I sometimes like to have the radio on for big games when I leave the room to get a beverage or snack. Sunday night, I noticed that WGR was off the air for much of the first quarter of the Super Bowl. Granted, a power outage is out of anyone's control. But this is the biggest sporting event of the year. Entercom needs to invest in a back-up power system for WGR. It'll be even more inexcusable if a power outage knocks WGR off the air during the Stanley Cup playoffs. WGR dodged a bullet last spring when the station was knocked off for four hours on the day between games. Entercom is bragging that WGR is the top-rated sports station in the country. I don't blame them for bragging. Such an accomplishment should be touted. Now the top brass needs to make the station is there, even when power is knocked out because of an act of God.
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Super Power Outage
- Thread starter Philip_Airtime
- Start date
Philip_Airtime said:
During the ice storm of 1991 WXXI-AM was off the air for a few days because the then chief engineer had sold the generator. Well the station finally ponied up and bought a generator. The only problem was that instead of having an automatic start-up system, an engineer has to drive from State Street downtown to French Road in Brighton to manually start up the generator. That takes about 20 to 25 minutes. Imagine the number of people who switch from 1370 to another station to get the latest news and information during an emergency because 1370 is dark. For a few thousand dollars more an automatic start-up system could be installed when the power goes out. Another interesting thing is that the main office building is also without a back-up generator. These are two things I pointed out to management, but they never bothered to listen.
Did anyone check to see if KB was off as well as WGR? If it was a power outage they both would be off.
Mark said:
And this surprises you because...
Of COURSE they didn't listen to you... a generator with auto-interrupt would have cost an additional $12 hundred. That's a monthly payment on the CEO's yacht!
The weather in Hamburg was absolutely brutal this weekend. No surprise that there were power issues with the snow and extremely high wind. I'm told the Big Tree Road transmitter site has a late model automatic onl-line generator that is capable of powering both WGR and WWKB with plenty of power to spare. Why it didn't automatically go on-line is anybody's guess. Could have been out of diesel fuel--- Don't laugh--- it's happened before. Many years ago, I'm told by one of the engineers, there was a leak in the fuel tank. They'd fill it and two weeks later, it was barely half full. You can imagine how much #2 heating oil went into the ground. Jed Clampett would be proud. Still, that's no excuse for the station to be off, especcially on Superbowl Sunday.
In the old days the transmitter site used to have an engineer on duty. That hasn't been needed for a long time though. With an engineer on duty 24/7 there was allot of time to make sure everything was operating as it should, generator, backup transmitters, the works. Now things get overlooked when you have just a few engineers looking after around a half dozen stations. Even if you're good, even if you are careful things will get overlooked. The guys who pulled an 8 hours at the transmitter every day probably knew more about the plant than even the best engineer would today...because they were there and had the luxury of time. They lived with it!
Besides it's not like the old days when owners only had one or two stations. With six stations if two go down you're probably talking about only a third of your revenue or less. When you own just one station it's 100 per cent of your revenue!
Besides it's not like the old days when owners only had one or two stations. With six stations if two go down you're probably talking about only a third of your revenue or less. When you own just one station it's 100 per cent of your revenue!
SpareChange said:
Heaven forbid spend a few dollars to make sure that your station remains on the air during an emergency; especially a station that is geared towards news and information. What's the saying, penny-wise pound foolish?
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KB was on, because I checked to see if the Super Bowl was temporarily moved to another station. Maybe it wasn't a power outage at the transmitter. Whatever it was, the station was off for the beginning of the most important game of the year.
R
raymond_shaw
Guest
But there are priorities - the CEO has to get his SUV every 2 years! Didn't the librarian who founded WXXI in the basement of East High School have that vision - a gradioise operation funded by non stop on-air pitches for money peppered with threats of the cancellation of your favorite shows?
raymond_shaw said:
God help them during the next power outage; especially if their studios and transmitter goes dark for lack of electricity. Maybe the plan is to hook up jumper cables to the General Manager's SUV to keep the lights running until the engineer can make it out to French Road.
;D
As for your comment about the person who founded WXXI, I believe his name was Harold Hacker, who recently passed away, and his dream was to serve the community thru educational teaching methods that pubic broadcasting provided. He was a man with a vision.
Mark_Giardina said:What's the saying, penny-wise pound foolish?
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That would be the Brittish way to put it, yes.
The American saying is, Spend a dime lose a dollar, spend a dollar, save a dime.
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