Request line
Encyclopedia
A request line or contest line is a telephone line
which allows listeners to a radio station
(or sometimes a TV station) to call the radio studio or TV studio directly. In radio
, this is usually to request a song, win a contest, be a part of a talk show
, or to ask a question of the disk jockey, such as what the name and artist
of a recent song was. Used occasionally in television
, it is typically for telephone voting for an unscientific opinion poll
in relation to news events, for a talk show, or sometimes to win a contest.
is usually announced, major stations typically have line hunting, with the same number being directed to any available one of several lines within the hunt group. If there are no open lines, the calling party
may receive a busy signal
as with an ordinary telephone call
, or sometimes the special information tone
s followed by a recorded announcement that "all circuits are busy, please try your call again later". In this case, the line often first gives that caller a ringback tone
as if the call were being completed, misleading callers to think they may have actually gotten through the swarm of other calls that sometimes flood these lines.
Within the North American Numbering Plan
, telephone companies typically use special numbers for these lines, with a reserved prefix
corresponding to high-capacity multi-line numbers instead of to a physical telephone exchange
. In Miami, for example, numbers are 305
-550-xxxx, while in metro Atlanta
they are 404
-741-xxxx. The last four digits are usually chosen by the station to be their callsign or frequency
, or their moniker if it is short (such as B937 (2937) for a fictional B-93.7 FM
).
When used on a radio show or TV show carried on a broadcast network
, such a number is usually a toll-free telephone number
, without a special number since it simply redirects to a local request line circuit. This allows anyone to call regardless of the location, even from a payphone
. Some stations may have vertical service code
s for use by mobile telephones. These are also common in the U.S. for TV stations to advertise for gathering news tips from the public, but are often specific to callers on a certain sponsoring mobile telephone company.
. However, in modern broadcasting, this is not always the case.
Call screener
s may take the calls initially in an adjacent room (or simply away from the microphone
), in order to determine which ones whould get onto the air, particularly in the case of a talk show. Most call-in shows have special software which the screener types the caller's information into, which in turn appears on the computer
in front of the host. This is how he or she knows how to introduce the caller by name and often by location. This in turn alerts the caller, who has often been on hold
for several minutes and may be listening to the radio or TV instead of the line, that he or she is now on the air. Such a notification is often also a part of broadcast law
if the caller may not have called with the expectation of being on the air.
A brief broadcast delay
may be used to allow profanity
or other inappropriate content (and possibly the caller) to be dropped, or voice tracking may be used to record
calls to a computer, where the call can be digitally edited for time and content. This method is most common with contest winners or callers to "all-request" shows like Delilah, and is done quickly for airplay just a few minutes later. Delilah actually does her show from a home studio, with the call screeners presumably at the studios of KRWM FM in Seattle.
Telephone line
A telephone line or telephone circuit is a single-user circuit on a telephone communication system...
which allows listeners to a radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
(or sometimes a TV station) to call the radio studio or TV studio directly. In radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
, this is usually to request a song, win a contest, be a part of a talk show
Talk show
A talk show or chat show is a television program or radio program where one person discuss various topics put forth by a talk show host....
, or to ask a question of the disk jockey, such as what the name and artist
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
of a recent song was. Used occasionally in television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
, it is typically for telephone voting for an unscientific opinion poll
Opinion poll
An opinion poll, sometimes simply referred to as a poll is a survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions of a population by conducting a series of questions and then extrapolating generalities in ratio or within confidence...
in relation to news events, for a talk show, or sometimes to win a contest.
Telephone network
Although only one telephone numberTelephone number
A telephone number or phone number is a sequence of digits used to call from one telephone line to another in a public switched telephone network. When telephone numbers were invented, they were short — as few as one, two or three digits — and were given orally to a switchboard operator...
is usually announced, major stations typically have line hunting, with the same number being directed to any available one of several lines within the hunt group. If there are no open lines, the calling party
Calling party
The calling party is a person who initiates a telephone call over the public switched telephone network, usually by dialing a telephone number....
may receive a busy signal
Busy signal
A busy signal in telephony is an audible or visual signal to the calling party that indicates failure to complete the requested connection of that particular telephone call....
as with an ordinary telephone call
Telephone call
A telephone call is a connection over a telephone network between the calling party and the called party.-Information transmission:A telephone call may carry ordinary voice transmission using a telephone, data transmission when the calling party and called party are using modems, or facsimile...
, or sometimes the special information tone
Special information tone
In telephony, a special information tone is an international standard three beep signal indicating a call did not go through and usually precedes a recorded announcement explaining the problem...
s followed by a recorded announcement that "all circuits are busy, please try your call again later". In this case, the line often first gives that caller a ringback tone
Ringback tone
A ringback tone is an audible indication that is heard on the telephone line by the caller while the phone they are calling is being rung. It is normally a repeated tone, designed to assure the calling party that the called party's line is ringing, although the ring-back tone may be out of sync...
as if the call were being completed, misleading callers to think they may have actually gotten through the swarm of other calls that sometimes flood these lines.
Within the North American Numbering Plan
North American Numbering Plan
The North American Numbering Plan is an integrated telephone numbering plan administered by Neustar which encompasses 24 countries and territories, including the United States and its territories, Canada, Bermuda, and 16 nations of the Caribbean...
, telephone companies typically use special numbers for these lines, with a reserved prefix
Prefix
A prefix is an affix which is placed before the root of a word. Particularly in the study of languages,a prefix is also called a preformative, because it alters the form of the words to which it is affixed.Examples of prefixes:...
corresponding to high-capacity multi-line numbers instead of to a physical telephone exchange
Telephone exchange
In the field of telecommunications, a telephone exchange or telephone switch is a system of electronic components that connects telephone calls...
. In Miami, for example, numbers are 305
Area code 305
Area code 305 was the single original area code for the entire state of Florida. Today, it serves all of Miami-Dade County , and the part of Monroe County that is in the Florida Keys...
-550-xxxx, while in metro Atlanta
Metro Atlanta
The Atlanta metropolitan area or metro Atlanta, officially designated by the US Census Bureau as the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta Metropolitan Statistical Area, is the most populous metro area in the U.S. state of Georgia and the ninth-largest metropolitan statistical area in the United States...
they are 404
Area code 404
Area code 404 covers Atlanta and its immediate neighbors, roughly within Interstate 285.Originally, it covered all of Georgia when the area code system was first created in the 1940s and implemented in 1951. On July 1, 1954, area code 912 was assigned to southern and middle Georgia...
-741-xxxx. The last four digits are usually chosen by the station to be their callsign or frequency
Frequency
Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit time. It is also referred to as temporal frequency.The period is the duration of one cycle in a repeating event, so the period is the reciprocal of the frequency...
, or their moniker if it is short (such as B937 (2937) for a fictional B-93.7 FM
FM broadcasting
FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...
).
When used on a radio show or TV show carried on a broadcast network
Broadcast network
A broadcast network is an organization, such as a corporation or other voluntary association, that provides live television or recorded content, such as movies, newscasts, sports, Public affairs programming, and other television programs for broadcast over a group of radio stations or television...
, such a number is usually a toll-free telephone number
Toll-free telephone number
A toll-free, Freecall, Freephone, 800, 0800 or 1-800 number is a special telephone number which is free to the calling party, and instead the telephone carrier charges the called party the cost of the call...
, without a special number since it simply redirects to a local request line circuit. This allows anyone to call regardless of the location, even from a payphone
Payphone
A payphone or pay phone is a public telephone, often located in a phone booth or a privacy hood, with pre-payment by inserting money , a credit or debit card, or a telephone card....
. Some stations may have vertical service code
Vertical service code
A vertical service code or VSC is a special code dialed prior to a telephone number that engages some type of special telephone service...
s for use by mobile telephones. These are also common in the U.S. for TV stations to advertise for gathering news tips from the public, but are often specific to callers on a certain sponsoring mobile telephone company.
Screening and editing
Calls typically come into the studio on a muilt-line telephone, which is equipped to connect callers to the audio console and onto the air via a telephone hybridTelephone hybrid
Telephone hybrids are an essential functional component of the Public Switched Telephone Network . The term also describes the piece of equipment used in broadcast facilities to enable the airing of telephone callers....
. However, in modern broadcasting, this is not always the case.
Call screener
Call screening
Call screening is the process of evaluating the characteristics of a telephone call before deciding how or whether to answer it.Some methods may include:* listening to the message being recorded on an answering machine or voice mail...
s may take the calls initially in an adjacent room (or simply away from the microphone
Microphone
A microphone is an acoustic-to-electric transducer or sensor that converts sound into an electrical signal. In 1877, Emile Berliner invented the first microphone used as a telephone voice transmitter...
), in order to determine which ones whould get onto the air, particularly in the case of a talk show. Most call-in shows have special software which the screener types the caller's information into, which in turn appears on the computer
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
in front of the host. This is how he or she knows how to introduce the caller by name and often by location. This in turn alerts the caller, who has often been on hold
Hold (telephone)
In telephony, a call may be placed on hold, in which case the connection is not terminated but no verbal communication is possible until the call is removed from hold by the same or another extension on the key telephone system. Music on hold or On Hold Messaging may be played for the caller while...
for several minutes and may be listening to the radio or TV instead of the line, that he or she is now on the air. Such a notification is often also a part of broadcast law
Broadcast law
Broadcast law is the field of law which pertains to broadcasting. These laws and regulations pertain to radio stations and TV stations, and are also considered to include closely related services like cable TV and cable radio, as well as satellite TV and satellite radio...
if the caller may not have called with the expectation of being on the air.
A brief broadcast delay
Broadcast delay
In radio and television, broadcast delay refers to the practice of intentionally delaying broadcast of live material. A short delay is often used to prevent profanity, bloopers, violence, or other undesirable material from making it to air, including more mundane problems such as technical...
may be used to allow profanity
Profanity
Profanity is a show of disrespect, or a desecration or debasement of someone or something. Profanity can take the form of words, expressions, gestures, or other social behaviors that are socially constructed or interpreted as insulting, rude, vulgar, obscene, desecrating, or other forms.The...
or other inappropriate content (and possibly the caller) to be dropped, or voice tracking may be used to record
Recording
Recording is the process of capturing data or translating information to a recording format stored on some storage medium, which is often referred to as a record or, if an auditory medium, a recording....
calls to a computer, where the call can be digitally edited for time and content. This method is most common with contest winners or callers to "all-request" shows like Delilah, and is done quickly for airplay just a few minutes later. Delilah actually does her show from a home studio, with the call screeners presumably at the studios of KRWM FM in Seattle.