it could happen tomorrow

[STICKBOY]

After what just happend to many broadcast stations ....Lets talk about it

1. You can have all the eas you want.. but how many stations can operate with out power??? And for how long....
2. The point is the GOVERNMENT relies on broadcasters to inform the public in times of emergency. Yet has no reqirements for broadcasters to prove that during tyimes of emergency they can even broiadcast!!!!

3. Here is one we call can feel proud of .... Scott township declares a state or emergency, and people have to be informed by fireman going door to door as to wahre to go to stay warm......Now didn't people have a bettery operated radio on hand... and how many stations even had somebody around on a sunday to let folks know what to do... I bet the decision makers in Scott township had no idea who to call!!!!!!!!!!!!

4.Think about it we run PSAs be prepared have a plan...... Show me the plan from each broadcast group on what to do when the excriment hits the fan.. chirp chirp.... chirppppp.. there aint one....
Ok there may be one or two in the state....BUt The system really is not a good one this was not a bad storm
it could be worse. Much worse..... MUCH worse.....

How do we make it better... We all know its not going to work when the big one hits... So whats the answer

 

[masterg]

All very good points, Stick, but all very clear indications of how the importance of radio has diminished with the average individual. How many people affected by Sunday's storm even considered turning to the radio for help? I'd feel comfortable in saying it was precious few.

The bigger issue to be raised by all this would have to be the viability of broadcast television stations. It's now being cited as concrete fact that fewer than 10% of Americans pull a TV signal from the air. If that be true, what's the future for broadcast TV? Who needs towers? If internet, fiber optics to cable companies, DBS, can all deliver the product without it ever being conventionally broadcast, then you'd have to wonder if there's a future for broadcast TV. What about radio? The same might be true there.

You'll never see any stations in this area adopt a strong plan of action for any widespread emergency, because no one will invest the effort and money(especially money)preparing for a day that may never come, or come only once every ten years.

Even if there was a go-to radio station in any emergency, how many people have battery powered radios in their homes? We haven't had one in years and years.

 

[plooker]

Master G,

A very good point, w/ wireless, internet and even Satellite delivery, what is the point of having towers for people to pull their signals off air.
We're getting very close to that point where transmitter sites are becoming irrelevant. Just pipe in the audio/video to a cable head, Sat uplink or a T1, and leave it at that. Transmitter sites are extremely expensive to run and maintain, could you imagine the amount broadcast companies would save if they didn't need them. That being said, I still think its important for every market to have a few in case of some type of local or national emergency. Generator sets should be mandatory, and having an alternate transmitter site, seperated away from the main would be a pretty good idea as well. One bad thing about tower farms like Penobscott (or Roxboro down in Philly) Is that the suckers are so close, if one comes down, it could domino to the surrounding towers. (I wonder if this is what happened to WVIAs since the WNEP transmitter shack is right next door, was it collateral damage) Anyways, my heart goes out to those poor souls who are working up there now in miserable conditions (the winds up there now must be close to hurricaine force) Good luck to all the broadcasters in getting their operations back to normal!

 

[ThomasCarten]

The suckers are so close, if one comes down, it could domino to the surrounding towers.

So is the scenario this way? 16 came down, took 44 with it, damaged 22 and 56's guys badly enough that a severe windstorm might cause them to drop.

As for emergency information, whatever happened to the totally incompetent Wilkes-Barre Emergency Broadcast Station? I think it was WPUK, or something like that. Puke Radio. We had an emergency down here some time back and absolutely nothing relevant was being broadcast over it. It was supposed to be the go-to station for any sort of disturbance and I'm not sure it's even on the air anymore.

 

[waunderlust]

Technically, the cable companies etal, are "rebroadcasting" a local terrestrial signal no matter how they get it. (That was the original intent of cable wasn't it? To supply local stations to those who couldn't get it due to terrain). Don't knock transmitter sites or we'll totally lose any "local" broadcasts. Good or Bad, it's still somewhat local. (Warning: conspiracy theory follows) If we lose the locals, then one or two companies will TOTALLY control what EVERYONE sees.

I find it funny that we, as a whole, forget that there IS a broadcast signal and you don't need to run cable or a satellite dish to every room and your backyard to watch network TV. Of course when every thing goes ALL DIGITAL none of your old TV's in the house will be able to do that w/o an adapter.

 

[STICKBOY]

Think of al the Billions spent on Homeland security and NOBODY ... is sinking any money to maintain a communcation platform..... Eas is based upon a thought that broadcasters will be able to broadcast in times of national emergency..... They can't not tv not cable not radio.. They are all under geraterd... understaffed....clueless on who to talk to in a true emergency... The pab should really do something we
have time but ..... at any moment ...kershlump.... big problem

 

[ThomasCarten]

The totally incompetent Wilkes-Barre Emergency Broadcast Station? I think it was WPUK, or something like that. Puke Radio.

Mistake there. Wasn't Puke Radio, but Poo Radio. The call was WPUU. Or P-Euuu.

 

[Rockin Rob]

One bad thing about tower farms like Penobscott (or Roxboro down in Philly) Is that the suckers are so close, if one comes down, it could domino to the surrounding towers.

Ahhhhhhhh.... so THAT's why they call it DOMINO LANE!!! ;D

 

[emo474]

I talked about this last year when in the same month, December, we had that tornado touch down in Mountaintop.. No power... so no TV, internet, and telephone. There are ways to receive the simplest of radio signals.. go out to your car, turn on a boom box in your kids room. But both storms hit on weekends and the local media just doesn't care. I'm talking radio here, with the TV stations out of commission, rado could have made a huge difference... in both cases we had a warning of severe weather on the way. Yet in each instance, the broadcasters continued to carry regular programming, canned music, or satellite programming. I asked this last year when our area was without power for three days... When an emergency hits, what station would you immediately turn to and be sure you were going to get the whole story? Answer... none. Don't give me the "We rebroadcast the emergency notification message"... that does not tell me who, what,when and were or for how long. WBHT, licensed to service the Mountaintop area.... what did that station do during the outage, with freezing temperatures, 40 mph winds, no electricity or heat for it's residents? Yo, AJ... 100% local programming???? You're full of it.

 

[waunderlust]

EBS was in the hands of on air the staff. However, the newer EAS is in the hands of whoever broadcasts the first signal. Technically, EAS is set to interrupt the on air programming of the receiving station and re broadcast the message, even if delayed. If EAS will not interrupt the programming, then the station is in default of FCC rules and regulations. So, if local authorities do not activate it, you'll hear nothing anyway. Then again, if the station has no power at the transmitter site and/or the main studio, nothing matters.

On a side note, in the aftermath of September 11th, it was realized that emergency personnel may lose cellular signals and radio transmitters, (they were on the roofs at the world trade center and other circuits were overloaded) that's why it was suggested that the use satellite phones be implemented.

 

[Roger]

I think the FCC should let DirecTV broadcast the East Coast Networks. That way if something like this happens then we can turn to the networks.

 

[Radiodeity]

IMHO - EAS is a joke... all designed to create an industry (did it help with 9/11, Katrina, etc?). After all, how many pagers, cell phones, iPods, video game systems and PDAs have EAS built in? Let's be realistic, radio had delusions of grandeur and wasn’t watching as their industry began drying up. “Listeners” aren’t stupid (like some broadcasters believe) and they know most radio stations are un-attended most of the day and mostly all week-end so they don’t bother even taking the time to fire up the old radio when things begin flying around. Why bother when you know you aren’t going to get a thing from radio. In fact sometimes the local newspaper has more information than the local radio station. And that’s pretty darn sad.

Oh and I'll bet that one guy wire that (used to) run about a quarter mile down the southern side of the mountain was the one that came whipping up and around catching the other tower's guy lines and severing the top of WVIAs TV tower. That was one long guy line... and the whole thing probably looked like a giant weed-whacker when it was in action.

 

[STICKBOY]

Abc news today (radio) 37,000 people out of power yet in the mid west.....
I think we need to get together with americas best sales man Ed Rendell and get pa on the right track.. Al kidding aside, the people who go to this board can make a differance here.

Possible solutions

1. Offer boradcaters excllerated depreciation on the purchase of generators.
2. Devlope a fund to refund broadcasters for air time loss due to total government take over of the air waves in time of emergency
3. Pab and State should work even more closely on relationships between stations and county and township offocials so that their is a point on contact.....
4. what do you think

We do not need a hand out but you can make it easy to do.. Most rural radio stations in pa are hanging on by a thread. if you thru tax incentives things can get done

 

[NHRadio]

Abc news today (radio) 37,000 people out of power yet in the mid west.....
I think we need to get together with americas best sales man Ed Rendell and get pa on the right track.. Al kidding aside, the people who go to this board can make a differance here.

Possible solutions

1. Offer boradcaters excllerated depreciation on the purchase of generators.
Do you mean "accelerated"?

2. Devlope a fund to refund broadcasters for air time loss due to total government take over of the air waves in time of emergency
The government has no authority to totally take over a broadcast station. Participation is EAS is not mandatory, and is not designed to provide long-form emergency programming anyway.

We do not need a hand out but you can make it easy to do..
If that's true why do you propose handouts for lost commercial time? That's what makegoods are for.


Most rural radio stations in pa are hanging on by a thread.
And you base this on what?

 

[waunderlust]

2. Devlop a fund to refund broadcasters for air time loss due to total government take over of the air waves in time of emergency
The government has no authority to totally take over a broadcast station. Participation is EAS is not mandatory, and is not designed to provide long-form emergency programming anyway.

NHRadio you're right about the loss of airtime, but wrong about EAS. Tell the stations that got fined for not having equipment up to specs that EAS is NOT mandatory. According to the FCC website....

The Emergency Alert System (EAS) is a national public warning system that requires broadcasters, cable television systems, wireless cable systems, satellite digital audio radio service (SDARS) providers and, direct broadcast satellite (DBS) service providers to provide the communications capability to the President to address the American public during a National emergency. The system also may be used by state and local authorities to deliver important emergency information such as AMBER alerts and weather information targeted to a specific area.

The FCC's role includes prescribing rules that establish technical standards for EAS, procedures for EAS participants to follow in the event EAS is activated, and EAS testing protocols. Additionally, the FCC ensures that EAS state and local plans developed by industry conform to the FCC EAS rules and regulations.

AND...although the "system is not designed to provide long-form emergency programming", remember the "EBS" script. "If this had been an actual emergency the signal you just heard would have been followed by where to tune in your area". This puts the blame somewhere.

 

[NHRadio]

AND...although the "system is not designed to provide long-form emergency programming", remember the "EBS" script. "If this had been an actual emergency the signal you just heard would have been followed by where to tune in your area". This puts the blame somewhere.
[/quote]

I should have been more clear. All stations with the exception of the old 10 watt educationals must have EAS equipment and send regular tests. But...in a real emergency a station can elect not to take part. It would broadcast the attention signal, announce it is going off the air and tell people what station to turn to. That, according to the FCC, is non-participation.
I stand by my comment that EBS/EAS doesn't provide long-form programming. I remember the EBS script well, having been through it many many many times. The EBS/EAS system is designed to relay relatively small bits of information, and it's up to the individual station to provide programming/instructions/safety info, etc etc. Case in point...about 2 years ago we had major, 100-year floods and some dams were in serious danger of collapsing. The state activated the EAS, and it was just a 45 second message saying there was a flood emergency and some basic info like don't touch fallen power lines. Thats all. We filled time with reports from the affected areas, shelter info, interviews with state/local officials, etc. THAT is what's meant by "if this had been an actual emergency, yada yada yada. If you rely solely on EAS for emergency info you'll have precious litle info and a potload of dead air. No offense, but have you ever been in a radio station during an emergency? Have you worked in radio at all? EAS is a bad joke with the possible exception of Amber alerts, and you seem to be giving the system far more credit than it deserves.

 

[ThomasCarten]

Have you ever been in a radio station during an emergency?

Yeah; the EBS (in those days) wasn't worth poop. Absolutely worthless. I forget the circumstances, but it was probably flood related. Seems to me that I wrote a piece in the Voice or a trade paper defending another station against a charge that we "over-reacted." Bull. EBS did nothing and we had to do it ourselves to serve our audience.

 

[waunderlust]

have you ever been in a radio station during an emergency? Have you worked in radio at all? EAS is a bad joke with the possible exception of Amber alerts, and you seem to be giving the system far more credit than it deserves.

I'm not really giving it credit. I'm just trying to believe it COULD work. It looks good on paper, but I have yet to see it work correctly.

Many times I was on the air when MANDATORY evacuations were issued for Wilkes-Barre and/or Scranton due to flooding. I remember two specific times that it annoyed me.

Once was during the EBS days. EBS was NEVER activated, luckily I was listening to a competitor who "apologized" that he had to stop the music to tell people to evacuate. (It was a weekend overnight) I ran with what little info I had by watching TV and listening to blurbs from other stations. I came home to a house FULL of friends since I was NOT in the flood zone.

Another time, during the EAS days, I only found out an evacuation was issued by keeping my eye on the TV. Again, EAS was NEVER activated.

Both times I was severely annoyed that I had to DIG to find info to give to listeners during life threatening situations.

I agree with you that EAS is a system with a lot of holes that often interrupts programming for nearly useless weather service flood watch conditions, but it's all we got. It's up to local and state authorities to activate it and keep the primary RADIO stations aware of what's going on.

There are many times this board goes off on how radio should be "local". This is the ultimate time to prove that. Unfortunately, due to the extreme geographical nature of this market ("we serve Scranton, who cares about Hazleton?") and the cluelessness of those in programming ("Don't interrupt the music, 3/4's of our listeners don't care"), few come through in times of need. Did I mention, I think it sucks?