Listeners Prefer Humans To Machines
Every morning in 6th grade, I listened to Monty DuPuy, Greenville’s favorite on-air personality on WFBC-FM. Monty had a jabbering myna bird named Moe, who interjected frequently. But at 10 AM, WFBC went dead. You heard mechanized time checks and canned “hosts,” saying, “Here’s Time In A Bottle by Jim Croce” exactly the same way every time it played. I later learned this was Drake-Chenault automation. Even as a child, I sensed a robot and tuned out. I heard that sound recently while coaching a midday deejay. She did fun, well-prepared voice tracks, but management allowed her only four breaks
