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Dennis' Aftermath

B

BobAltimari

Guest
OK, let's hear it....

Who went off?

Who's still off?

Who stayed with regular programming?

Who's still either simulcasting or in storm coverage mode wall to wall?

Who did the better job?<P ID="signature">______________
FOX News Alert: YOU SUCK!!! Ya like apples?</P>
 
Re: Dennis' Aftermath-Ft Walton Beach

> OK, let's hear it....
>
> Who went off?
>
> Who's still off?
>
> Who stayed with regular programming?
>
> Who's still either simulcasting or in storm coverage mode
> wall to wall?
>
> Who did the better job?
>

For the most part I can only speak for our Qantum stations here in Ft Walton Beach (Fly 92-1, Mix 103.1 and Wave 102.1). Here's what I can add

We stayed with regular programming on all three with Hurricane updates 2-3 times an hour. Saturday at 7pm we began dual coverage with NewsChannel 7 from Panama City (15 minutes local from us/15 minutes simulcasting Ch 7) simulcast on all three stations (Mix/Wave/Fly) utilizing Channel 7's local Ft Walton Beach reporter and Okaloosa County EOC personel.

We were able to stay with that through the bulk of the storm only having to use NOAA weather radio for a brief time when we have to switch from cable TV audio to regular TV audio. At some point during the storm we lost Mix and it hasn't come back up yet (issue at the transmitter site).

After the storm, we provided complete coverage on Wave 102.1 and scaled down coverage on Fly 92-1 with music.

We had a great on air crew including myself (Holmes), Kaane (FLY morning guy/Wave night guy) and Dylan Paul (Fly night guy) before, during and immediately after the storm. It was quite the adventure riding it out in our studios in Destin not 2 miles from the water. We watch cars rock back and forth and entire store neon signs fly past our windows.

My co-workers may not agree, but I'll also say that Z-96 had good coverage of the storm. Their advantage on me was their experience in the market whereas I had to learn a few things as I went. Although I found it interesting their Ops Manager (Scratch) wasn't heard on the air at all (even Monday on his own morning show) while ours was either doing call ins from Mobile or was in house handling OPERATIONS.

What I will say was incredibly unprofessional was 99 Rock's (WKSM) people telling their listeners that Fly 92-1 was giving out wrong information and that they hope our tower goes down because of it. Also, telling listeners to just screw it and get drunk is pretty bad when an alcohol ban was in effect in Ft Walton Beach. Listen, our staff at Fly likes to get their drink on, but there's a time to get serious and grow up.

And I don't wanna speak for him, but I know Keith Allen had Panama City on lockdown with his Island 106, 97X and Wave 100 all utilizing Ch 13 WMBB TV and Talkradio 101.1 resources. The Double 00 lived up to their name, ZERO. They packed up and bailed on the market. Great way to serve the public there.<P ID="signature">______________
-brian holmes
APD/afternoons - Fly 92-1 Ft Walton Beach
Owner/Webmaster - www.ThePowerPig.com
An Online Tribute to WFLZ/Tampa
(now with 225+ free historical audio cuts)</P>
 
Re: Dennis' Aftermath-Ft Walton Beach

> > OK, let's hear it....
> >
> > Who went off?
> >
> > Who's still off?
> >
> > Who stayed with regular programming?
> >
> > Who's still either simulcasting or in storm coverage mode
> > wall to wall?
> >
> > Who did the better job?
> >
>
> For the most part I can only speak for our Qantum stations
> here in Ft Walton Beach (Fly 92-1, Mix 103.1 and Wave
> 102.1). Here's what I can add
>
> We stayed with regular programming on all three with
> Hurricane updates 2-3 times an hour. Saturday at 7pm we
> began dual coverage with NewsChannel 7 from Panama City (15
> minutes local from us/15 minutes simulcasting Ch 7)
> simulcast on all three stations (Mix/Wave/Fly) utilizing
> Channel 7's local Ft Walton Beach reporter and Okaloosa
> County EOC personel.
>
> We were able to stay with that through the bulk of the storm
> only having to use NOAA weather radio for a brief time when
> we have to switch from cable TV audio to regular TV audio.
> At some point during the storm we lost Mix and it hasn't
> come back up yet (issue at the transmitter site).
>
> After the storm, we provided complete coverage on Wave 102.1
> and scaled down coverage on Fly 92-1 with music.
>
> We had a great on air crew including myself (Holmes), Kaane
> (FLY morning guy/Wave night guy) and Dylan Paul (Fly night
> guy) before, during and immediately after the storm. It was
> quite the adventure riding it out in our studios in Destin
> not 2 miles from the water. We watch cars rock back and
> forth and entire store neon signs fly past our windows.
>
> My co-workers may not agree, but I'll also say that Z-96 had
> good coverage of the storm. Their advantage on me was their
> experience in the market whereas I had to learn a few things
> as I went. Although I found it interesting their Ops Manager
> (Scratch) wasn't heard on the air at all (even Monday on his
> own morning show) while ours was either doing call ins from
> Mobile or was in house handling OPERATIONS.
>
> What I will say was incredibly unprofessional was 99 Rock's
> (WKSM) people telling their listeners that Fly 92-1 was
> giving out wrong information and that they hope our tower
> goes down because of it. Also, telling listeners to just
> screw it and get drunk is pretty bad when an alcohol ban was
> in effect in Ft Walton Beach. Listen, our staff at Fly likes
> to get their drink on, but there's a time to get serious and
> grow up.
>
> And I don't wanna speak for him, but I know Keith Allen had
> Panama City on lockdown with his Island 106, 97X and Wave
> 100 all utilizing Ch 13 WMBB TV and Talkradio 101.1
> resources. The Double 00 lived up to their name, ZERO. They
> packed up and bailed on the market. Great way to serve the
> public there.
>

One other thing.... I was watching Ch 3 Pensacola news and they interviewed a guy from WXBM radio (country?) who was awesome at being REAL. He even stood up to the anchors and said, "let's stop sugar coating this, this is a serious storm and you have kids you need to start thinking about them and get out." He was apologizing about being a little brash but he was so REAL I was impressed. The anchors almost looked like deers in headlights, lol.<P ID="signature">______________
-brian holmes
APD/afternoons - Fly 92-1 Ft Walton Beach
Owner/Webmaster - www.ThePowerPig.com
An Online Tribute to WFLZ/Tampa
(now with 225+ free historical audio cuts)</P>
 
Re: Dennis' Aftermath-Ft Walton Beach

Brian:

Glad you guys are okay. I managed through Opal and that was the worst
of two hurricanes I made it through. Tell me though, how can you give
out false information? What sources were you using that 99 Rock was
not. I could have expected that attitude from their old owners, but
now from Cumulus? And telling people to get drunk? Pitiful. Glad most of the
signals are on. We lost ours for quite a while after the Big O.
Be glad for that. I seem to think Mix was one of the few that
actually stayed on or came back soon after Opal. Maybe some others
can recall that or other hurricanes. Maybe it just better to
not remember.

Grim report of Double O - I sure thought they'd be a bigger player
in PC. What's wrong with them? Typica, huh? Paid to much, to much debt,
no $$ for programming/staff and $10 spots?

You shined like a superstar again.
 
Re: Dennis' Aftermath-Tallahassee area

> OK, let's hear it....
>
> Who went off?
>
> Who's still off?
>
> Who stayed with regular programming?
>
> Who's still either simulcasting or in storm coverage mode
> wall to wall?
>
> Who did the better job?
>
In Tallahassee, a number of stations went off, including..

WTNT 94.9 (CC)
96.1 Jamz (Cumulus)
98.9 Star 98 (Cumulus)
102.3 (Cumulus)
B-103 (Opus)

WCVC 1330 (still off as of Tuesday)
1410 The Fam (Cumulus) returned to the air Monday morning

I think the bulk of these were caused by lack of power at the transmitter sites.
I'm sure that was the case with the Cumulus stations. However, Cumulus' Gulf 104
did stay on the air throughout everything.

Never heard any weather on WTNT after it came back on later Sunday. Hate to say it, but I got better info from ABC NewsChannel 27's Nancy Dignon and weather.com than all the stations in this market put together.

Guess if Tally ever gets a direct hit the power outages will take everyone off the air. The transmitter sites at most of them are remote and not co-located so the studios have back-up generators but the transmitters do not.<P ID="signature">______________
Memories Radio..
www.live365.com/stations/alanmccall</P>
 
Re: Dennis' Aftermath-Ft Walton Beach

> Brian:
>
> Glad you guys are okay. I managed through Opal and that was
> the worst
> of two hurricanes I made it through. Tell me though, how can
> you give
> out false information? What sources were you using that 99
> Rock was
> not. I could have expected that attitude from their old
> owners, but
> now from Cumulus? And telling people to get drunk? Pitiful.
> Glad most of the
> signals are on. We lost ours for quite a while after the Big
> O.
> Be glad for that. I seem to think Mix was one of the few
> that
> actually stayed on or came back soon after Opal. Maybe some
> others
> can recall that or other hurricanes. Maybe it just better to
>
> not remember.
>
> Grim report of Double O - I sure thought they'd be a bigger
> player
> in PC. What's wrong with them? Typica, huh? Paid to much, to
> much debt,
> no $$ for programming/staff and $10 spots?
>
> You shined like a superstar again.
>
Was interested to hear that Holmes' gang went with coverage from Channel 7 in PC rather than Channel 3 in Pensacola. Was that an vote of "no confidence" in Channel 3's increasingly shaky storm coverage? For the hurricanes that I have been thru in the Pensacola area, Channel 3 tended to repeat the same information over and over with very few live reports on location from it's reporters. KRG always seemed to have the best coverage, with PMI in second. The missing Kid on the milk carton award always seemed to go to WALA, who's idea of coverage was John Edd Thompson looking at the radar for 50 minutes an hour.
 
Re: Dennis' Aftermath-Tallahassee area

> > OK, let's hear it....
> >
> > Who went off?
> >
> > Who's still off?
> >
> > Who stayed with regular programming?
> >
> > Who's still either simulcasting or in storm coverage mode
> > wall to wall?
> >
> > Who did the better job?
> >
> In Tallahassee, a number of stations went off, including..
>
> WTNT 94.9 (CC)
> 96.1 Jamz (Cumulus)
> 98.9 Star 98 (Cumulus)
> 102.3 (Cumulus)
> B-103 (Opus)
>
> WCVC 1330 (still off as of Tuesday)
> 1410 The Fam (Cumulus) returned to the air Monday morning
>
> I think the bulk of these were caused by lack of power at
> the transmitter sites.
> I'm sure that was the case with the Cumulus stations.
> However, Cumulus' Gulf 104
> did stay on the air throughout everything.
>
> Never heard any weather on WTNT after it came back on later
> Sunday. Hate to say it, but I got better info from ABC
> NewsChannel 27's Nancy Dignon and weather.com than all the
> stations in this market put together.
>
> Guess if Tally ever gets a direct hit the power outages will
> take everyone off the air. The transmitter sites at most of
> them are remote and not co-located so the studios have
> back-up generators but the transmitters do not.
>


What good is a studio running if the transmitter isnt???? Sheeeesh
 
Re: Dennis' Aftermath-Tallahassee area

> >
> > Guess if Tally ever gets a direct hit the power outages
> will
> > take everyone off the air. The transmitter sites at most
> of
> > them are remote and not co-located so the studios have
> > back-up generators but the transmitters do not.
> >
>
>
> What good is a studio running if the transmitter isnt????
> Sheeeesh
>

I know that when I was with CC we were working on tying the WTLY transmitter we had at the Channel 40 tower into the generator there. It was still in the works when I was laid off, but thee's a good chance that the CC engineer (Randy) go that taken care of.

So at least one automated jukebox will be on the air when the big one hits.
 
Re: Dennis' Aftermath-Tallahassee area

> > >
> > >> >
>
> I know that when I was with CC we were working on tying the
> WTLY transmitter we had at the Channel 40 tower into the
> generator there. It was still in the works when I was laid
> off, but thee's a good chance that the CC engineer (Randy)
> go that taken care of.
>
> So at least one automated jukebox will be on the air when
> the big one hits.
>
Randy is still the CE, and WTLY did stay on the air. I think WTNT 94.9
was the only CC station to go off the air, and it wasn't off long.

As of Thursday, WCVC 1330 is the only station off the air. Their transmitter
apparently had damage from the power surges or something. Their xmitter will
power up but only goes to low power and even then can'y be heard outside
the building. I understand maybe Randy is going to help them get back on as their regular engineer, Clyde Scott, is in Arkansas putting someone else back together.

In all seriousness, Tallahassee seems short of real radio engineers.<P ID="signature">______________
Memories Radio..
www.live365.com/stations/alanmccall</P>
 
Re: Dennis' Aftermath-Tallahassee area

"Tallahassee seems to be short of real radio engineers"

Well, that's not exactly true...my company is based in Thomasville, GA and has 2 full time and 2 part time engineers. I got called about the WCVC TX today and went right down there. Turns out that their transmitter' fine...their feed line was burned into. Got some parts overnighted and should have them back on the air late tomorrow afternoon. The real problem in Tallahassee is that a lot of the smaller stations just can't afford to pay the going rates for a "real" engineer. The problem at WCVC could have been easily avoided with proper maintenance, but with a station that's just getting by fiancially, they just can't afford the regular maintenance. I did enjoy meeting Frank at WCVC, he seemed like a really nice guy. While most of our work tends to be in GA, we do contract for a few stations in Tallahassee, seems like most of them are Cumulus or Clear-Channel owned though so there's not a whole lot left over...I think we work for most of the stations that are not corporately owned. Good to meet another person in the radio business in the area. Take care.

-Chris Hall
www.reelaudio.net
 
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