Acoustic characteristics of male commercial and public radio broadcast voices

Aims: Radio broadcasters need to have a voice that suits the station, which employs them. The aim of this study was to determine whether there are any acoustic measures that reflect differences between male broadcasters, who use their voices on commercial and public radio stations, and nonbroadcasting, male controls.

Method: Male commercial (n = 4) and public (n = 11) broadcasters and two groups of male, age-matched controls were recorded while reading the "Rainbow Passage" as if presenting on radio. Reading productions were analyzed for equivalent sound level (L(eq)), two measures of the long-term average spectrum and two measures of cepstral peak prominence. A two-group (ie, commercial vs public) by two-paired (broadcaster/matching control) analysis of variance was performed for each measure.

Results: An interaction effect was observed such that commercial broadcasters had a higher peak in speaker's formant (SF) region and lower alpha ratio (AR) (lower level difference between 0 and 1 k Hz and 1 and 4 kHz ranges) than public broadcasters and controls. Post hoc discriminant function analyses showed that AR could predict whether a radio performer worked on commercial or public radio network to 81% accuracy (R(2) = 0.810, P < 0.001).

Discussion: Commercial broadcasters have a more prominent peak in the SF region and smaller AR than public broadcasters and controls, similar to levels documented in actors. Given these features were not found in the public broadcasters and either control group, these results indicate that voice quality requirements for broadcasters may distinctly differ based on their station of employment. Further research with a larger sample size is required to validate this hypothesis.