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Clear Channel outage

T

The danimal

I noticed one downside to ownership consolidation (aside from the ones we always talk about).

During the big thunderstorms yesterday, I noticed 106.5's signal was knocked out (signal was there, but dead air). I switched to the Fox, same thing. I noticed other stations were coming in, so I tuned into 96.1, 96.9 and 102.9. Dead

Did a lightning bolt hit a server or a studio? Even weirder since I thought The End and The Beat were in a separate building from the other 3. Has that changed since?

If not, what else would knock 5 stations out at the same time? Talk about putting all your eggs in one basket.
 
The danimal said:
Even weirder since I thought The End and The Beat were in a separate building from the other 3. Has that changed since?
Click to expand...

I believe the old studios at 801 E. Morehead, where the studios for 96.1 and 106.5 were located, are now vacated. Clear Channel Charlotte studios are centralized at their Billy Graham Parkway Complex now.
 
That was one ****uva storm...I found myself replacing voltage regulators in the air console at 960 that very same evening. But I concur with your comments regarding having all your eggs in one basket...a tornado, flood, fire or similar disaster at a studio complex could put a bunch of stations off the air indefinately, and in an emergency situation when they are most needed, a silent station is worthless. There was much to be learned from last year's Gulf Coast disaster.
 
Yes, a lot to be learned, but will Clear Channel listen to the lessons? I doubt it, I doubt it a lot!!!
 
so now its Clear Channels fault when it rains??..... you folks are grabbing at straws
 
mediaspeaks said:
so now its Clear Channels fault when it rains??..... you folks are grabbing at straws
Click to expand...

Come on you know that's not what they were saying. What they were saying was the stations need a backup plan.

Stations used to be able to broadcast from the transmitter or at least had a backup tape at the transmitter in case the studio went down.
 
The stations have many backup plans, however if the gen don't run there ain't no power. They were on UPS for a good amount of time.
 
MediaTech said:
The stations have many backup plans, however if the gen don't run there ain't no power. They were on UPS for a good amount of time.
Click to expand...
When I was CE for any station that had a generator, we ran the generator for a test without load at least once a week and with a load once a month. CC should do the same. If you don't test the backup periodically you have no idea when or if it needs service.

Just another benefit of reducing payroll and service to the community ;D NOT!

Oh Excuse me, I forgot CC has no interest in serving the community, only in enlarging the bottom line. Please excuse me for the short memory lapse..
 
I like CC no more than you , however the CE there is one of the finest among us. That being said the reason the gen didn't run was because it was struck by lightning shortly after taking the load.
 
I believe you, thanks for the info. No matter how much you plan for there are times when everything seems to go wrong! Sounds like this was one of those times.

When buying any type of backup system management always weighs the cost vs how many times they will have to use it. They also factor in the projected down time and how much it will cost in lost revinue. We are fortunate here that we do not lose power as often as they do in South Florida.

There are lots of good people at Clear Channel and I would not take shots at any of them. They have budgets just like everyone else!
 
Hey MediaTech...

That reminds me...I need to talk to you about Generators at the studios downtown and at one of the tower sites. You never return my calls...you must not love me anymore! :)
 
OKAY I am gonna call bullshit on this one!!!! ;D
Neither you nor your darling little Tinkerbell (spindoctor) return MY calls...

Mike Sheridan, no offense taken. The CE there is a close friend of mine and I know he has his hands full. They really are beautiful studios even though it is a sterile CC enviroment.
 
MediaTech said:
Mike Sheridan, no offense taken. The CE there is a close friend of mine and I know he has his hands full. They really are beautiful studios even though it is a sterile CC enviroment.
Click to expand...

All studios seem a bit sterile now days. No cart machines, no tape machines and no turntables. Just a couple of PC's a mic and a board. I remember the stale smell of some of the old studios a mix of coffee and cigarettes.

I'd like to see the end of the stand up board. Doing a 4 or 5 hour shift standing up sucks! Don't tell me about those high chairs. You can break your a** getting in and out of them!
 
Sheesh MediaTech, I thought I was the one who stayed in permanent crammed panties-mode. Calm down sweetheart, we'll call you back. Some of us are absolutley slammed with work and can barely get ANY time for ourselves (i.e. sleeping for more than two hours, a snack of some sort, and a possible trip to the bathroom). You are not being ignored...
Don't try and take my job of being anal-retentive!
The Spindoctor
 
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