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Metro Sacramento pulls plug?
- Thread starter pard
- Start date
S
Stage5Clinger
Guest
Yep, today's the last day. I saw Marilyn run out of the building this morning with a big box when I went in to get my last checks. I'll miss the great folks over there, but we'll all cross paths again, I'm sure of it. :'(
They set up shop in S.F. headquarters, and the Zone and a few other stations are already taking their reports from the city.
They set up shop in S.F. headquarters, and the Zone and a few other stations are already taking their reports from the city.
I was in last Friday (got laid off late last year) to say goodby on what was going to be the last day, they got extended til today. Only saw a few people, was in before the afternoon drive.
wow. what a shame. traffic reports definitly won't be of the same quality with the consolidation of traffic centers.
i know some (if not all) stations are using plain old copper audio loops for metro, are they just going to get extended to sf or are stations going to start using codecs?
i know some (if not all) stations are using plain old copper audio loops for metro, are they just going to get extended to sf or are stations going to start using codecs?
How soon before traffic conditions become accessible in your car to the point where traffic reports on the radio will be unnecessary?
We're all familiar with new technology supplanting the old (and sometimes "the breathing") but traffic reports are often the same old same old and invariably, you'll hear reports that don't cover your part of the commute. Most people tuning to traffic reports (do they do that?) just wanna know about their route. If you're driving on 50 and you have a way in your car dashboard to check the traffic on 50 all the way to your house, who needs a traffic report, let alone a traffic center.
I'm not celebrating the loss of Metro; I'm wondering when the inevitable will happen, elminating the need for regular traffic reports (and as a result, eliminating another revenue stream. I mean really, when I hear on AM, "Let head to the John Deere Weather Center, brought to you by Leatherby's"... I get it but ugh!
Is there a better way to report traffic? Does it need a helicopter? Who does good traffic reports and why? Sometimes, they just sound phoned in (yes, figuratively, not literally). Is there a station here (or perhaps in the Bay Area) that does a good job reporting traffic in a way that's truly useful to the listener --AM or FM.
We're all familiar with new technology supplanting the old (and sometimes "the breathing") but traffic reports are often the same old same old and invariably, you'll hear reports that don't cover your part of the commute. Most people tuning to traffic reports (do they do that?) just wanna know about their route. If you're driving on 50 and you have a way in your car dashboard to check the traffic on 50 all the way to your house, who needs a traffic report, let alone a traffic center.
I'm not celebrating the loss of Metro; I'm wondering when the inevitable will happen, elminating the need for regular traffic reports (and as a result, eliminating another revenue stream. I mean really, when I hear on AM, "Let head to the John Deere Weather Center, brought to you by Leatherby's"... I get it but ugh!
Is there a better way to report traffic? Does it need a helicopter? Who does good traffic reports and why? Sometimes, they just sound phoned in (yes, figuratively, not literally). Is there a station here (or perhaps in the Bay Area) that does a good job reporting traffic in a way that's truly useful to the listener --AM or FM.
In my experience, the best/most useful traffic report is a live one, with someone in a plane or helicopter saying what they see RIGHT NOW.
I can get traffic conditions thru my cell phone's navigator, but just that traffic is slow ahead because of an accident. A real person can tell you what lane is blocked, if the blocked lane is being cleared or not, alternate routes you can take etc. I can also get my weather by a simple click on the 'puter, but a weather guy on TV can give you more information like the chance of rain tonight, tomorrow morning and noon, what's moving across the valley system-wise, lots of good information. IMO traffic reports are the same way. If the reporter is good, they add to the radio station's show and become a kind of personality in their own right, giving the jock someone to bounce off of, play with etc. And they can become a friend to the listener....not just telling them traffic is slow but the where/when/why's, maybe reassure the listener all will be well soon, and perhaps making them smile.
you can't get that with dry, bare bones information
I can get traffic conditions thru my cell phone's navigator, but just that traffic is slow ahead because of an accident. A real person can tell you what lane is blocked, if the blocked lane is being cleared or not, alternate routes you can take etc. I can also get my weather by a simple click on the 'puter, but a weather guy on TV can give you more information like the chance of rain tonight, tomorrow morning and noon, what's moving across the valley system-wise, lots of good information. IMO traffic reports are the same way. If the reporter is good, they add to the radio station's show and become a kind of personality in their own right, giving the jock someone to bounce off of, play with etc. And they can become a friend to the listener....not just telling them traffic is slow but the where/when/why's, maybe reassure the listener all will be well soon, and perhaps making them smile.
you can't get that with dry, bare bones information
John Walker said:
Does a radio station want to pay for the services of a Hap Harper of Commander Bill in this era or economizing?
Sure, why not?:
Hap was great with Don Sherwood (KSFO) and Frank and Mike (KNBR) for years, and Commander Bill was very good
for all the years he was in the Sacto skies...in both cases, exactly as you mentioned above, John...
But it's likely the cost of insurance or liabilities that prevents the hiring of a whirlybird traffic reporter...seems that's
why Comm. Bill was "grounded" a few years ago...
--jay
John Walker said:
You're talking about value. Most of us probably agree with merits of that kind of value. Two things:
1) Won't the technology get better to the point where it can do real time info for the motorist and tell you which lane is blocked?
2) Since when do corporations care about value if a reasonable (cost-effective) substitute is available.
No one at KFBK wanted to see Commander Bill dock the plane and quite a few think the station took a ratings hit because of it, but that value to listeners was replaced by profit for the company. They've not only built a traffic hub in their building; they whore it out like a stadium selling naming rights, and they farm out their traffic reporters to smaller stations in the region. Depends on your perspective whether or not one is better than the other, but listeners don't care, do they? No more traffic plane? Oh well; they're still tuning in to get a traffic report, for better or worse, and after a while, no one remembers or cares about the traffice chopper.
Frame it this way: If there were another news station in town and they provided a traffic copter, would the better coverage eventually transmit into better ratings and thus justify the cost?
As long as The CHP Traffic Incident Information Page only crashes a few hundred times a day, instead of thousands, and you let the CHP eat the cost of a copter and you can grab a couple of reports from one of their choppers, KFBK ain't gonna spend another dime to improve reports that are on-air solely to grab ad bucks....if the ad dollars fade {and they well could}, those reports will be few & far between.....
And, while helpful much of the time, does a news director really want to rely in phoned-in reports from drivers? I'm just waiting for KFBK to get punked bigtime on that....
It's not a matter of accuracy, or you would not rely 90-95% on the CHP website {couldn't begin to count the numbers of drivers on cell phones calling KFBK traffic to tell us our last report was silly or the problem non-existent when I was filling in there}; it's all imaging/marketing and finding companies & non-profits willing to actually spend money to sponsor a report...which always amazed me, because the mentions were so fleeting and are ignored by so many listeners...buying the naming rights to all the reports makes far more sense, because you get so many mentions 24/7.
Trained eyes-in-the-skies and enough technology to really use traffic cams - that’s the only way to give fuller, more accurate reports....if that's what the corporate management really wants to do.....and we all know that is not what the suits are there for.
And, while helpful much of the time, does a news director really want to rely in phoned-in reports from drivers? I'm just waiting for KFBK to get punked bigtime on that....
It's not a matter of accuracy, or you would not rely 90-95% on the CHP website {couldn't begin to count the numbers of drivers on cell phones calling KFBK traffic to tell us our last report was silly or the problem non-existent when I was filling in there}; it's all imaging/marketing and finding companies & non-profits willing to actually spend money to sponsor a report...which always amazed me, because the mentions were so fleeting and are ignored by so many listeners...buying the naming rights to all the reports makes far more sense, because you get so many mentions 24/7.
Trained eyes-in-the-skies and enough technology to really use traffic cams - that’s the only way to give fuller, more accurate reports....if that's what the corporate management really wants to do.....and we all know that is not what the suits are there for.
KFBK was a unique situation, since Commander Bill (IIRC) was their employee, not Metro's.
John Walker.....
True enough....I was at KFBK when they pulled the plug on Commander Bill, who was then broadcasting reports from his - if I'm not mistaken - Reno area home.....
Metro was a different situation entirely....
When I was at KTKZ, I remember Griff The News Guy tuning his scanner in to pick up airborne traffic reports from Bill & Joe to the various CC stations and using that info for his reports during the old Eric Hogue Show....Ah!...the treachery!
True enough....I was at KFBK when they pulled the plug on Commander Bill, who was then broadcasting reports from his - if I'm not mistaken - Reno area home.....
Metro was a different situation entirely....
When I was at KTKZ, I remember Griff The News Guy tuning his scanner in to pick up airborne traffic reports from Bill & Joe to the various CC stations and using that info for his reports during the old Eric Hogue Show....Ah!...the treachery!
M
Mark Williams
Guest
Who is still using radio to get the most current information of any kind, let alone traffic?
S
Stage5Clinger
Guest
Well, I started a website after getting laid off that is going to offer streaming audio traffic reports in the next couple of months. It's www.inewsandtraffic.com, and I did it in response to the fact that the average human these days wants their info now, and not in ten minutes or at the 20 and 50 of each hour. So, folks'll be able log on, and download the hits off my site before they head out of the office, or while their driving around, or leaving Cal Expo Arena after a game, and know in real time wtf's going on on the road. The traffic portion of the site is still in development for those features.
Plus there's other stuff on there to look at too. So far it's working well on the news end because, as Mark said about being current, I've been able to scoop a number of local tv stations on stories because I can get PIOs on the phone now, and have the story written and posted before tv or radio comes to you with their designated drop time.
For example, I had the story about the Bee cutting staff today on the site a full 3 hours before it was on the news at noon. I'm kinda glued to my computer because of it, but I'm having a blast kuz I'm self employed and don't have to answer to the corporate bs anymore. Yay...
Plus there's other stuff on there to look at too. So far it's working well on the news end because, as Mark said about being current, I've been able to scoop a number of local tv stations on stories because I can get PIOs on the phone now, and have the story written and posted before tv or radio comes to you with their designated drop time.
For example, I had the story about the Bee cutting staff today on the site a full 3 hours before it was on the news at noon. I'm kinda glued to my computer because of it, but I'm having a blast kuz I'm self employed and don't have to answer to the corporate bs anymore. Yay...
Best of luck in your new venture, S5C!
S
Stage5Clinger
Guest
dude...seriously? radio hater? um, I've worked in and have loved radio since I was a kid running around inside the walls at KZAP. I needed a gig, and decided to make one for myself. I'm tired of being at the whims of the GMs and PDs that are thrashing this biz that I love.
and calguy, I'll be on the air again in time, just like I've always been in this market.
and calguy, I'll be on the air again in time, just like I've always been in this market.
Stage5Clinger said:
If not a better market.
BTW, that's a nice website you have. Good luck in that venture!
S5C.....
Calguy was quoting Mark Williams, and I think he was calling Mark a "another radio hater" for
his posted comments....
I don't think Calguy was calling you a radio hater....
We KNOW you're a radio lover....
Calguy was quoting Mark Williams, and I think he was calling Mark a "another radio hater" for
his posted comments....
I don't think Calguy was calling you a radio hater....
We KNOW you're a radio lover....
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