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How to destroy an AM and TV stations credibility in 10 seconds

R

radiosaur

So, I'm driving in Millington this afternoon in a freakin' monsoon. I look at the radar on my Blackberry and it looks like a mad Picasso painting...just then the EAS on a local ham repeater goes off with flash flood warnings for three counties, including Shelby.

Between the static crashes, I hear on 600 Mark Walden from ABC24 tell me there is a slight chance of showers and maybe a stray thunderstorm this afternoon.


Doesn't anyone at the station have authority to pull the danged recorded forecast when it becomes clear they've completely blown it?
 
yeah, but... if they pull a canned forecast, and there's no one there to record a new one...

;D
 
That shows lack of focus / attention by the on-air staff to know when they are providing misinformation AND a poorly worded contract that doesn't require updates to forecasts when they obviously missed the mark.
 
radiosaur said:
So, I'm driving in Millington this afternoon in a freakin' monsoon. I look at the radar on my Blackberry and it looks like a mad Picasso painting...just then the EAS on a local ham repeater goes off with flash flood warnings for three counties, including Shelby.

Between the static crashes, I hear on 600 Mark Walden from ABC24 tell me there is a slight chance of showers and maybe a stray thunderstorm this afternoon.


Doesn't anyone at the station have authority to pull the danged recorded forecast when it becomes clear they've completely blown it?
Click to expand...

What time was it yesterday afternoon? If it was on 600 it had to be either Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, or Mike Fleming. Was it a Republican storm or a Democrat storm?
 
Since CC's parking lot is directly under the TVA power lines along I-240, during thunderstorms elsewhere in the county there is often a cross-path intermodulation disruption that overloads the superheterodyne sequencer on WREC's STL, causing an old Mark Walden weathercast from 1998 to replay in the slot where weathercasts play in the Prophet system. It's been a head scratcher for several years to the engineering staff, especially during the time when Walden took his sabbatical and wasn't heard at any other time. They've changed out the hard drives and the mirrored servers twice to no avail. A betazoid module is expected to download into Prophet before the winter storms arrive, I'm told. In the meantime, hold a cat out the window for 3-5 seconds and pull it back in the house or car. If it's wet...
 
Back in the analog days, I would have blamed it on misadjusted bias, or a capacitor in the power supply...
 
In Boston, CBS-owned WBZ-AM plays taped "forecasts" from Accuweather that will occasionally be far off-the-mark in a region with different weather depending on how close or distant you are from the coast. Once in a while, the Accuweather reporter will make some kind of slip or funny pronunciation, and it will persist until a new tape is made. And remember, WBZ is the actual top-biller or near the top in the market, and has a killer signal even during the day.
 
Tynosaur said:
Since CC's parking lot is directly under the TVA power lines along I-240, during thunderstorms elsewhere in the county there is often a cross-path intermodulation disruption that overloads the superheterodyne sequencer on WREC's STL, causing an old Mark Walden weathercast from 1998 to replay in the slot where weathercasts play in the Prophet system. It's been a head scratcher for several years to the engineering staff, especially during the time when Walden took his sabbatical and wasn't heard at any other time. They've changed out the hard drives and the mirrored servers twice to no avail. A betazoid module is expected to download into Prophet before the winter storms arrive, I'm told. In the meantime, hold a cat out the window for 3-5 seconds and pull it back in the house or car. If it's wet...
Click to expand...

Look, Tynes....let the engineers do the engineering...everyone knows a crosspath disruption in a superhet sequencer cannot possibly happen on an even numbered day of the month. Yesterday was the 8th.

Sheesh! Amateurs!
 
Doesn't matter if it's accurate or not, as long as something is there you can bill to the sponsor, that's all that counts.
 
Laurence Glavin said:
In Boston, CBS-owned WBZ-AM plays taped "forecasts" from Accuweather that will occasionally be far off-the-mark in a region with different weather depending on how close or distant you are from the coast. Once in a while, the Accuweather reporter will make some kind of slip or funny pronunciation, and it will persist until a new tape is made. And remember, WBZ is the actual top-biller or near the top in the market, and has a killer signal even during the day.
Click to expand...

"Weather Forecast Lottery" anyone?
 
radiosaur said:
So, I'm driving in Millington this afternoon in a freakin' monsoon. I look at the radar on my Blackberry and it looks like a mad Picasso painting...just then the EAS on a local ham repeater goes off with flash flood warnings for three counties, including Shelby.

Between the static crashes, I hear on 600 Mark Walden from ABC24 tell me there is a slight chance of showers and maybe a stray thunderstorm this afternoon.

Doesn't anyone at the station have authority to pull the danged recorded forecast when it becomes clear they've completely blown it?
Click to expand...

Ah, don't feel so bad. Down here in the country we don't get timely weather updates, either. I stood at the front window recently watching the hail relentlessly pound the roof while listening to a forecast for a partly cloudy evening on a local station.

On the other hand, the Grenada stations all have a wonderful severe weather alert system - when it gets bad, they all magically go off the air. And they stay off until well after the threat has passed... ::)
 
Well, they just did it AGAIN.

1:30 PM newscast mentions partly sunny with a slight chance of a shower, clearing after midnight.

There's a tornado watch being issued at that very instant. I got the text message during the newscast!



Partly sunny, except during the tornadoes?...Jeez. Am I the only one who notices this?
 
I know it probably won't play well in this venue, but kudos to the big FM100 for having a LIVE DJ on last night who kept the area informed about the watches, warnings, and current radar. Good job, Anthony!
 
robgrayson said:
I know it probably won't play well in this venue, but kudos to the big FM100 for having a LIVE DJ on last night who kept the area informed about the watches, warnings, and current radar. Good job, Anthony!
Click to expand...


who was it sponsored by?
 
robgrayson said:
I know it probably won't play well in this venue, but kudos to the big FM100 for having a LIVE DJ on last night who kept the area informed about the watches, warnings, and current radar. Good job, Anthony!
Click to expand...

FM 100 is one of the FEW that are giving full service. I've worked at many stations where there was a LIVE JOCK and a damn tornado warning issued for for the area, and the jock is so tied up into thier show, that they ignored weather and news that needed to get to the public. EAS was suppose to be the answer, but that's failed as well. It's up to upper management to how hard they want to crack down to be on alert to get inportant info to the public!
 
I remember once trying to play a weather announcement, but the power went off and we got knocked off the air before I could! :eek: Do I get brownie points for trying? ;D

On the other hand, I remember (at my first station) repeatedly announcing the status of the local high school football games one stormy Friday afternoon, only to have callers constantly calling in to ask if the game was going to be played! ::) I'm just glad I never worked snow days! :mad:
 
Understand, radio has gone from choosing between talented night jocks like Dickie Doo Edwards, Mason Dixon, Stu Robb, Dan Wilson/Donnie Brooks, Tom Kent or Sheila; or flipping it over to the Big89 and listening to John Landecker take everyone to school TO THE POINT WHERE I'M HAPPY TO HEAR A NON VOICE-TRACKED LIVING HUMAN BEING ON THE AIR DURING A STORM!
 
I remember hearing Jack Parnell telling a story a number of years ago of how the little window came to be in front of the WHBQ studios on Highland. He said the DJ would be reading the forecast for sunny weather and it would be pouring rain outside. The radio studio originally had no window, and they wouldn't know what was going on. Later, the little window was added to give the on-air DJ a look at the outside world. Everytime I drive by that location I can't help but look at the window and think of that story.
 
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