Re: [ARSCLIST] "Aircheck" history

[David Lennick <dlennick@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

steven c wrote:

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Tom Fine" <tflists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > What is the genesis of the term "aircheck" and how did it come to mean
> "off-air recording", or did
> > it mean something different at another time?
> >
> Actually, I suspect it has always carried the same meaning...a recording
> of a broadcast taken either off the air, if possible, or taken from the
> audio just before it was fed into the transmitter.

>
>
> When I was on staff at WILN...a carrier-current station at Illinois State
> University...we had a tape recorder recording the output audio, so it could
> be auditioned to make sure we weren't breaking any laws or student rules...
> and that was called our "aircheck" tape.
>
> As well, airchecks are made by/for advertising agencies, to make sure
> the ads were actually broadcast...and, in some cases, made by/for the
> station to make sure there were no problems with the transmission.
>
> And, once home recording became possible, listeners could record
> favourite programs...and those "in the know" called these "airchecks"
> to sound professional.
>
> Finally, I suppose one could refer to the announcing staff at Radio
> Prague as "Air Czechs"...?!
>
> Steven C. Barr

Don't forget the other use, namely when a jock records one of his shifts to use
as an audition tape (or to run on the air while he's seeing his lady friend, a
la Clint Eastwood in "Play Misty For Me" where he puts up a 5-inch reel that
runs for two hours while he deals with Jessica Walter.....wouldn't it be a
great in-joke if Eastwood showed up in the finale of "Arrested Development"
tomorrow evening? Wonder if Ron Howard can make a last-minute alteration?)

dl