Commenting on the interest in attending Bills game(s) in Detroit. Airlines are in the process of adding capacity for today and tomorrow. Delta, for example, is *adding* at least three EWR-BUF-DTW runs... 767-400ER (capacity ~250 each, I believe). Combined with United, Frontier, Porter, American, etc, that's a fair move. And, I would not be surprised if ROC gets in on the Bills-to-Detroit action.
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Approaching Storm: How well does Buffalo radio cover it?
- Thread starter davideduardo
- Start date
Read the comments on Social media from people in Buffalo. Many are griping about the game being moved. They say that the weather conditions or safety shouldn't matter. I don't care one way or the other.
When preventative measures are taken, some people complain. Then when they cause an accident, they say they weren't warned. Some people simply won't adjust their driving habits for bad conditions and then they blame someone else for their own ignorance...
Weather Channel reporting snowfall rates of 4 inches per hour in some places. There's no way they could have played a football game under these circumstances. NFL made a wise decision. Looks like the Governor also made the right call to ban tractor trailers from the NY Thruway. Of course, some folks will still try to politicize these things.
These snowfall rates are extreme even by Lake Effect standards. The Climate Change deniers can now bury their heads in a snowdrift...
These snowfall rates are extreme even by Lake Effect standards. The Climate Change deniers can now bury their heads in a snowdrift...
I’ve been listening to a fair amount of WBEN today. Its news team excels in these winter weather crises — particular kudos to Susan Rose and Tom Puckett. I was listening to David Bellavia for a bit this morning. I enjoyed hearing the stories of some of the listeners in hard hit areas. But then Bellavia had to take a political shot at Governor Hochul about wood burning stoves, and I quickly said “Alexa, off.” Tbolt, you’re right! Now is not the time for politics!
In fact, a former Buffalo broadcaster posted on Facebook today that we’re raising a bunch of “wussies” because of all the preemptive school closings and road closings. This made my blood boil. I’m getting texts from a family member in West Seneca concerned about the unrelenting snow. I covered just about every snow storm from 1981 to 2017. I’ll always remember staying on the air all night in the November 2000 storm, taking calls from listeners stranded on the Thruway with no hope of rescue for many more hours. Children were stranded on stuck school busses, their parents obviously frantic.
But yeah, let’s criticize the NFL for moving the Bills game to Detroit. Let’s blast school superintendents and the Governor for taking precautions.
On the lighter side, I know of one happy Bills fan. My kid, who lives in southeastern Michigan, scored tickets for $30 apiece and will be rooting on his beloved Bills in person this Sunday!
Inside Radio a moment ago emailed this in their afternoon update:
"As lake-effect snow continues to pummel parts of Western New York, Audacy “News Radio 930” WBEN Buffalo was providing wall-to-wall storm coverage Friday with plans to remain in that mode through the weekend. “It is just a matter of being there for the listener, being live and being local,” Brand Manager Tim Wenger told Inside Radio on Friday. “You don't have a lot of people moving out and about, so they tend to gravitate to the radio, to the app and our digital assets to get information.”
At least one station is taking it seriously. What are the music stations doing?
AM's in the WBEN cluster should be mentioning the AM station continuous coverage every few songs. Others should have an agreement with one of the local TV stations to do weather updates.
"As lake-effect snow continues to pummel parts of Western New York, Audacy “News Radio 930” WBEN Buffalo was providing wall-to-wall storm coverage Friday with plans to remain in that mode through the weekend. “It is just a matter of being there for the listener, being live and being local,” Brand Manager Tim Wenger told Inside Radio on Friday. “You don't have a lot of people moving out and about, so they tend to gravitate to the radio, to the app and our digital assets to get information.”
At least one station is taking it seriously. What are the music stations doing?
AM's in the WBEN cluster should be mentioning the AM station continuous coverage every few songs. Others should have an agreement with one of the local TV stations to do weather updates.
I wonder if the radio coverage would be any different if it happened on a weekend with less advance warning.
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I tuned in tonight, and they were still live, pre-empting Hannity and other syndication with various local press conferences from emergency officials. I think the one I heard was from a suburb south of the city.
Meanwhile WBFO was running "Buffalo What's Next?"
Here's a link to the Inside Radio story:
www.insideradio.com
Meanwhile WBFO was running "Buffalo What's Next?"
Here's a link to the Inside Radio story:
WBEN In Wall-To-Wall Storm Coverage As Snow Cripples Parts Of Buffalo.
As lake-effect snow continues to pummel parts of Western New York, Audacy “News Radio 930” WBEN Buffalo was providing wall-to-wall storm coverage Friday with plans to remain in that mode
Since their transmitter is right in the middle of the worst snow band there are a number of possibilities. Power failure and antenna icing would be resolvable issues. Damage to the tower, transmitter building, and/or transmission lines would be much more serious. I'm sure that it wasn't a planned outage and that the engineers didn't find it the least bit funny.
I'm sure that Star 102.5 is rolling with Christmas music, which could be seen as appropriate or ironic depending on your POV.
It should be easy to determine which stations are live and which are VT/syndication. Live weather forecasts offer vital and timely information for listeners. Otherwise, programmers have to decide if they want to try to turn into information stations or continue to offer music as a diversion for those who are saturated with the ubiquitous coverage on some TV and radio stations.
Here in WNY, different people handle snowstorms differently. Some feast on the Weather Channel storm crows standing in the wintry blast in front of plow piles. Some simply hunker down and ride out the storm, often with the Jimmy Griffin prescribed six pack or two or other libations to taste. The hourly weather forecast is enough to tell them when they'll need to more snow and how much is coming.
Overblown predictions??
Some areas got 4 feet of snow in One Day.! I doubt that the Bills insurance covers fat fans dying of heart attacks trying to shovel out the stadium. Parts of Interstate 90 closed to all traffic and other areas are impassable. Sounds like a significant weather event to me and not a casual "long weekend". If your roof collapses from the weight of snow, would you find that catastrophic? Sure, places in the Northeast have experience dealing with significant snow. Your dismissive attitude is exactly what leads smug idiots to endanger their lives and others...
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TWC did air a drone video taken at the Bills stadium. Plenty of snow there.
Someone break the news to Sir Rox and others who said this forecast was hype. Some people were howling mad when the NFL shifted the game to Detroit. This Storm is far beyond a typical Lake Effect snow event...
That is a different kind of "nieve" that they have in Key West.
It's a lot more expensive, too.
Sorry. I didn't mean to endanger your life. BTW, a lot of areas got closer to 2 feet than 4 feet. The southtowns did get whacked and it's over six feet in some places. They still have a way to go to get to the eight feet some people were talking about on national media. It's not the first time that's happened and it's likely not the last. The NFL and the Bills did the right thing by moving the game. I'm certainly not one of the people who was "howling mad" when they moved the game. BTW, state and local officials have certainly done a better job with this storm than they did back in 2014 when hundreds of cars and trucks were stranded on the Thruway for more than 24 hours. Thanks to Covid a lot of businesses are able to shift to Work From Home mode so they don't lose day's worth of productivity. It's still a lot easier to handle a snowstorm than a hurricane or tornado and WNY knows how to get the job done.
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