Redefining The Local DJ

from the ah,-technology-at-work dept

A fascinating article from the Wall Street Journal (republished at MSNBC) about how a local DJ from San Diego fools local listerners in Boise, Idaho into believing he's there. It's all part of Clear Channel's strategy to build a nationwide network of radio stations that build off of the same talent (though, some folks at Clear Channel say that the specific DJ discussed in the article may go too far). Basically, new technology lets DJ prerecord five hours worth of show in about an hour. The Boise station has become a "virtual radio station", firing their DJs and hiring a college student to go to promotional events and to talk with the DJs from far away to tell them what's really going on in Boise. The DJ profiled in the story then makes up whatever he wants about Boise and various people to make it sound as if he's really there. The radio station used to have voice mail boxes for each of these non-local DJs, but now they just set it up so the phone is always busy.

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