Some implications of compressed speech for broadcasters

Some years ago, when the time slot for the network evening news programs was being lengthened, one network published a promotion piece that demonstrated that the entire script of the typical newscast would only occupy a small portion of one page of a newspaper. It is well‐known that the average person can read silently at a rate much faster than he can real aloud. This fact is one of radio and television broadcasting's most annoying drawbacks. However, in the speech laboratories, there are experimental and developmental techniques that might enable the speech of an announcer or newsman to be “speeded up"—compressed so that more words may be delivered in a shorter time. Obviously, the extent to which this can be done effectively and economically, and the reaction of the general public to compressed speech, is of some importance to broadcasters faced with a finite broadcasting day. Dr. Charles Rossiter is assistant professor in the Department of Communication of the University of Wisconsin‐Milwaukee.