No More Remotes

There's nothing much worse than being the talent at a remote broadcast thats destined for failure. I've certainly done a few in my career - and those that failed have done so for any number of reasons.

Some probably shouldn't have been sold to begin with. You ever have that feeling?

I read a quote from someone not so long ago that most remotes are simply bad commercials. Talking with a fellow radio professional last night, he observed that "nobody gives a **** about what jocks look like - and the days of cool broadcast equipment....you know the seven year olds have cooler stuff. Blue Ray game boxes. Like a Shure mixer and a cell phone compare?"

Emmis/Indianapolis has just decided put an end to typical radio remotes and focus on event solutions for clients.

See this flash presentation from Emmis.

That said - remotes remain a major revenue source for most small and medium market radio stations.

Has there discussion at your station about the requirements to make remotes successful. This includes what the station needs to do - and what the client needs to do. Too often remotes are treated too casually and just expected to work without a plan or strategy.

What can turn a remote into an event?

Dave Lange of McVay Media writes about remotes today here. Added: Dave Martin's take on remotes. Scroll down for "In all of art it's the singer not the song" in this post.