We normally schedule all programs the same way, except for the ads or commercials. As ads are a radio
station's main source of income (applies to commercial stations), then we need to treat them a bit
differently.
The program schedule is what we call a grid. We can use both conventions interchangeably. However,
Broadcast Power 2.0 treats them hierarchically. A grid will contain one or more schedules.
Program scheduling is dependent on the type of program under consideration.
If the program is an ad, we need to refer to the ad scheduling process.
Songs are scheduled as play lists.
Live coverage and news are scheduled on time.
Availability of the digital audio, as a file accessible to Broadcast Power, in mp3 compressed format or
other supported formats, is necessary for playback. If the audio is not available, it is to be made available
for broadcast in a live fashion or other emergency programming will fill in the gap.
On the scheduling paper form we have predefined schedules for constant programs. For example, ads
are played at specific intervals throughout the day. Although this is not necessary, it is almost the case
always.
For legibility reasons, we specify a description to the program at a scheduled time rather than the details
of the program. The important thing is to be able to distinguish the program from its identifier (description
in our case). Once identified, further info can be obtained on the details of the program.
Divide the season into manageable parts
Usually we divide the season on a daily basis (day by day). For every day we set a defined schedule of
audio programs (songs, jingles, ads, ...).
Please note that although songs, jingles and ads are audio in nature, they are very different in their
properties and how we treat them from the perspective of a radio station (see other sections for more
info).
Based on the above, we identify a set of programs by date (year, month, day). Further programs are
identified by their individuality (name, what they contain, how many minutes they span, whether or not they
are interrupted by other programs, etc...).
Insert programs in time boxes
We insert the selected programs, after dividing them into manageable parts, into time boxes representing
a time from and time to.
Programs are owned by an engineer, DJ, broadcaster, manager or a group of those resources. The
people assigned for a program are responsible for the quality of the program. Program rating is what we
use to measure the quality of a program.
Programs have names and may contain other programs. For example, a talk show might contain ads, or
station ads (station jingles / IDs), or program jingles, ...
Empty programs are possibly thus leaving a DJ with the possibility of having their own live unidentified
program which should be inline with the set of rules the station decides on. Let us call these set of rules,
programming rules.
Programs can be Live Coverage, News, Talk Shows, ... All programs are handled the same way as songs
and jingles. The only difference is that programs that are long can be interrupted by other programs. For
example, a live show that takes 3 hours can be interrupted by ads, news, songs, jingles, or all of the
forementioned programs at any time. Resumption of the program will take place afterwards. More than
one level of interruption is allowed within a program. For example, say we have a talk show and we
interrupt it to play the news. During the news, we interrupt the news to play ads. So on so forth until the
program ends.
Order and Sort
Shuffle the programs to fit the needs such as no time exists without a program, matching programs in
sequence and order. We try not to repeat different programs and diversify as much as possible.
For songs, which are considered a program, we name a collection of songs as a program and thus try not
to have two song programs in sequence that have the same style of music or genre. Further, within a song
program we try to diversify and not play successive songs by males singers or same artists, ... It all
depends on the set of rules for scheduling songs.
Select the program style for the season
For a given period of the year (season), we need to select a programming style. Say during the summer
we pump up the beat and play summer songs. During winter, we play classical songs and oldies as well
as schedule talk shows.
The selection of programs is what distinguishes one radio station from another and is directly based on
user ratings and radio station target listeners.
This was an overview of the basis of program scheduling in Broadcast Power 2.5. Subsequent
articles in this section will cover the how-to of applying these concepts in Broadcast Power.