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storm coverage

Did anyone else listen to the coverage of the thunderstorm on the radio last night? I had KOMO on for about two hours, and thought they did a good job. The storm must have knocked out the STLs for both KOMO and KPLZ for a short time, as when I turned on KOMO they were running dead air, so I turned on the G8 to check KOMO-FM and I thought my G8 was broken because KPLZ also had dead air. Ended up figuring that out and found KOMO-FM on and in news coverage, though delayed because of what they're doing with the Huskies. The one issue I had with KOMO-AM is when they got audio back to the transmitter, the level was so low that I could barely hear it on my clock radio. I called to try and let them know about it, but when I told the producer I didn't want to go on the air, I was put on hold then hung up on. The audio level didn't return to normal until they plugged back into the network. KPLZ seemed to return to normal operation fairly quickly.
 
The stations I contract with had no problems. Lots of power bumps and VSWR/lightning emails from various transmitters but all stayed on the air and cleared spots with good audio. This was a good lightning event, one I will remember. but no damage out here on Vashon.
 
Severe T-storms woke me up 3AM Sunday morning. Of course in Yakima no one is around, everything is a jukebox or syndication. They sparked a few brush fires but they were quickly put out. Surprisingly, NWS never issued a severe thunderstorm warning. They should have. Big downpours and loud thunder.
Last night there was a TORNADO warning near Vancouver WA! Also in Multnomah County OR, where Portland is. There was actually a funnel cloud on the ground for a brief period, NWS is trying to confirm if Hillsboro had a tornado on the ground.
 
The storm must have knocked out the STLs for both KOMO and KPLZ for a short time, as when I turned on KOMO they were running dead air, so I turned on the G8 to check KOMO-FM and I thought my G8 was broken because KPLZ also had dead air.

I believe both STL paths still relay through the KOMO TV Queen Anne Hill site. Maybe something power, or lightning-related there.
 
The reason why KOMO was covering the storm is because they carry Husky football. I don't know for sure, but I doubt any other local station on a Saturday night would have the ability or desire to cover it. However, even if this was not on a Saturday gameday, KOMO would still likely be live at that hour. I believe everyone else would be in syndication programming or voice tracked. Such is radio today. Somebody correct me if I am wrong, but weekends generally have become voice tracked for the most part.
 
The reason why KOMO was covering the storm is because they carry Husky football. I don't know for sure, but I doubt any other local station on a Saturday night would have the ability or desire to cover it. However, even if this was not on a Saturday gameday, KOMO would still likely be live at that hour. I believe everyone else would be in syndication programming or voice tracked. Such is radio today. Somebody correct me if I am wrong, but weekends generally have become voice tracked for the most part.

It used to be, even a couple years ago, that KOMO Radio had at least one person that could go live during a breaking news situation 24/7. That included weekends and nights when they were playing recorded programming.

Also remember that KOMO Radio shares the same newsroom with KOMO-TV. It's a simple matter of punching a button and turning up a fader to simulcast KOMO-TV on Radio.
 
And they actually do that at 11:00 6 days a week when not carrying football. That's actually what my bedtime routine is centered around these days. The question I have is, do they need a board operator there to hit the button when commercials need to be split? That's the only reason I could think of as to why they don't do it on major holidays.
 
It used to be, even a couple years ago, that KOMO Radio had at least one person that could go live during a breaking news situation 24/7...
Don't forget the internet "stream." KOMO runs its regular Newsradio programming there during Husky sports coverage since IMG holds internet rights to the Husky Sports Network.
 
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