thing for radio.