Here I go again….first with the fauxditions and now Fake ID’s.

Remember some years ago, I produced the fake auditions for the announcer jobs for NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams (who turned out to create some fake news of his own)?

Then we did Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and World News Tonight with Diane Sawyer!

Well here is ANOTHER fun, creative and totally fake audio project that I think folks will enjoy.

I’m calling it Fake ID’s – where we all produce radio station top of the hour ID’s from the favorite radio stations of our youth.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOUT PRODUCING FAKE ID’S — a creative radio production project hosted by radio imaging talent Peter K. O’Connell:
 
 

As radio professionals and voice talent, we all grew up listening to radio much more intently than our friends…a little less about the music and more about the production and how and what the DJ’s said.

And we all had our favorite radio stations – whether in our home towns or the flame throwing, 50,000 watt Towers of Power stations dialed in to on clear nights (like WLW Cincinnati, KMOX St. Louis, WLS Chicago, KNX Los Angeles or like my hometown WKBW in Buffalo — there are a whole bunch more, but you get the point). Any station, any format…whichever station you remember and were drawn to can be featured in your ID (one entry per person, please).

This project is about creating your version of your favorite radio station’s top of the hour ID (slogan, call letters, frequency, sound effects, music bed, jingle…whatever combination you need with your voice to make that old id come back to life).

Please make the ID for a station and format from at least 10 years ago – nothing current. Also this project is open to men AND women — whether or not the original ID was voiced by a man, for this project a woman’s voice is welcome.

So let’s have fun, let’s be creative and let’s do what we do best.

Please email your MP3 audio submission to: peter at audioconnell dot com.

Tags: fake id's, fauxdition, radio, radio imaging, silliness, video by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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For schools, especially colleges and universities, I can’t imagine anything much more annoying than alumni.

Whether the alumnus is a big donor (not me) or a little donor (sometimes me), donors always seem to want something.

I want some wins for the University of Dayton in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament (well, wins for ALL their men’s and women’s sports but focusing now on men’s basketball).

The great news today was that Coach Anthony Grant’s 2024 Flyer’s had a very strong season and became one of two Atlantic 10 teams to punch their ticket into the big dance.

All that means for me is that the Tournament Madness is a little more fun for me and my family.

No, we are not a big basketball family but UD helps make this time of year more fun when they get in the tournament. That’s all.

And the days before the tournament starts (like the days before the regular season schedule of my Buffalo Bills), we can each dream big and imagine all the possibilities of winning it all! 🙂

That’s the way it is with most annoying alums like me. 😉

For the players, staff and families of the team within my Catholic university, I hope they all enjoy this time in their lives in the same way I enjoyed my time at UD in the 80’s (especially my time at WVUD-FM {where this broadcasting and voiceover journey all meshed together with me and UD} – that’s me on-the-air in the back of that graphic).

Win or lose, #GoFlyers // #LetsFly .

Tags: commentary, radio, university of dayton, WVUD by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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Community service work is certainly good for the soul but it can also lead to unexpected and deeply appreciated recognition.

In my volunteer work for non-commercial, listener supported Divine Mercy Radio here in Raleigh, I help the radio station with programming and production work.

Last week, EWTN Global Catholic Radio honored Divine Mercy Radio with their Crystal Microphone Award for Best Top of the Hour ID from among the network’s amazing 350 Catholic radio affiliates.

This is the project for which we received our recognition:

Tags: commentary, community, radio, radio imaging, raleigh by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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When I was working at WVUD-FM in Dayton in the mid-80’s, one of the young account executives came into my production studio to tell me he was going to take a radio sales job at WLZR-FM (which I thought at the time was somewhere near Indianapolis although those calls belong to a station in Milwaukee now).

Geography and my memory notwithstanding, the station’s nickname was Lazer. And the AE gave me a reel-to-reel tape of their station’s imaging, voiced by a guy named Mark Driscoll.  The radio industry nicknamed him “Mr. Voice”.

The industry folks at the time were clearly well aware of someone I was not…but someone I knew I would immediately never forget after hearing his radio imaging for that station.

I remember the mixture of voice and sound that came from my production studio speakers right now just as if it was then. It helped usher in a new sound at the time for contemporary hit radio (CHR). I wish I still had that Lazer demo. The excitement and energy of that station came flying through those speakers.

Mark Driscoll’s radio imaging work was among the first of its kind. And the copy writing!! Others were similar but they were not him.

The only thing I knew Mark Driscoll for was his voice work. Never knew or met the man. I was Facebook friends with him…heard some unique stories about him…but that voice…his production…you KNEW Mark’s work from the opening syllable and effects.

He was so talented.

Word came down from social media that Mark died this week at 72 years old. I hope he lived a happy life.

He left an indelible radio production mark on me. Wow.

Here’s some Mark Driscoll imaging work I found on the web and this probably isn’t even his very best stuff….but it’s still fantastic.

Tags: radio, radio imaging, requiescat in pace, university of dayton, voice actors, voice talent, voiceover, WVUD by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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I was never going to use my Radio and Television degree in college for anything to do with movies. I liked movies but the production process is too slow for me.

But with my production knowledge and awareness, I respect the work that everyone in the film making process performs.

I bring up movies because this week is a bit of a movie production milestone (a real one, not an advertised one). The 9^th and final episode completing the original Star Wars story will premiere on December 20th.

Yes there will be future episodes that will no doubt tie in bits of these past 9 stories and some of the past actors but this 9th movie really is a fork in the cinematic road for this franchise.

Huge history, huge budget, huge pressure. Editor’s note: I really enjoy Star Wars and have seen them all (even the bad ones). I am NOT , however, what you would call a Star Wars fanatic. I know some, not all, of the characters and some of the movie’s back stories but hardly all of them. I am not Star Wars obsessed but I enjoy the movie making spectacle that it brings. In other words, I like the movies but I do not live the movies.

I was watching the final The Rise of Skywalker trailer which was masterfully produced in all aspects. I’m thinking as I watched it that even if you are somehow new to Star Wars (maybe based on your age), should you know nothing about the series, you’d probably see this movie just based on this trailer.

Of course the visuals are vital to this trailer, the graphics smartly guide this short story…but the sound and the trailer sound design really actually grabbed me more than the visuals the first time I saw this trailer. And yes, it IS only a trailer but I think THIS is trailer is exceptionally well done.

Certainly there is the iconic Star Wars theme played in the second half of the trailer (the part of the trailer I like the most)…and the orchestral arrangement for this trailer I thought was especially moving.

But the sound mix with scene sound bites, sound effects and music are so good, this trailer could almost be a stand alone radio spot as is.

Listen here to the audio part of the trailer that I think could be a radio spot FIRST.

SECOND, watch the full trailer here. Then let me know what you think.

Tags: advertising, commentary, radio by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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WHY DID I PRODUCE my new sport radio imaging demo? Well first off, mine needed updating, so there’s that.

But with the traveling I have done recently, listening to so much radio I was reminded how important the sport radio format has become to listeners like me…and you.

LISTEN TO PETER K. O’CONNELL’S SPORTS RADIO IMAGING DEMO:

There are few radio formats where radio imaging is so important. While many cities are fortunate enough to have national AND local sports radio programs in their markets, my travels tell me many more sports radio stations fill up programs only with national programs – with no local, daily sports radio hosts.

So the audio branding that sports radio imaging provides becomes vital to these radio stations because the radio imaging is the ONLY way outside of the radio station web site that listeners know who what they are listening to…the radio imaging IS the brand.

The audio brand needs to sound like knowledgeable but likeable sports-nut driven to bring all the sports news and action to listeners. As an experienced radio imaging voice talent, I am glad to provide that service to sports radio stations. Please listen to the demo and…if you’re hiring, give me a call and let’s talk.

Tags: Demos, radio, radio imaging by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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