Storm coverage on the radio

[AMRocks]

Since I really don't listen to the radio much anymore and WORD's programming kinda makes me ill if I do, did anyone tune in to see if they - the New/Talk station - did any storm coverage? Maybe some special local programming? Or did the just run their usual talk shows?

Same for South Carolina Public Radio.

Thanks.

 

[101tm]

I checked WORD periodically, but they were just airing their usual “wealth management” infomercials. They had some special updates from the AI weather bot (Jennifer whatshername “in the News/Talk 98.9 Weather Center”) 🤣

I just heard regular programming on SCPR, but I didn’t check much. The station I did notice that was doing live continual coverage was 107.9 WBT-FM.

 

[Chad-Stevens]

Since I really don't listen to the radio much anymore and WORD's programming kinda makes me ill if I do, did anyone tune in to see if they - the New/Talk station - did any storm coverage? Maybe some special local programming? Or did the just run their usual talk shows?

Same for South Carolina Public Radio.

Thanks

Did any radio stations anywhere in the country shift to emergency storm coverage? I checked the streams of several stations in the storm's path (KTOK, KAAY, WHAS, WLW) and all of them were playing talk shows and infomercials.

 

[101tm]

Did any radio stations anywhere in the country shift to emergency storm coverage? I checked the streams of several stations in the storm's path (KTOK, KAAY, WHAS, WLW) and all of them were playing talk shows and infomercials.

WLNK in Charlotte did, but that’s the only one I really checked in my listening area.

 

[AMRocks]

I checked WORD periodically, but they were just airing their usual “wealth management” infomercials. They had some special updates from the AI weather bot (Jennifer whatshername “in the News/Talk 98.9 Weather Center”) 🤣

I just heard regular programming on SCPR, but I didn’t check much. The station I did notice that was doing live continual coverage was 107.9 WBT-FM.

And we all wonder why people don't bother with the radio anymore.

 

[vchimpanzee]

WLNK in Charlotte did, but that’s the only one I really checked in my listening area.

Do you actually mean WBT-FM? WLNK is a music station that is unlikely to have just storm coverage, and it is not a strong station.

WBT-FM is on the old WLNK frequency on 107.9 and, being a talk station, would be more likely to do this.

 

[101tm]

Do you actually mean WBT-FM? WLNK is a music station that is unlikely to have just storm coverage, and it is not a strong station.

WBT-FM is on the old WLNK frequency on 107.9 and, being a talk station, would be more likely to do this.

My mistake, I’ve associated 107.9 with WLNK for so long I still catch myself. Yes, WBT-FM.

 

[secondchoice]

And we all wonder why people don't bother with the radio anymore.

The "problem" with storm coverage is a multilevel financial issue..How many radio stations have a full time news person / department? If you have such a person how long could he / she go without help? Is there a call screener for folks to report stuff?

IMHO the only really good radio operation in Atlanta is WSB and it's tied in with the TV and AJC. If you are lucky enough to have a good radio news operation in your market you are lucky. Back last century there were several stations in the sub 20 markets that made money with local news. They usually were part of a TV news operation. Now TV - radio co owned operations are few and far between. If the radio station is owned by a publicly held corporation, the share holders will not stand for departments that don't generate positive cash flow.

There are some independent owners that have decent local news operations but they usually do it as a set to the community and are not leveraged.

 

[b-turner]

Question: Are you beating up on radio for what you already knew and realized they weren't talking about what you knew?

 

[secondchoice]

Sometimes folks post not realizing that commercial radio is a business.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

I checked WORD periodically, but they were just airing their usual “wealth management” infomercials. They had some special updates from the AI weather bot (Jennifer whatshername “in the News/Talk 98.9 Weather Center”) 🤣

I just heard regular programming on SCPR, but I didn’t check much. The station I did notice that was doing live continual coverage was 107.9 WBT-FM.

Jennifer... with what sounds like a very polish chicago area last name? (sounds like Voot-cheese-key or some such?)

She's real.

About Us | weatherology°

Weather Together. Share your adventures with Weatherology! We are a community of committed weather advocates dedicated to keeping YOU safe.

weatherology.com

 

[101tm]

Jennifer... with what sounds like a very polish chicago area last name? (sounds like Voot-cheese-key or some such?)

She's real.

About Us | weatherology°

Weather Together. Share your adventures with Weatherology! We are a community of committed weather advocates dedicated to keeping YOU safe.

weatherology.com

She's real, but they use AI for the current temperature at least. There's no way she works 24/7.

 

[secondchoice]

She's real, but they use AI for the current temperature at least. There's no way she works 24/7.

I will never forget the old WOWO rock days. They used to use the temperature from "the world famous WOWO fire escape". I guess as long as they were within 10⁰ nobody cared..

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

She's real, but they use AI for the current temperature at least. There's no way she works 24/7.

Actually, they use the real Jennifer for the temperature.

I currently do work for a station that uses Weatherology.

what the weatherology staff have done is record every temperature possible.. and a ton of different phrases.. the system goes out to pull up the forecast and assembles the forecast using those phrases, along with the weather. Its updated by weatherology';s systems about 50-55 after the hour and a station will grab it automatically via FTP about 00 after.

 

[AMRocks]

Sometimes folks post not realizing that commercial radio is a business.

I know it's a business. But if the radio is only giving me DJs that don't know my area, Talk Show hosts that only do national issues and run a s*&tload of commercials, why am I tuning in? At least in some extreme circumstances, if they provided some up to date information, I'd have a reason to tune in. Maybe, if companies weren't so leveraged, buying up other stations for oodles of money, they might be able to afford doing some local programming. That would be a reason for me to listen. But right now, I don't know any station in this market that beats a streaming station that I likely can get (in many cases) free.

 

[AMRocks]

Question: Are you beating up on radio for what you already knew and realized they weren't talking about what you knew?

Actually, I thought maybe the powers that be at WORD might have brought in a few news staffers to do live updates....maybe bring in an administrative person to make a few calls and get local mayors on the line for a live interview with the news folks, Emergency Management officials, etc. Hell, call a few of your clients up and find out if their businesses are going to open and how this might be affecting their bottom line -- some good karma with your clients. It's not that hard. But it takes a little effort.

 

[nickcraig]

Did any radio stations anywhere in the country shift to emergency storm coverage? I checked the streams of several stations in the storm's path (KTOK, KAAY, WHAS, WLW) and all of them were playing talk shows and infomercials.

WBT-FM did coverage from 7AM-9PM on Sunday. Local and live hosts all day.

 

[b-turner]

Bringing in staff to call mayors and Emergency Management folks for interviews sounds like bad radio. These days folks want a fast report of what dangers are out there and how to stay safe. This can be done at a commercial break or newscast once an hour and be good. We're not talking tornadoes and eyes of hurricanes but winter weather. Granted at the onslaught there were some severe thunderstorms.

 

[secondchoice]

Maybe, if companies weren't so leveraged, buying up other stations for oodles of money, they might be able to afford doing some local programming.

Correct

IMHO The most of biggest operators are really debt paying organizations.* Some are going to try to be "on line" delivery and will some try to jettison their OTA properties. The only real issue I have is on line programming has a very small entry cost. Talent will not need them anymore "Podcasts".

Even when I was starting in radio, I had friends that would never listen to radio. They just wanted commercial free music so they used 8 tracks and cassette players in their cars. Now most likely that type of person uses Spotify and it's competing services. These folks have been gone from radio listening since the invention of car tape decks. Any person who thinks this group is financially practical to program to is wasting their money.

BTW: Free streaming is not free. You most likely have buy a phone and pay a cell or cable company for data for your "free" streaming.

* Thankfully Wall Street is not interested in "unlocking" value in radio anymore. They have already took all the "value" out of the industry.

 

[AMRocks]

Bringing in staff to call mayors and Emergency Management folks for interviews sounds like bad radio. These days folks want a fast report of what dangers are out there and how to stay safe. This can be done at a commercial break or newscast once an hour and be good. We're not talking tornadoes and eyes of hurricanes but winter weather. Granted at the onslaught there were some severe thunderstorms.

1) Bad radio? So, an infomercial talk show during an expected major ice storm is bad radio? Local officials talking about local issues during a "were all gonna die" storm is NOT bad radio.

2) I got the impression from reports here that they did nothing on WORD over the weekend other than their recorded forecasts. So they didn't even do that.

Wouldn't it be nice to know that you can count on the radio to help you during potential disasters?