Radio Broadcasting Terms

Term Definition
Air Break An on-air presentation by a disc jockey.
Air Personality A disc jockey that works on the air at a radio station
AQH Average Quarter Hour
Bit A piece of entertainment on a radio show typically scripted or highly planned
Branding The consistent way a radio station presents itself on the air
Bumper Music Music that is used to bring audiences in and out of stop sets during talk shows or in and out of air breaks.
Call Letters FCC's designation of three or four letters to identify a station.
Clock In radio terms, the device on which programming occurs in an hour of broadcasting
Cold End A song or piece that comes to an abrupt end
Crossfade A smooth transition between elements
Cue Prompting someone to speak. May be verbal or non-verbal
Daypart Dividing a broadcast day into several different segments for programming purposes. Clocks make up dayparts.
Dead Air Broadcasting a signal but nothing on the signal
Double Clutch Hitting the same button twice while producing
Drive Time Radio daypart where advertising is highest as people are typically driving to and from work
Drop-in A short radio announcement between two songs or two broadcast elements.
Fade To lose audio gradually
FCC Federal Communications Commission. 7-member government agency that regulates broadcasting
Feedback Sound loop between audio input and output
Frontsell/Backsell Frontsell-talk about what's coming up. Backsell-talk about what was just broadcast
Headphones Two speakers that are placed on or in the ears that allow only the user to hear the audio clearly
Hit the Post Speaking up until the lyrics of a song begin
Hot In radio terms, something is very loud
Intro In radio terms, the start of a broadcast element
Legal ID In FCC terms, the station's call letters followed immediately by the city of license. A legal must be done at :00.
Liner In radio terms, an announcement read by a radio announcer or personality
Loose In radio terms, broadcast elements do not match up when heard by the listener back-to-back.
Microphone Position Here at WBDG, the microphone should be directly near your mouth.
Off Air Broadcasting no signal
Outro In radio terms, the finish of something.
Playlist A list of songs to be broadcast on a radio show
Positioning Statemen How a radio station places itself in the market. "Your station for variety."
Pot Potentiometer…the part of the audio console that can make things get louder or softer.
Prep Preparation…key for any radio show
Ramp A music bed that leads up to some sort of pre-recorded announcement.
Segment A part of a radio clock
Doughnut An announcement followed by a ramp then followed by an announcement
Soundbyte A clip of audio that is used in a larger audio piece
Speaker Muting Speakers shut off to prevent audio feedback.
Station Name What the radio station calls itself on the air. Radio Now, Giant 90.9, and Hot 96.3 are all examples.
Stop Set A block of commercials or other announcements.
Tight In radio terms, broadcast elements match up when heard back to back by the listener.
Train Wreck Playing two songs from wildly different genres with little or no element in between.
 Radio Broadcasting Terms