The Valentines Snowstorm and radio response

[Mr. DUBbonet]

Hello my fans.........................

I listened to the radio in the Burlington area carefully on Weds to see how good of a job everyone would do with the storm.

All stations (with exception of MP103 who never says anythiong about anything)...announced things well in AM Drive. After that...well, here is where we separate the men from the boys.

The Hall stations (with exception of The Buzz) all had real people on and continued with updates/cancellations/postponements INTO the evening.

The Clear Channel stations did a poorer job. Champ had some things on...the Zone virtually nothing and Star (with that regional powerhouse signal) continued on it's merry way with the syndicated John Tesh and just sporadic reports. (well, after all, it IS important to get those music sweeps and Tesh in even though there is a blizzard outside!)

Northeast was a vast wasteland on MP103, their syndicated real country and AM's. You wouldn't have even known it wasn't sunny and 80 listening to them.

Triple X and WVMT had some bodies on the air and kept things updated pretty well.

So that is what....7 out of 15? Oh...some of the stations didn't announce the info...they sent people to their website to get it. Yeah....that makes alot of sense. Let's keep listeners from listening to the radio for vital info and send them to another medium.

Poor....poor.....poor. And then radio people wonder why listenership is down.

Class dismissed.

 

[NO DAG]

Not exactly passing a judgement on the radio side, though I thought channels 5 and 3 did an excellent job with coverage, channel 5 somewhat a better job on the weather coverage. Looks like Channel 3 is doing it's own version of "Weather plus".. To keep it on radio, in southern Vermont, coverage was better in the morning, and fairly non-existant by the afternoon, and totally non existant at night overall.

 

[Dudeman2000]

I think Kiss had the only live body from the Rutland stations

 

[argytunes]

Maybe the radio station owners, gm's and pd's assumed everybody was getting the cancellations off the TV GUIDE channel...so they didn't have to bother?

argytunes

 

[lighten up]

I thought radio in general did a great job. Just a shame Mr. D seems to be a downer all the time. And what radio station do you work for Dan???

 

[Oldbones]

Oh...some of the stations didn't announce the info...they sent people to their website to get it. Yeah....that makes alot of sense. Let's keep listeners from listening to the radio for vital info and send them to another medium.

Poor....poor.....poor. And then radio people wonder why listenership is down.

And what is so wrong about stations sending people to their website?? It keeps the actual air product a lot less cluttered. For example...unless you have school-age children (or are one) you probably don't want to have to sit thru a long list of school closing announcements. Why NOT put them on your website instead? Computers aren't a novelty anymore...'most everyone who wants to be is on line. It's not 1972 anymore. If radio wants to survive new technology, it has to embrace it...making your air product a hodgepodge of clutter is gonna drive people away a lot faster.

 

[valhallafred]

Crosspromotion of website aspect aside, the list was one of the longest I have ever seen. It's a tough balance to maintain when you have a storm of that magnitude. Lets face it, most schools cancelled the day before so most stations should have gotten ahead with getting that info out.

 

[CrankyYankee]

Sending listeners to websites is fine...so long as the power is on.

This storm was with snow of the "lite" variety, thank goodness.

If it had been the heavy wet stuff, lines(power/phone & cable) would have be down and out!

That's where the old battery operated radio comes in handy.

 

[nhradiochild]

I'm curious Mr. Dubbonet, do you have multiple radios tuned in at the same time to monitor these radio stations? While I suspect that yes, this representation is not far-fetched, I have to wonder how good the sampling was coming from one individual. My guess is that you kept flipping back and forth, and if you didn't have it on scan every 5 seconds, the data you acquired is perhaps not so accurate.

Meantime, the redirection to websites is a double-edged sword. It could be that these stations DID announce the closings once or twice, felt it sufficed and said go to the website so that you can get a repeat of such information rather than calling the station over and over again as was the case back in the day I was on duty.

I have to admit, growing up as a kid, I used to love to listen to the radio to see if school was closed in our location, but once I found that it was, OFF it went because I knew that all they'd be doing is listing closings and what did I care once my school was deemed closed?

Just my take. Cheerio.

 

[Mr. DUBbonet]

Ah....Mr. NH you make my case for me. Correct me if I am wrong but in the day and time that we live...the present...I would say that a minimum of 97% of a stations revenue is made from over the air ads and maybe....just maybe (and I think I am even very high at this figure) 3% of revenues are made from a station website. That being the case, we are still in the RADIO business and most of our revenues and listenership come from people turning on the radio. We are still, (unless you know something I don't) in the radio business. Arbitron is still determining when people listen to the radio. We still want to drive bodies to our radio stations. Why then, would we want to drive them to our websites at a critical time like this? Why don't the TV stations (who have been applauded for their coverage on these pages) say the same thing and drive their viewers to their websites? Because they get it. And, oh yes, to the guy who said that everyone in radio figured people were watching the TV anyway for the coverage and cancellations....that is the kind of thinking that has put radio in the "also-ran' mode we find ourselves in today. Too little passion and too many people taking the easy way out. Radio is our main business. The web will grow to be a huge outlet for us...but it isn't there yet. And we should not be driving our listeners away from our bread and butter. And to the guy who said it's "cluttering up the airwaves" to air this stuff. Get with reality. All anyone was concerned with or about during the storm was the storm. The ones just ignoring it and playing music were the ones that had the competitive disadvantage.

 

[argytunes]

For Cranky Yankee (and others)...

Doesn't sending listeners to a website defeat the basic purpose of any radio station?

Most people reference a radio station because they know that they can get an immediate weather report, a list of cancellations or (at least) a 60-second update about what's happening in the world around them!

Perhaps a better catch phrase would be:

For the complete list of cancellations and postponements, we invite you to visit our website: www.what's not happening today.com

argytunes

 

[jparsons]

The truth of the matter is that in 2007, the era of everyone needing instant information, radio is not up to the task when it comes to school cancellations. Superintendents don't even call us anymore, they call the TV stations. TV can constantly have a ticker running even during commercials, and all you have to do is wait to see your town or SAD show up in alphabetical order. We also used to get calls all morning long from parents and kids alike asking if their school was canceled. During the last snowstorm we got three calls. Why would I listen to the radio to get a cancellation, when I can have that information in less then one minute by going to a website? Even better, why would I turn to radio for this information, when WCSH will text message me if my school is canceled? Radio can and is doing the same thing. If the storm is so bad that the power is knocked out, and I have to find a radio that actually has batteries in it, then whether or not my kid is going to school is the least of my worries. People just don't think to turn to radio for this information anymore. Does this mean radio shouldn't provide cancellations? No. But there's nothing wrong with reading them less frequently, and referring people to a station website for a complete list. That's radio adapting as best it can to a changing world.

 

[Pliff]

Mr Parsons is RIGHT ON! I think these Vermont broadcasters need to wake up, smell the coffee, turn off the cart machines, and take a walk into the 21st century. Believe me...I listen to Vermont radio often (Barre, Rutland, and Burlington). The HALL stations are the only ones who sound like they know what they're doing.

 

[Mr. DUBbonet]

Mr. Parsons...with the attitude you display in the above post I can see why your radio station gets no calls. You have thrown in the towel and are letting other media lead the day. Again, part of what is wrong with radio. How can we get into the game if we don't even show up to play?

 

[jparsons]

Why fight a losing battle? If you stopped 100 parents on the street and asked them where they go to find out if school is canceled, the majority will say TV. Plain and simple it's more effective. Can you really tell me radio is the most effective medium for receiving this information? If so, you're kidding yourself.

Give people what they want. Music. They are already going elsewhere for cancellations, as they should. Radio can not give people this information faster then other sources. As I said, don't stop doing cancellations, but don't bring your programming to a screeching halt because there's a snowstorm. You'll lose more people to turning on their i-pods because there isn't any music. Send them to your website, send them a text message on their phone. Let them get what they need, and they'll come back to you for what they listen for on non-snowdays.

 

[Radiodeity]

...Why fight a losing battle?...Give people what they want...Send them to your website, send them a text message on their phone...

I agree. Just a couple years ago I didn't but after giving it quite a bit of thought radio isn't the "end all - be all" medium it once was. There are too many choices now. The idea of providing closing information by text message, and of course making sure your radio station call letters or image mark is included, is most likely the way to go. I see Mr. DUBbonet's point also - but maybe what needs to be done is a mixture of both, which as stated, would be a way to have people get the information from your web site and not the TV station. Your text message and not the station around the corner. If you can drive them to your web site at least it will hopefully make an impression and they will remember you were there when they needed you - even though it wasn't "over the air".

Of course it could be a little difficult if you wish to remain stuck in an era where you are still typing up the closing/delay information on IBM Selectrics and expecting your audience to remain behind with you...

(Just another point of view)

 

[DudeWheresMyRadio]

Mr. Parsons...with the attitude you display in the above post I can see why your radio station gets no calls. You have thrown in the towel and are letting other media lead the day. Again, part of what is wrong with radio. How can we get into the game if we don't even show up to play?

Play what, Mr. D.? What game? Radio surrendered "being where its listeners are" a long time ago. By CHOICE we've become a second tier medium. Mr. Parsons (I'm puzzled as to why this guy isn't programming somewhere, unless it's by his choice) is correct in his observation that listeners simply do not rely on radio for this type of info anymore. Listeners tune in for music (or other SPECIFIC) programming. For instant info it's the web or TV. This is the contemporary reality, despite the radio industry's efforts to deny it.

In 2007 (and beyond) it's incumbent on radio to embrace and extend to any media platform that's viable. It's not other media we compete with, it's modern lifestyle. Even the most casual research (use Google) will provide answers, but our arrogance as an industry prevents us from doing the right things.

It never ceases to amaze me that even seasoned vets in this business don't get that it's NEVER been about listening, but about perception and recall (until the PPM trickles down). Every opportunity (on air, web, print, TV, etc.) to showcase your brand should be relentlessly exploited. Sadly, the "on-air" component continues to be less and less important.

Not surprising that "old schoolers" don't get this. In today's radio one dimensional stubbornness gets you nowhere - except maybe upselling fries at a drive-thru.

 

[nhradiochild]

Much to Mr. Dubbonet's chagrin, I agree with the "radio's past it's prime" in delivering cancellations the old-fashioned way. What he suggests would be akin to McDonald's saying, "You know what? We just don't care if everyone's going to Burger King because they don't have styrofoam packaging, we're sticking with it because dammit we believe in it!"

Times are a changin' and while I USED to love listening to the radio for cancellations, I can tell you now if I were a kid that's hot in the pants for a school day off, and had access to the internet, I wouldn't be waiting for the radio to get around to it.

I agree with the reference to websites for a long, tedious list of cancellations, and quite frankly, wouldn't be surprised if stations even eventually subscribed to a news service that handled it for them and gave them an exclusive station stamp. Hmmm, now THERE's an enterprising idea. Have a regional database of school closings and other such cancellations. Just type in your zip code ala Weather Channel and boom! There ya go.

You can have that idea for FREE!

Oh and yes, I also agree with the comment of losing power and sending your kids off to school. I think most parents would take the hit for a day off if the school were open should the homefront be powerless.

 

[valhallafred]

The VAB school closings site does a good job. If you have a savy web guy you can easily take that and make look as if your station created it.

 

[CrankyYankee]

Granted, many(though not all) folks have internet access these days and a list of school closings that can be accessed via the web would give quicker information than waiting for the next reading of "the list".

While I have not done morning radio for a while the calls I'd get were from people who'd say they couldn't hear us for whatever reason or didn't have internet or some other reason. Some people
also don't have TV for whatever reason and would not have the ability to see the info at the bottom of the screen.

Living in a rural area, parents around here sometimes have to have their children walk down to the back road where the bus route travels. School gets cancelled mostly if there is any question about the safety of the bus being able to traverse the snowed on roads. If there is the least bit
of concern that a bus could slide off a road, there's no school.
(I grew up in a city environment and only rode a school bus for field trips.)
A school bus in rural New England is like taking a Boston Whaler between a lighthouse and the mainland. You don't launch a craft like that if the weather ain't cooperative.

The school closing information that is provided to the Vermont Assn of Broadcasters appears to be
embargoed for use only on the air. This excerpt from their website...

"The VAB maintains a web site for the exclusive use of radio & television stations to broadcast on the air, Vermont (and adjacent states), school closings and delayed openings during bad weather."

FWIW, I read that as the information on the VAB site is not for use on websites. What say you?