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How important is WIOD during an emergency?

Terence...

Terence...

WIOD 610 AM bills itself as "South Florida's Severe Weather Station." But, how important are they during a major hurricane?

At some point in the past, I think WIOD had an agreement with Broward County to stay on air during major storms. I think they received funding in exchange. I don't think they still do. And, recently, I read an article saying that other South Florida stations have pledged to keep broadcasting during emergencies. Also, this City of Miami page shows that WIOD is not the only station that broadcasts emergency information.

So, if a Category 5 storm hits and TV, internet and cell phones go down, is WIOD an important lifeline or will it be one of many stations we can turn to?
 
Terence... said:
So, if a Category 5 storm hits and TV, internet and cell phones go down, is WIOD an important lifeline or will it be one of many stations we can turn to?
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In the case of a hurricane, every station tries to stay on the air, but there is no guarantee that any broadcast tower is going to be able to stand up to the higher gusts or peak winds of a Category 5 hurricane.

Stations will go off the air if their studio or transmitter facility is compromised. Studio locations may be evacuated by civil authorities. Flooding or tidal surges may not permit use of generators or transmitters.

There is often no way to tell which stations will stay on and which will not. Very few stations are "hardened" to the extent of that of WWL in New Orleans (site built on a burm well above flood level, and many day's fuel supply) and few towers can withstand the worst of hurricane winds (the big danger being flying objects like cars, cows, billboards and roofs).

WIOD is the best technical facility in the market in respect to coverage. Likely they could operate with a single tower in a real emergency if the site is accessible. But that brings up the fact that all of South Florida is so low that it may be impossible to get back and forth to studios and transmitter sites. So the best thing is to hope that some stations remain on the air; information will find its way to the surviving stations.

I've been through some very severe hurricanes in my near-30 years in Puerto Rico. There is no way to 100% guarantee that a station will be on the air through the worst of it.
 
Thanks for the reply.

How, then, can WIOD realistically bill itself as "South Florida's Severe Weather Station?" They repeat that tagline all day long. I believe a similar tagline appears on the sign outside their Miami location. They may have the best coverage but I don't believe their stations/towers are less vulnerable than other stations'. Their Miami location is extremely vulnerable.
 
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Terence... said:
Thanks for the reply.

How, then, can WIOD realistically bill itself as "South Florida's Severe Weather Station?" They repeat that tagline all day long. I believe a similar tagline appears on the sign outside their Miami location. They may have the best coverage but I don't believe their stations/towers are less vulnerable than other stations'. Their Miami location is extremely vulnerable.
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The fact is that the station focuses on weather more than others do and is better equipped to give weather information in matters of sources and staff.

No station can guarantee being on the air if they are in the middle of a Category 5 storm. But saying they are the severe weather station simply means that as long as they can broadcast, they will have the most complete weather coverage. That is all you can expect.
 
I toured the WGBS transmitter site back in the seventies and saw their extended living facilities for emergency operations.
I doubt that WAQI would have downgraded that, so they would also be reliable...at least until they move to the Miccosukee casino site.

(they also showed me a nifty little device that had been used for FSK'ing data to some people at La Playa Girón, Cuba several years prior)
 
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DavidEduardo said:


The fact is that the station focuses on weather more than others do and is better equipped to give weather information in matters of sources and staff.

No station can guarantee being on the air if they are in the middle of a Category 5 storm. But saying they are the severe weather station simply means that as long as they can broadcast, they will have the most complete weather coverage. That is all you can expect.
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Exactly David, The local Cox TV station uses that slogan all the time. I'm in Charlotte and we don't have severe weather. The worst was Hurricane Hugo in '89 but something like that only happens once every hundred years!
 
If a major hurricane approaches the area, I'm sure WIOD would be simulcast on at least one of their FMs.
 
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I live in South Florida.

AM 610 WIOD is the one for severe weather and hurricane coverage since its our "News/Talk" station of record. However, I think WTVJ's coverage is on WIOD and on iHeartMedia (WINZ, WMIA, WMIB, WHYI, WMGE and WBGG) because WFOR is on CBS Radio (WQAM, WPOW and WKIS), WSVN partners with Cox Radio (WFEZ, WFLC, WEDR and WHQT) and WPLG has long had a home with Entercom (WAXY, WLYF, WMXJ and WSFS).

For Spanish radio stations... I believe WLTV's coverage is on Univision Radio (WAQI, WQBA and WAMR) and I'm not sure where WSCV and/or WJAN's coverage can be heard which leaves the question mark for SBS: Spanish Broadcasting System.
 
itsRoly4266 said:
For Spanish radio stations... I believe WLTV's coverage is on Univision Radio (WAQI, WQBA and WAMR) and I'm not sure where WSCV and/or WJAN's coverage can be heard which leaves the question mark for SBS: Spanish Broadcasting System.
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WRTO, WAMR, WAQI and WQBA are in the same building as Univision and Unimás television ops. SBS, WRMA,WXDJ and WCMQ, are co-owned with Mega TV Channel 22.
 
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Oh yeah that's right. However, WSBS doesn't have a local news operation. If anything they have national news at 6:00 and 10:00pm under Mega Noticiero which is produced in Miami and hosted by one of our area's most respected Spanish journalists, Maria Elvira Salazar.
 
The only station I remember remaining on the air during Hurricane Andrew was WTVJ-TV. Bryan Norcross, Kelly Craig, Tony Segreto, were broadcasting live in the equipment room with one camera and a mic and a telephone . I think they stayed on the air most of the time before and after the storm. The coverage was excellent, and turned Norcross into a star. One of the reporters (I can't remember his name) also braved out the storm under the Metro Rail.

I was at WPIK FM in the Keys at the time. CNN had reported the Keys were devastated, when in fact is was Florida City and Homestead.

We had dual generators and was able to stay on the air along with one other station. Power was lost from the mainland for awhile.

We had CBS news and CNN call us, and we did interviews for their top of the hour news. They were disappointed when they found out we were unscathed.

I see all the clear channel stations doing a simulcast or joining a TV feed if this happens in the future.
 
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