Thursday, December 11, 2008

Careless lack of coordination? Not so much

[Listener Jean from Hamilton wrote to tell us that in our Community Calendar we had been announcing an event that was not in fact going to happen:]

The printed schedule [from the organization]… gives the correct information. This careless lack of coordination within your organization is unfortunate, especially for those hoping to attend a program that will not be presented on the date announced.

[General Manager Cleve Callison wrote to Jean:]

"On October 1, 2007, [the organization] submitted a PSA announcement for [the event] that gave its schedule as “The second Thursday of every month between October 11, 2007 and December 11, 2008; 7:00pm-8:30pm.” This was confirmed with an email from me to one of the participants on 1/3/08.

"If the sponsors cancel an event we can’t know about it unless they (not listeners) notify us. I’m copying them with this message and if they do so notify us, we will remove the announcement from both on-air and the web."

We did in fact hear back from the participant, confirming that the event had been canceled and apologizing for not letting us know. We removed the listing and everything is now copasetic. Thanks, everyone.-Ed.]

Does John live behind the building?

[Kerry from Springboro wrote to ask why he sometimes hears the same voices at widely different times during the day. He asks, specifically of John Hingsbergen:]

I know his duties as Program director mean he’s also busy when not on the air. What is his secret? Energy drinks? I’m starting to suspect he lives in a camper behind the building!

[John replied in part:

“The “secret” that I will share with you, and anyone else who cares to ask, is…..computers. I (and sometimes others) record the station breaks … in advance … sometimes we update information [live or] by remote control when necessary. I hope this reply hasn’t completely disillusioned you. Thanks for listening and paying such close attention.”]

Loved holiday show

I was listening to WMUB Sunday, Nov. 30th at 6pm and we all thoroughly enjoyed the music played. I don't recall the name of the show but it had something about "winter-christmas" music in the title, I believe. In any case, I just wanted to let you know how much we loved listening to the music while we sat around the dinner table. . . Thanks for all your fantastic efforts and a wonderful radio station.

--Lucas, via email

[Program Director John Hingsbergen writes:

"I assume you were listening to “The Pleasures of Winter,” a one-time holiday special that we aired from 6:30 til 7:30 Sunday evening. . . I believe all the songs in the show were performed by the duo of Jay Ungar and Molly Mason. Thanks for writing and Happy Holidays to you!"]

Friday, December 05, 2008

Diane Rehm needs different topics

I love Diane Rehm and her topic selection; but I do wish she would occasionally pick a topic that was not so much a product of the news cycle; or at least took a longer, more philosophical view of current issues and events. Example: why is our discussion of the proper role of government so often in terms of blacks and whites and false choices? We would probably not be in our current economic mess if we were capable of taking more nuanced views of the role of government.

--Jerome, via email

[Ed.: You might try Diane’s second hour, where Monday through Thursday she focuses on a single guest, topic or book.]

Problems with HD-2 on computer

I have a lot of difficulty getting on line to WMUB HD-2 on my desktop computer. Even though I click on any of the several links to reach "listen to Jazz on WMUB" I usually end up on HD-1. After several attempts I will get HD-2. It gets frustrating. Sometimes I give up and go to KJAZ at Cal State U-Long Beach CA. In fact, I have them in the background now as I type.

A new experience reared its head about an hour ago. After finally reaching your HD-2 channel, in about 10 minutes the sound would go off and on at a frequency of about 1.5-2 seconds ea, off and on. After a few minutes [5?] of this the sound went away completely. I've switched to KJAZ 88.1 and am getting a normal sound. [They're playing some good stuff.]

There is a heck of a coincidence here. I was getting ready to contact you re the fact that after some difficulty as mentioned above, I was getting your broadcast on my desktop computer but could not get it at all on my laptop. Both get their signal from our household WiFi installation via Comcast cable. I can get the CA station on the laptop and often do if some other chore prevents me from listening on the desk top in my office.

Do you have any ideas on action I could take to improve my listening to WMUB HD-2?

--Mike, Indianapolis

[Program Director John Hingsbergen:

"Thanks for writing about this. We’re glad you’re listening and want to make sure you can do so reliably.

"Issue 1) Regarding ending up on HD1, I assume that is through the embedded mp3 player on our website. Since it is an integrated player for all three HD channels, it seems to always default to the HD1 channel. I don’t think we can do anything about that other than suggest that you click on the HD2 link right away once the player opens. You may have to listen to our introductory message first but the Jazz Channel should come on right away.

"We are continuing to offer a RealPlayer option for that channel. A link for that is on our main web page on the left near the top of the page. From our listen page, it is more complicated, requiring listeners to click on the link that says “And we offer a RealPlayer stream of WMUB Jazz (HD2). From there you need to click another link that says “To listen to THE WMUB JAZZ CHANNEL online via our RealPlayer stream, CLICK HERE."

"I apologize for the complexity of all this. We really need to clean these up and make the process more simple but, once you use the links, you can save them.

"Issue 2) Regarding the dropouts recently, I am unaware of any problem with the signal leaving here but we will check it out with our streaming provider. The mp3 is provided by a contractor that we pay for the service. The Real Stream is hosted on the Miami University system so, if this happens again, it would be a good idea to check the Real stream and see if it is OK."]

Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Oxford Food Pantry?

[in reference to our December 3rd One-Day Wednesday support of the Food Bank of Dayton and Shared Harvest Food Bank of Fairfield;]

Might be good to include the Oxford Food Pantry as well.

--Theodore, Oxford

[The Oxford Food Pantry is one of several that receive food and services from Shared Harvest, so they are included.]