League Wants FCC to Prevent Portable Devices on Airwaves Used for Theatre Mikes

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 10/15/07 at 2:28pm

May this mean the end of cell phones going off during performances?
League Wants FCC to Prevent Portable Devices on Airwaves Used for Theatre Mikes

[BustopherPhantom]

Posted: 10/15/07 at 2:36pm

Very awesome.

Now we won't have to see Patti LuPone beat someone with a tuba when their cell phone goes off. Not that it wouldn't be funny.

[morosco]

Posted: 10/15/07 at 2:45pm

I don't think this directly addresses the need to stop audience members from using their devices during a performance. Instead it seems to have more to do with reserving certain frequencies dedicated to the wireless mics.

But it is a good excuse for the next step...install cell phone jammers so they "won't interfere with wireless mics".
Updated On: 10/15/07 at 02:45 PM

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 10/15/07 at 3:35pm

At my old college, you weren't required to attend the plays, but it was highly encouraged to attend because of convo credits (you had to have between 4 and 8 a semester, or else you were penalized), and we would pause for them to turn it off because it would interfere with our mics, those who didn't were not only ejected, but denied convo credit.

[keatonbynumbers]

Posted: 10/15/07 at 3:38pm

Or just play on man's sympathy for technology! Telling them it interferes with the performance won't deter them, but tell them that it interferes with the mics and they'll turn those suckers off willingly.

[morosco]

Posted: 10/15/07 at 3:51pm

Hahah turn off your cell phone or your conversation will be broadcast to everyone in the audience.

[MaronaDavies]

Posted: 10/15/07 at 5:04pm

I really wish they'd be allowed to install straight-forward cell phone jammers in theaters. People are never going to learn to be considerate and it's the only way to stop the yakkers, texters, etc.

[Tchi4Lif188]

Posted: 10/15/07 at 6:53pm

Unfortunately this won't help with the issue of cell phones going off during performances. They just don't want to put devices such as cell phones on the same frequencies as the microphones. If this happens, a phone could still ring and disrupt the performance, it just wouldn't interfere with the mics...giving the sound guy one less thing to worry about.

[henryt]

Posted: 10/15/07 at 7:07pm

The issue is not necessarily cell phones in the audience, but what if an actor is in his dressing room, his phone rings, and it is broadcast over the sound system!

[Tkt2Ride]

Posted: 10/15/07 at 7:21pm

^^ That could get interesting, depending on the show. At the Social Security Office they literally make you pull out your phone and prove it is silenced. Difficult before a show but it is getting to the point of being necessary.

If they can get a jammer that doesn't interfere with the stage mics though, it sounds like a needed investment. There is always someone who will swear they turned it off and there you go! Obviously, they were mistaken.

[henryt]

Posted: 10/16/07 at 12:23am

But aren't jammers illegal?

[Dover]

Posted: 10/16/07 at 2:04am

This has absolutely NOTHING to do with cell phones going off in theatres. It has to do with preventing the frequencies used by the mics from being used by anything else.

[LimelightMike]

Posted: 10/16/07 at 2:11am

Amen!

I played 'Shaw' in a recent production of FOOTLOOSE in Westchester, and at the closing performance (of all times), during "I Confess" TWO (2) cell phones went off in the middle of my number. I continued the song, keeping in-character, but I was a bit shaken afterwards. I imagine that the user(s?) was very upset and a bit red in the face ... I would be - after having many an announcement made over the loud speaker beforehand. I hope this ruling sees the light of day. It'd do wonders at B'way houses, that's for sure! If only the public would take notice of it!

[BrianS]

Posted: 10/16/07 at 2:23am

LimelightMike: That sucks that your performance was interrupted, but as Dover, Tchi4Lif188, and morosco stated, this proposal has to do with new devices using the frequencies of mics and not current cell phones on the market. I wish a solution to your problem was in the works, but this isn't it.

Didn't Sunset Boulevard have a problem where the mansion set was moving unexpectedly due to random signals from nearby the theater being received by the automation computer?

[Tkt2Ride]

Posted: 10/16/07 at 2:36am

"According to the League, in an effort to more efficiently manage the remaining white spaces, the FCC has initiated proceedings to consider how, and under what circumstances, to authorize millions of new electronic "unlicensed devices" — including PDAs, cordless phones and wireless laptops — to operate simultaneously on these frequencies."

Sorry, I got caught up in the thread. It is just saying that they are trying to develop a way all of these devices can work at the same time without crossing over each other's lines. No talk of jammers. Too bad. They just want to have the stage mikes set to run on it's own channel (frequency) verses simple open lines or white spaces as they so mention. The way each radio station and t.v. channel does right? The Government can subsidize this though if need be to reduce the cost of doing so.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 10/16/07 at 10:19am

"CORN??? WHEN DID I HAVE CORN???"