TRAFFIC.COM

[MikeShannon914]

Awww...have to wait another day for the complete Traffic story? I've never heard you tell it, so I'm anxiously awaiting. I just hope I've been telling it properly over the last several years!

Catfish was let go on Jan 19, 2004, so he and I worked together at Traffic for a fairly short time. I used to take over Sunday evenings at 6PM after he worked 12N-6PM (he also did the Limbaugh Shift on weekdays.) He was concurrently working at KLUV, so there's the original connection with him and me. He's the one who told me to look up John and see if there were any openings after I lost my little gig at Infinity/CBS. (Credit also goes to WBAP ND Rick Hadley, who, after asking for a demo tape from me and then hearing the twangy and uninspired atrocity for himself, suggested I try traffic reporting to "get my feet wet" for an eventual career in radio news.)

Thanks for the copy editing compliments. I did do that for EDS about 17 years ago. Still the best money I've ever made...and makes for a good reminder to look into something like that again!!

You save your DayTimers, too? I have a case full of all my little memo books, dating back to June 20, 1986. One day, instead of folks asking the question, "What did Shannon do with his life?", they'll look through the mound of little books and say, "OK, I see what he did, but WHY???"

Sorry, didn't get to listen/watch the You-Tubes you posted, but will tomorrow. As of 2AM, I'm still typing the scripts and info for this week's "Hi-Fi Club." :-\ (I used to get SOOO much done during those slow periods at Traffic...but now it's all on "my" time.)

 

[rstatic]

Now if someone would hire you to do this stuff on radio....i took the hook, sat with you through waking up, Jack Armstrong and all your other station breaks....TONY, tell me the story!! by the way, hope you're well.
we used to work together at one of those places

Now, please, i have to go to a meeting, but by 1pm have youre story posted so i can read it!!!!!!!!

 

[oldmanradio]

Now if someone would hire you to do this stuff on radio....i took the hook, sat with you through waking up, Jack Armstrong and all your other station breaks....TONY, tell me the story!! by the way, hope you're well.
we used to work together at one of those places

Now, please, i have to go to a meeting, but by 1pm have youre story posted so i can read it!!!!!!!!

Fair enough.

When John McCarty hired me at Traffic.com, I worked only on weekends and was happy.

My discontent started when I was moved to afternoons on WBAP. The genesis: the young female producer mentioned earlier whose name rhymes with "Pen".

Others called her different names. I always called her ... "Pen".

Simply put, "Pen" refused to do her job. Most of us could put up with her rudeness and anti-social behavior, but she sat on her a@# for hours reading "Harry Potter", IMing friends, surfing the Internet, etc.

One day, with her mother present, I asked her if she would make beat calls and check on accidents or problems in Tarrant County. She refused.

So I offered her Dallas County. Nope, I won't, she said. Then "Pen" began crying and looking to "Mommy" for support -- the same "Mommy" who she usually talked to like a dog.

Actually, most people treat their dogs better. Often, "Mommy" would run out and buy "Pen" food -- usually McDonald's. But when "Mommy" asked "Pen" for a bite of fries, "Pen" would whine that the fries were "hers".

Anyway, she and Mommy immediately marched into John McCarty's office since Tom was gone. I trailed because I had a traffic report to do. When I entered the office, the sobbing continued and "Pen" begged Mommy to let her go home. By that time, Tom had arrived and was sitting in John's office.

Somehow, all of us wound up in the kitchen. "Pen" kept crying, and Mommy kept comforting her.

Eventually "Pen" just left with her mother hen.

So, in my subtle and nuanced manner, I walked into John's office where Tom was sitting and began shouting that I would simply quit THIS MINUTE. John calmly said, "We don't want you to quit Tony."

Well, great I thought. I wanted to leave. I was sick of it. For months before, after my reports at the top and bottom of the hour, I had gone downstairs and talked to the couple who ran the cafe. In fact, I got to know them so well that they often just let me eat free. The whole situation left me depressed. John once asked me about it, and I told him the truth.

I told both of them that I would prefer to work alone, make all the beat calls, update the computer and listen to the scanners rather than work in an intolerable situation. Pay her if you want, I told them, but let me operate alone in the control room.

Well, I decided to stay. I loved radio -- always have. Some of my friends can't understand why I would want to do it for so little money since I don't NEED the money.

But the situation never improved, and naturally "Pen" stayed. Sometimes when I did traffic for both WBAP and KLIF, I would stay late. Danny Moffitt would get so fed up with you know whom that he would call John McCarty at home to complain, although I advised him not to do so.

Danny, a great talent, left Traffic.com before I did.

Monday, February 24, 2003 was a lousy day. Terrible weather -- combination of snow, sleet and some ice. Accidents everywhere. It was impossible to keep up.

Tom Corbett asked me to work overtime, and I agreed. However, I had to order a book for a relative for his birthday on Amazon.com. It took less than a minute, but Tom walked in and noticed the screen. Since "Pen" was reading something about the Hansens or The Monkees (yep, she actually loved The Monkees), I couldn't understand the problem.

Tom called me into his office. He asked me to close the door. I refused ... and lit the fuse.

Frankly, I just exploded, and so did he. Traffic.com had promised me health insurance coverage when I started afternoons. But it was delayed time and again. I told Tom the company had broken a promise to me when I had worked every shift including overnights that Tom had ever requested.

Never before had Tom and I had harsh words. Once while working at Shadow, I received a call from Tom who was in jail. He was crying and asked me to call his sister in Houston. I did. She begged me not to tell anyone about the situation. She said it would ruin Tom's career. Only one other person knew about Tom's problems back then.

Guess what -- Tom fired us both.

Back in the office, Tom and I went fought it out verbally. Finally, he yelled, "You're outta here." So I started to walk out. Then he said, "Give me your card key." So I turned around and tossed into onto his desk. It bounced and hit the floor. Tom bent down to pick it up and lost his balance. He stumbled and for a second, I thought the poor guy was heading through the window in his office.

As I drove home, I felt a sense of great relief and actually enjoyed the winter weather. Later, I called Jim Prewitt and told him that John would probably be calling him to replace me. John had not been in the office that afternoon when Tom and I fought.

When I applied for unemploment compensation, someone in management at Traffic.com told me the company contests every claim no matter what the circumstances. I hired a lawyer. It was a stupid move. I could and should have handled the claim myself. In short, I lost.

However, I filed the appeal myself and argued it before an administrative law judge who found in my favor. I won.

About a year before John died, I visited with him at Traffic.com -- still the old cheerful and gracious John. He gave me a tour of the studios which had been remodeled.

Then we walked downstairs, and I asked him how he could possibly work for Tom. He told me some things that helped me understand.

There's more, but it is now two minutes after 1 p.m. -- my deadline.

Gotta go.

Tony
Tony Lyndell Williams

 

[rstatic]

How much for the book rights? And i want the option on the movie....
But i need help...please tell me:

who'll play Tony, Tom, John, & "Pen"?

 

[radio.placebo]

I'm curious about "Pen," because I've heard so much about her slothful work ethic and over-indulgent culinary habits.. but I've never met her or seen her. But I have to sink so low as to ask about her appearance. I'm imagining some overweight, oily-skinned hobbit-looking girl who's always smacking and licking her fingers.. with crumbs all over the keyboard.

Or is she some ditzy little hottie that you may be able to find at North Park Mall on any given day?

 

[oldmanradio]

How much for the book rights? And i want the option on the movie....

Strange thing: For the last several days, I've been reading Hollywood Animal by famed ... and infamous ... Joe Eszterhas, the screenwriter.

Alas, Unemployment is only a short story.

 

[thunderradio]

Tony,pretty much echoes the same things I heard about Mr. Corbett. Many eyars ago when he was at Shadow ,he decided to let an employee go,because the employee was covering an accident in the then mobile units,and Tom wanted him to go 40 miles in afternoon rush hour(he was caught in a traffic jam) to go cover anothr wreck. The employee explained to him,he couldn't there were no exits within a reasonable distance to allow him to get out of the jam. Tom opened up on the two way, yelling screaming and I am sure Metro listeners had a field day with that one. The field reporter suggested sending the air unit over it since it was on its way pack to the airport and the accident was in its flight path. Tom decided to scream ,that an employee will not tell him how to do his job!! The next day the employee was called in, John w. The GM was there no word was spoken by him,and Tom handed the employee his severance and said "I know you probably want to say goodbye to your friends, jusat hurry up and get the Fbomb out <unquote>. 3 years of dependable service didn't mean a thing to Ol TC, just his "beer thirty".

Metro for those scoring at home,pays 11 an hour. What an insult to ask former traffic pulse employees, plus work a split on top of that,plus do feed for XM-Sirusm Plus Houston-Kansas City, and Okc on top of that while maintaining quality ( or an attempt at it) for DFW. All i am hearign is ABS students,and God bless them, but they do not get any mentoring at all from any veteran to help them develop their skills or work habits. So they sound bad and progressively get worse. For example The George Bush tollway was recently moved to Anglin and 820 in Forest Hills, 3 days ago if you happened to have caught it on WBAP. Someone alert NTTA.

"Pen" as Tony alerted to is another example of nepotism and a complete disregard to worker morale. The sad part ,this has been going on for three years at least while the good workers ,who actually work came and went. John McCarty is missed very much at least he would have fought hard for his employees while the bloated one from Houston didn't.

 

[oldmanradio]

I'm curious about "Pen," because I've heard so much about her slothful work ethic and over-indulgent culinary habits.. but I've never met her or seen her. But I have to sink so low as to ask about her appearance. I'm imagining some overweight, oily-skinned hobbit-looking girl who's always smacking and licking her fingers.. with crumbs all over the keyboard.

Or is she some ditzy little hottie that you may be able to find at North Park Mall on any given day?

Placebo,

Since you are obviously quite curious, why not simply visit the Traffic.com studios and see for yourself.

I am not comfortable answering a question like this.

But I will say ... Lazy is as lazy does.

Tony
Tony Lyndell Williams

 

[oldmanradio]

Traffic reporting

Years ago, Jack Hines, then news director of KRLD, insisted that traffic on that station always be given in this order: Accident location ... direction ... and side street.

For example, 635 LBJ eastbound at Preston. Not eastbound LBJ at Preston.

At first, I thought what the heck difference does it make. But it makes a big difference.

First, you give the street or highway for a particular accident. The listener can quickly and easily determine if that will affect his or her driving.

Next, the direction. In the above example, traffic should not be as big a problem if you are westbound, except for some onlooker delays.

Then the sidestreet so you can judge whether you have time or want to exit the highway, in this case, Preston Road.

Finally additonal information such as backups, lanes closed, alternate routes, etc. For this example, a couple of alternate routes are Forest Lane and Spring Valley Road.

If you report, "Eastbound LBJ at Preston", it is not as effective in my opinion.

What do you think?

Tony
Tony Lyndell Williams

 

[scrtr84]

Tony,

I love it! That totally makes sense.

 

[grantchester]

Jack Hines has forgotten more about radio than most of us have ever learned.

 

[MikeShannon914]

Doyle King brought that to my attention not all that long ago, that the listener's ear would pick up the freeway name first, so you should mention the direction AFTERWARDS. That had never dawned on me after saying "Eastbound LBJ at Preston" for six years straight. :-[

McCarty wanted us to use common sense...like grouping your cities together, instead of jumping from, say, Bedford to Richardson to Euless to Downtown Dallas, etc, and (former WBAP PD) Shomper was adamant on us mentioning the city first (duh, to me at least; apparently some reporters were just rattling off a list without mentioning a city or organizing the list to any degree.) Me, I always wrote out EVERYTHING in advance...that meant no stammering, no lost-in-the-middle-of-my-report, no repeating the same info, no unnecessary "uh"s, etc. Sure, I would improvise and adlib if something came in at the last second.

 

[scrtr84]

But what did you do if you accidently dropped the copy?

 

[thunderradio]

Jack Hines. What a nice guy, jovial ,funny,loved his jazz and blues.

 

[oldmanradio]

Just like Mike ... (you like that), I too wrote out my reports.

It allows you to put the information in your own words, allowing you to communicate much better. And by writing it down, it reinforces the information in your mind.

In addition, I think the information could be more "user-friendly" for out of towers, but especially those that have not lived in the area long. Sometimes reports are read so rapidly that even I have some trouble following where they are, and I have lived in the Dallas area since 1984.

Another point: some reporters read the :10 spot as a throwaway. They shouldn't. Companies pay good money for those spots, and besides, reading them that way is boring to the listener.

And yes, the city or town where the accident occured should be given first. If you commute in Dallas, and a wreck is in Sunnyvale, you instantly know that you have nothing to worry about.

Well, at least as far as traffic is concerned.

Tony
Tony Lyndell Williams

 

[Bob E. Nelson]

McCarty wanted us to use common sense...like grouping your cities together, instead of jumping from, say, Bedford to Richardson to Euless to Downtown Dallas, etc, and (former WBAP PD) Shomper was adamant on us mentioning the city first.

Another subtlety (and it *may* have come from Ron Chapman) was to avoid using terms such as ``over in'', especially when referring to Fort Worth. The intent was to be geographically neutral, eschewing Dallas-centricity.

 

[oldmanradio]

McCarty wanted us to use common sense...like grouping your cities together, instead of jumping from, say, Bedford to Richardson to Euless to Downtown Dallas, etc, and (former WBAP PD) Shomper was adamant on us mentioning the city first.

Another subtlety (and it *may* have come from Ron Chapman) was to avoid using terms such as ``over in'', especially when referring to Fort Worth. The intent was to be geographically neutral, eschewing Dallas-centricity.

Point well taken.

If you rarely travel to Fort Worth, you almost tend to think of it as west Texas.

In addition, over is redundant.

Simply say, "In Fort Worth".

Also, many reporters, even on KRLD and WBAP, say "traffic is moving slow" several times a day.

The word should be "slowly". It is an adverb. Through the years, I've never know any director of operations of any traffic reporting service to point this out.

Finally, it seems s absurd for Metro reporters in Dallas to be reporting Oklahoma City, Austin, Tulsa, etc. traffic conditions.

Tony
Tony Lyndell Williams

 

[thunderradio]

Yes it is absurd,and CHEAP. The voices sound like they came out of the Jack Webb playhouse,with no facts mam,just cheese. $11.00 an hr, working a split shift,little or no benefits,and stuck doing holidays.

 

[traffic chief]

Perhaps if you knew the technology of reporting in several different cities combined with people who still reside in that city and work for the company you would understand it better. Using Airsage (cell phone Technology) and Trafficland Video also help give a pretty clear picture of the spoke city.

As far as "moving slowly" I agree with you...while were at it....let's get rid of "we are working an accident"....and all other crutch phrases.

Split shift for $11.00 per hour? not that I am aware of....and I would know

 

[Shoot From Hip]

McCarty wanted us to use common sense...like grouping your cities together, instead of jumping from, say, Bedford to Richardson to Euless to Downtown Dallas, etc, and (former WBAP PD) Shomper was adamant on us mentioning the city first.

Another subtlety (and it *may* have come from Ron Chapman) was to avoid using terms such as ``over in'', especially when referring to Fort Worth. The intent was to be geographically neutral, eschewing Dallas-centricity.

Point well taken.

If you rarely travel to Fort Worth, you almost tend to think of it as west Texas.

In addition, over is redundant.

Simply say, "In Fort Worth".

Also, many reporters, even on KRLD and WBAP, say "traffic is moving slow" several times a day.

The word should be "slowly". It is an adverb. Through the years, I've never know any director of operations of any traffic reporting service to point this out.

Finally, it seems s absurd for Metro reporters in Dallas to be reporting Oklahoma City, Austin, Tulsa, etc. traffic conditions.

Tony
Tony Lyndell Williams

Based on this type of thinking, no station would ever hire AccuWeather or The Weather Channel because every forecast they offer originates in either State College, PA (AccuWx) or Atlanta (TWC). How could they possibly know the weather in your local city, I wonder...could it be technology?