New UAB Broadcast Rotation based what's hot and what's not

theEpiphany · Gate Agent Joined: Posts: 854

We're changing the way you listen to UAB; one feature at a time! Gone are the days of having to endure certain tracks :::cough:::High School Musical:::cough::: just because the broadcast queues it up and says you do. We've changed the current format for automatic track play into something that will be generally maintained by YOU the UAB requesting community.

Previously, UAB would look at a specified list of Theme Parks, and pick the track that's has not aired in the longest amount of time. Once that track aired...it would be put to the back of the line and await it's turn again in rotation. If a request was made, the track was immediately shot to the front of the line, played, and it too returned to the end of the line waiting for it's turn to play.

This was VERY equal way to give all tracks a fair shot at airing when users weren't making requests. Unfortunately, while many of us have different tastes, there are some tracks that we can generally agree on that are automatically played (not via a request) too frequently for our tastes and preferences as to what we'd like to hear. :::cough:::High School Musical:::cough:::.

Now YOU the requesting community will essentially control what you want to hear on UAB beyond your specific requests. Now UAB will be paying attention to those tracks that are being requested, take note of them and add a special value to them. It applies a basic weighted rotation . In other words, each track starts out with a specific value. Each time the track plays, it gets aged by decreasing the value by a fraction causing the song to be played less and less. Those tracks that drop below a specified value will no longer be considered for the "Normal Rotation". Each time the track is requested, the weight is increased, causing the song to play more.

Thus, UAB's rotation is "self-maintained" by the UAB community based on YOUR requests. New and popular songs will be played more often than old and unpopular songs.

Please note that it will take a little bit of time to get the system used to what you prefer hearing and what you don't. The ONLY way to let the request system know what you want to hear is to make those requests and make them often!

Be on the look out for new features, changes, and other fun things coming to UAB soon!
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sarah91182 · Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:22 pm Post subject:

Thank you for all the work you've put into this! Looking forward to the improvements!

theEpiphany · Gate Agent Joined: Posts: 854

Our pleasure....Just give it some time as you request...The broadcast will learn what's "hot and what's not" soon and you'll see a lot of changes in the broadcast.
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CursedCarolers · Parking Lot Attendant Joined: Aug 18, 2009 Posts: 2

Hm. I kind of liked everything being played equally. Keeps everything fresh.

Thank you anyway. The amount of effort put into this station is great.

theEpiphany · Gate Agent Joined: Posts: 854

All tracks will still be available for requests....no tracks are going away....We're just tipping the scale a bit in favor of popular tracks.
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WDWFan · Pilot Joined: Mar 01, 2006 Posts: 10863

Cool change. Suspect it will take a bit of tweaking as we work through the first few weeks.

3 questions.

does this mean the infrequently or never requested tracks will never make it into the queue, or just that they will make it into the queue less frequently? (It is nice to get a surprise sometimes.... but I will admit sometimes it occurred too frequently...)

Does the track ratings that are assigned by the users when they hear a track play into the frequency of the track or just how often it is requested? I had assumed the tracks we rated excellent were already getting weighted higher than the tracks we rated a 1.

What is the thinking to use request frequency over track rating or will both be factors?

CTKnight3 · Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2009 5:46 am Post subject:

I just want to know if this will help me avoid that nostril Tracy (watch it convert the first name) track...! Laughing

Brownieboy69 · Gate Agent Joined: Jul 06, 2006 Posts: 860

jahosifatz · Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2009 7:36 am Post subject:

Very cool. In addition, I strongly suggest you all keep looking for and requesting those hidden gems that lurk in the shadows of UAB. Sometimes, I just like to randomly select tracks that are rarely played to see if they are gems.

Anyways, this a cool idea. Hoping it works out well.

theEpiphany · Gate Agent Joined: Posts: 854

theEpiphany · Gate Agent Joined: Posts: 854

CTKnight3 · Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2009 8:46 am Post subject:

WDWFan · Pilot Joined: Mar 01, 2006 Posts: 10863

Thanks for the prompt reply.

You have made some really nice changes to the site. We are lucky to have you working on this stuff. thanks.

RavenStGermaine · Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 6:28 am Post subject:

Great! I could do without so much of a few tracks...and I know many others share that sentiment. The ARTimals can march right down to the end of the queue perhaps.
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Beth's Blog

theEpiphany · Gate Agent Joined: Posts: 854

Made some additional tweaks today. This should also help for a more favorable playlist based on your requests.
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