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Storm Coverage: WSB Radio vs. All News 106.7

Woulda, shoulda, coulda... and if there HAD been a storm, AN1067 would have covered it. They got the few major traffic problems that popped up, but there was little else to say really... And sorry, Barry. Yes ratings are important but the only thing a news station has to sell is integrity. If you blow that away to get attention, what do you have left? If an all news station can't survive on that, they probably should go ahead and dump the format in favor of something the dumbed down audience can digest more easily. I agree that AN1067 should have had a stronger presence on this non story, for the sake of verifying to anyone driving around metro Atlanta today that there was nothing to worry about, but a lot of it goes back to the Dickeys' willingness to go only part way on this investment. I agree with Artiemad to a certain extent... the follow through from Cumulus on the news concept has been gimpy, and the station is perilously close to just being a cross promotional flyer for Fox5... not something I'd be bragging to my momma about.
 
How would have Elmo Ellis handled this event?

He would have told his news department to monitor the situation, but hold off on jumping to anything smacking of "tabloid-ism" until and if screaming coverage was needed. During the 1964 ice storm*, John Moore and Bob Van Camp were still playing music while Aubrey Morris and the 750 News Cruiser were sliding on the ice down Peachtree! Slow and steady wins the race. Be careful, be sure of what you report, and report what is news not what is not news. Days later the promos would have come on with highlights of the coverage. It may be more in their style that annoys me and nnot so much the content. "We're the best, and we know if, and if you don't know we're the best, then you are an idiot."




*The ice storm portrayed in DRIVING MISS DAISY
 
I want a news station with integrity, but more importantly, I want an all news station. CNN has tried the middle of the road approach and it did not work. They now are back to hyping all of their stories and all the things that they said they did not want to do. AN106.7 has to live in this market. Good or bad, WSB sets the news tone for both TV and radio. To compete on TV other stations have gone in several different directions. Mostly, with little success as compared to WSB-TV. On the radio side, WSB Radio is the market go-to station for news/weather problems. And, yes the milk it to death. I am not saying AN106.7 needs to go as far, but they do need to move some into that direction. The only time the cookie cutter format was broken today was for the Chambliss story. No special imaging to let the listening know they are keeping up with the story... nothing.

To be completely honest, I agree with whomever said the coverage was a bit sleepy. I normally don't listen to radio during morning drive so I don't hear the morning team often at AN106.7. But today, it sounded slow. The pace was slow and laid back. AN106.7 sounded more like WABE but with the annoying imaging thrown in. Listen to the profitable news stations across the country and their morning shows are uptempo with a fast pace rate of delivering the news. The AN106.7 afternoon drive show is faster pace and seems to be more awake.

Bottom line, they need a program director/news director who has the authority to change things.
 
Weather reporting in ATL is nothing but embellished reporting. They get off on the excitement and fear factor all this instills into the public...

BIG WINTER WATCH WARNINGS is all I heard the last 24 hours...

Presently, in Acworth, where I am: 44'...just came in from outside, and it feels nice

:-\
 
I did not listen to WSB this morning, but AN106.7 was all over the tornado warning this morning. What a welcome change it was from the sleepy weather coverage of last week. Did anybody listen to WSB-AM this morning?
 
BarryATL said:
I did not listen to WSB this morning, but AN106.7 was all over the tornado warning this morning. What a welcome change it was from the sleepy weather coverage of last week. Did anybody listen to WSB-AM this morning?
Just the usual "lots of severe weather today--coming right up--but we're not sensationalizing or teasing or anything" that WSB is infamous for.
 
artiemad said:
Engineer Taylor is right on and reasoned w his explanation. WSB has the breaking news, weather and traffic brand and is the go to station for information. The critics whining about the station's alleged hype of the storm are nothing more than 106 7 mostly news apologists disgruntled that 7 months into their run with a ton of marketing they have little to show for it. What do you expect when the station has no PD and is run by Fox5 which rightly puts TV first.
Art

I ask you respectfully...What "ton of marketing" at All News do you speak of? TV Ads, Newspaper ads, etc.? Oh wait. There hasn't been any. And..am I an "All News apologist" because I am calling out facts that don't necessarily benefit your station of choice? Sometimes, calling things in a true (non-Fox News manner) "fair and balanced" way makes your argument sound invalid.
 
Hi everyone. I want to say I like what I'm reading in this thread. I do have a couple of points to make.

SEVERE WEATHER ALERT STATEMENTS

When I heard the first tornado warning issued, I was listening to AN106.7 at the time. I paid attention to every county included in the first tornado warning. I was disappointed when no places were mentioned in Coweta County & South Fulton (2 out of the 4 or 5 counties included in the warning). So I tuned in to News/Talk WSB-AM/WSBB-FM, and found that more places were included in the warning that AN106.7 failed to include. Now, places near and around Coweta County and South Fulton that come to my mind: Whitesburg, Newnan, Palmetto, and Chattahoochee Hill Country, those places were not included in the path of the storm. Now the tornado warning statement did end with the phrase "and surrounding areas". One key place that was mentioned was, of course, Carrollton, because Carroll County was included in that tornado warning. Later, a tornado warning was issued for Douglas, Paulding, and Cobb counties. When I was listening to AN106.7, the only places they mentioned in the path, IIRC, were Douglasville, Lithia Springs, Austell, Marietta, and Smyrna. On News/Talk WSB-AM/WSBB-FM, they mentioned 15 or 20 places in the path (cities, towns, communties, parks, colleges & universities, venues). Places such as Mabelton, Six Flags Over Georgia, Jim Miller Park, Lost Mountain Park, and the Due West community were included in the path. Other occasions of severe weather prior to AN106.7's existence that come to mind were last year in 2011 when the tornado that had come through and damaged the Paulding Northwest Atlanta Airport. That same tornado was reported on the ground further east in Cobb County. Some of the places included in the path of that storm were Six Flags White Water, Kennesaw State University, Town Center Mall, and the Noonday community (off of Canton Rd. in Marietta between Jamerson & Shallowford Rds.) The other occasion had been when a severe thunderstorm warning had been issued for central Fulton County a couple of times back in 2010 & 2011. Both times, the Grove Park/Zoo Atlanta area was in the projected path. I'm very thankful that the NWS (National Weather Service) has gotten alot better with severe weather warnings issued for certain areas. I'm also thankful that News/Talk WSB/WSBB actually reads every single place included in the path of the storm that's included in each severe weather warning statement. As for AN106.7, they only read a few of the places included in each warning statement. I'm thankful I don't live in the Southwest end of Greater Atlanta or up in the North Georgia Mountains. In the mountains, AN106.7 was the only radio station recognizing the counties in the mountains. My advice for AN106.7 is simply to please read every place included in the path of the storm that's included in each severe weather warning statement.

COLLEGE SPORTS GAMES

I'm very thankful that the severe weather outbreak did not occur while the Georgia Bulldogs and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets were playing their respective games whether they play against each other or they play against other teams at the same time whether it be in college football or college men's basketball. News/Talk WSB/WSBB is home of the Dawgs while AN106.7 is the home of the Yellow Jackets. If a severe weather outbreak happened at a time when both Georgia & Georgia Tech were playing at the same time (against each other and against other teams), our only alternatives would be via NOAA weather radio and/or TV. News/Talk WSB/WSBB and AN106.7 would keep the games playing. This is why I don't really like sports team games PBP included on All News and News/Talk stations. This isn't New York City. We don't have an alternative All News station similar to 1010 AM WINS.

Anyway, that is all.
 
AMFMRadFan said:
Grove Park/Zoo Atlanta

Okay, I know it's been over 6 months since this thread has been touched, but I have one minor correction to make from my previous post in this thread. When I posted in my previous post for this thread, I accidentally typed "Grove Park/Zoo Atlanta". I meant to type "Grant Park/Zoo Atlanta". I apologize for typing the wrong name of the place area. Anyway, that is all.
 
Why did you resurrect this thread? Weather coverage is a judgement call. No one really knows what will happen, so WSB and All News make coverage calls based on speculation. When weather really gets dangerous, both stations hit the story hard. But nitpicking storm coverage of a storm that did not materialize is silly. Trust me, when the storm to end all storms hits, both stations will be there for it.
 
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