Depend On It they say. Words are cheap. I'm sitting in NB I-65 traffic that has come to a stop...Saturday at 6:55PM. No problem...WHAS news is 5 minutes away. Dependable In Depth Team Coverage...7 O'Clock...Fox News Radio tells me about the president being protested in Europe. Then KNN news tells me how a tree fell on a fence in SE KY and cows escaped. Then a canned weather forecast from the WAVE 3 weather department. The entire "live & local" part of the newscast was a minimum wage board op telling me it was 76 degrees. There was ZERO local news in that break. Substantial traffic accident snarling traffic for miles...Where was WHAS? Depned On It...my foot.
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Thanks 84 WHAS...For Nothing
- Thread starter BobOnTheJob
- Start date
This from the station that gave us "Kentuckiana"...
Oh the humanity....
Oh the humanity....
It is pretty bad listening to Matt Drudge on WHAS Sunday night 10pm-1am and they are still airing the WAVE-TV weather forecast for Sunday afternoon. It is pathetic since this station can be heard in several other states during this time. It is a great way to represent Kentuckiana.
WGTK is just as bad since their weekend lineup consist of mostly informercials and the same Friday episode of Hugh Hewitt, Dennis Prager and Mike Gallagher all airing several times throughout the weekend. I believe the same Friday episode of Dennis Prager airs four times throughout the weekend on WGTK while the same show of Hugh Hewitt and Mike Gallagher runs three times each. BTW, how about that double dose of Dennis Prager each weeknight on WGTK? The program airs on WGTK from 9pm-midnight and the same episode replays from midnight-3am. Let's not forget WKJK which now carries Dave Ramsey twice daily from noon-3pm and again 9pm-midnight.
WGTK is just as bad since their weekend lineup consist of mostly informercials and the same Friday episode of Hugh Hewitt, Dennis Prager and Mike Gallagher all airing several times throughout the weekend. I believe the same Friday episode of Dennis Prager airs four times throughout the weekend on WGTK while the same show of Hugh Hewitt and Mike Gallagher runs three times each. BTW, how about that double dose of Dennis Prager each weeknight on WGTK? The program airs on WGTK from 9pm-midnight and the same episode replays from midnight-3am. Let's not forget WKJK which now carries Dave Ramsey twice daily from noon-3pm and again 9pm-midnight.
It's not just WHAS that's been put out to pasture. 6 years ago, WAMZ had a Top 10 at Ten feature every weeknight. That's long gone as that required--heaven forbid--a live jock. It amazes me beyond belief that the number 1 and 2 stations in Louisville have been gutted to this degree. The one thing--live local radio--that gives people a reason to stay with over the air radio has been removed from these two legendary stations. That's not just a shame...it's a complete & utter disgrace. I love this industry and as such, I don't know whether to wish them well getting away with murder on radio row or hoping that both of those stations end up with a major ratings loss. Talk about gross negligence where serving the public interest is concerned!
K
kyscott
Guest
Chase said:
There is already an independent AAA format station in Louisville. WFPK.
K
kyscott
Guest
BobOnTheJob said:
Shareholder value trumps public interest in today's world. Thank you FCC.
Listening to the Outdoors (what happened to the Great Outdoors??) Sunday evening, where there were at least 2 live bodies in the station, they broke away for the 7PM news & it was the same crap. Fox News Radio followed by Kentucky News Network followed by a WAVE 3 weather recording--not one hint of local news coverage. If they're going to do this, at least they could work out a deal with WAVE's news department to put some local news on...unless WAVE 3's newsroom closes at noon Saturday too!
K
kyscott
Guest
BobOnTheJob said:
Anybody who's concerned about what's going on with the weather (like I am) I reccommend purchasing a weather radio. You can't depend on WHAS to relay anything anymore. Also, I have found myself turning into WFPL's newscasts at the top of the hour for local news. If I happen to be listening to Limbaugh, I'll turn over to WFPL for their news, then back to WHAS for Rush's show. WHAS has become nothing more than a commodity to Clear Channel. A profit center, if you will. While I'm not against making profits, I to have a problem with an organization gutting a station the way they have done WHAS. WLW has better news coverage than WHAS.
kyscott said:
Kyscott, while I agree with the overall content of your post, it's not really fair to say you can't depend on WHAS to relay weather info. The fact is, their EAS equipment monitors the same National Weather Service frequency that you monitor on your weather radio. And their stuff is set to automatically relay the weather alerts as soon as they come in.
Their equipment is mounted back in engineering, completely out of the operator's hands. That's why you sometimes hear weather alerts that seem to take the live hosts completely by surprise. All of the weather alerts are relayed automatically, without the need for human intervention. So it doesn't matter if anyone is in the building or not, the weather alert will be relayed.
Sure the box with the letters EAS is supposed to relay the information. However, I remember “back in the day” when WHAS was manned around the clock. An actual human, sometimes a meteorologist, would convey weather information for not only the Louisville metro but a good chunk of Kentucky and Indiana. But that was then is this is now; I’ll just depend on my own weather radio as it is just as useful.
On a related note, does WHAS still use the Constant Alert Tone? For those not in the know, WHAS would run a beep (1k tone for you engineering types) every five seconds under all programming and commercials for the duration of a Tornado Warning issued for the Louisville metro area. That way you would know in five seconds if there was a Tornado Warning.
WHAS is successful today because of the work that was done many years ago. Back then, management surrounded the information elements with a presentation that appealed to the younger end of the demo. Here is a link to John Quincy’s LKY tribute page and a WHAS playlist from twenty-three years ago. http://www.lkyradio.com/surveys/WHASPlaylist(1984-06-25).jpg Randy Michaels used to say it was easier to get a 50 year old to listen to Madonna than it was a 20 year old to listen to Patti Page. In this case WHAS knew it was easier to get a 50 year old to listen to Duran Duran and Prince that it was to get a 20 year old to listen to Johnny Mathis. Building that brand loyalty with the younger demo worked because the same audience they catered for back then is the same audience they have today.
On a personal note, I don’t listen to WHAS like I once did. Sure Terry Meiners still makes me chuckle and Joe Elliot is an island in the sea of talk radio where your patriotism is in question if you disagree with the host. But overall, WHAS is no longer unique and, from a programming perspective, inspirational. It’s just a place on the dial that has some local programming but most of their offerings are nationally syndicated and available locally.
You can’t argue with their success today, but there was something special about the WHAS from back in the day. But again, that was then and this is now.
On a related note, does WHAS still use the Constant Alert Tone? For those not in the know, WHAS would run a beep (1k tone for you engineering types) every five seconds under all programming and commercials for the duration of a Tornado Warning issued for the Louisville metro area. That way you would know in five seconds if there was a Tornado Warning.
WHAS is successful today because of the work that was done many years ago. Back then, management surrounded the information elements with a presentation that appealed to the younger end of the demo. Here is a link to John Quincy’s LKY tribute page and a WHAS playlist from twenty-three years ago. http://www.lkyradio.com/surveys/WHASPlaylist(1984-06-25).jpg Randy Michaels used to say it was easier to get a 50 year old to listen to Madonna than it was a 20 year old to listen to Patti Page. In this case WHAS knew it was easier to get a 50 year old to listen to Duran Duran and Prince that it was to get a 20 year old to listen to Johnny Mathis. Building that brand loyalty with the younger demo worked because the same audience they catered for back then is the same audience they have today.
On a personal note, I don’t listen to WHAS like I once did. Sure Terry Meiners still makes me chuckle and Joe Elliot is an island in the sea of talk radio where your patriotism is in question if you disagree with the host. But overall, WHAS is no longer unique and, from a programming perspective, inspirational. It’s just a place on the dial that has some local programming but most of their offerings are nationally syndicated and available locally.
You can’t argue with their success today, but there was something special about the WHAS from back in the day. But again, that was then and this is now.
K
kyscott
Guest
genghis said:
And their EAS equipment is the same EAS equipment I have had to work on time and time again due to failures. If the EAS machine locks up, if the power supply dies, if it doesn't decode the NWS duck farts properly, if the NWS receiver dies, if it just friggin missed the alert, who is there to make sure the alert is going to go through? They went from having a manned position with WHAS-TV to relying on a box for their alerts. If some severe weather pops up one Saturday evening about 9 o'clock, how long do you think it would take WHAS to get someone in the station? Or are they just going to depend on the EAS box to take care of everything?
I have seen how the sausage is made, genghis. I don't trust WHAS to relay any alerts any more than I trust say, WDJX to. The fact that the rest of the stations in this market must monitor them is absolutely ridiculous. At nights an on weekends, WHAS is no more prepared to alert us than any other station anymore. Stations in Louisville must monitor three sources for EAS. Most of them monitor WHAS, WAMZ and NWS. The smarter ones monitor WDJX instead of WAMZ. I can't tell you the times I have reviewed EAS tape just to see the NWS issue an alert and about 5 minutes later WHAS relays it. 5 minutes is a long time when a tornado is moving at 30 MPH.
Long story short, I have two weather radios in my home. Built in redundancy. I do not depend on WHAS for anything anymore.
Do you know how stupid it sounds to have a live host on the air inturrupted by an EAS alert without the host knowing what's going on or even acknowledging what was going on? I know where there boxes are. That's not the place to put them. They should be right next to the board operator. How is a board op going to run a test when the box is down the hall? And at least give the host time to say "we have a weather alert" before the box takes over while they are on the air. I'm assuming the FCC inspector who was here last year didn't ask them to run a test.
Until the box fails.....and they do fail. Here's one for you. Those power supplies on the Sage boxes are crappy. As they get older they get worse. One sign that the power supply is failing is the box resets when it starts to print out something because of the current draw on the printer crowbars the wall wart. Sunday at 4pm, an alert comes in. The box starts to relay it but as it starts to print out it resets. The alert does not get broadcast and there's dead air on WHAS until the EAS box can reboot. Nobody is in the studio because they running syndicated programming.
B
BIGRIGGER
Guest
sadly what it will take will be major disaster to change the way things are. A weekend or middle of the night Tornado that wacks a town and nobody's @ the staion. Regardless of weather an EAS is in place there needs to be more coverage than one :30 alert that could be easily missed and I think it's sad to think the budget gets more attention than the public you're licensed to serve....but hey what do I know ???riggie.
BIGRIGGER said:
riggie.
It already happened down the Ohio. An F4 hit Henderson/Evansville about two years ago. The early Sunday morning tornado was on the ground for twenty miles moving a mile a minute. In its path were Ellis Park, several subdivisions and a trailer park, twenty-five people were killed. Two television stations were in continuing coverage emphasizing this tornado warning was reality. Radio, outside of an occasional EAS, was normal programming. After the storm, radio finally did something but only for a few hours while TV continued on.
I have a weather radio, the internet, as well as being a trained storm spotter and amateur radio operator so I really don't need radio anymore; local television fills in the gaps.
K
kyscott
Guest
radiorob2.0 said:
I remember that incident. That will happen one day here in Louisville again. What will WHAS do if it happens on a weekend night? The occasional EAS alert during Bob Costas' show while a storm is ripping up the city?
Think about this, if we have another tornado outbreak similer to what happened in 1974, how will WHAS cover it? I'm guessing it won't be covered like it was until AFTER the fact this time. And if it's on the weekend or weeknight, it will be WAAAAAAY after the fact.
kyscott said:
What amazes me is that there apparently is no plan in place to cover such events. Most small market stations have people who are fanatical about watching the weather & head for the station when there's even a chance of severe weather. When the mom & pops with their satellite fed stations are more ready willing & able to take on local severe weather coverage than WHAS is, as my daddy used to say..something is out of kilter. In the past, WIKI in Madison,In was one such station. They were so good at it that one of the Louisville TV stations did a story on their weather coverage. Larry Duke was the man.
That said...let me play devil's advocate. April 3 1974's historic tornado outbreak was on a weekday during PM drive time. WHAS already had their traffic reporter in the air. If this had happened on Sunday evening, would their superb coverage been equal? It would have been a lot better than it would be today, but would it be so good that people still talk about it 33 years later?
"That said...let me play devil's advocate. April 3 1974's historic tornado outbreak was on a weekday during PM drive time. WHAS already had their traffic reporter in the air. If this had happened on Sunday evening, would their superb coverage been equal? It would have been a lot better than it would be today, but would it be so good that people still talk about it 33 years later?"
Good question Bob. Using the Evansville tornado as an example, let's say it happened November 1995 instead of 2005. I can't speak for all of the signals but with confidence you would have known about it from the former 96STO.
WSTO was the primary EBS for a portion of Western Kentucky and took it seriously. When possible they would simulcast NOAA for the initial warning broadcast. (Tech note: NOAA used to send a tone, give a summary of the warning and a countdown for the full details. STO would fire off the twenty-three second EBS tone two second after the announcer gave a "25 second" cue and take NOAA live.) 96STO's policy for tornado and thunderstorm warnings was to announce between each song for the duration of the warning. Their dedication and coverage gave 96STO the distinction of where you tuned in the area for weather information. The image disappeared a couple of years later when new owners basically destroyed the station on a "get rich quick scheme" that failed; but that's a story I tell over on the Indiana Board.
Good question Bob. Using the Evansville tornado as an example, let's say it happened November 1995 instead of 2005. I can't speak for all of the signals but with confidence you would have known about it from the former 96STO.
WSTO was the primary EBS for a portion of Western Kentucky and took it seriously. When possible they would simulcast NOAA for the initial warning broadcast. (Tech note: NOAA used to send a tone, give a summary of the warning and a countdown for the full details. STO would fire off the twenty-three second EBS tone two second after the announcer gave a "25 second" cue and take NOAA live.) 96STO's policy for tornado and thunderstorm warnings was to announce between each song for the duration of the warning. Their dedication and coverage gave 96STO the distinction of where you tuned in the area for weather information. The image disappeared a couple of years later when new owners basically destroyed the station on a "get rich quick scheme" that failed; but that's a story I tell over on the Indiana Board.
Let me make sure I understand this business we're in...WHAS has no money for a news department on Saturday afternoon...yet WLIJ 1580 Shelbyville,TN has a live jock at that same day/time thanking a listener for "walking across the street & bringing me some produce from his garden in the 94 degree heat right here in Shelbyville,TN"? 50KW Louisville cash cow can't afford a newscast, but 5KW day/12 watts at night in a town of 15,000 can afford live jocks in every daypart I've checked? Has the business model of the corporate world gotten this far out of whack or am I missing something?
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