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Valentine's Snow Storm
- Thread starter Roger
- Start date
I 've said this before.. all are disgraceful. I drove 1/2 hour from work to home and not one station ran a weather update.. Magic 93, 92.1, 97.1, 97.9 and Froggy 101 ... I was flipping from station to station... commercials, promos, song after song.... hey guys.. what's supposed to set you all apart from satellite radio? How about weather updates. road conditions, general info to get us through, what was, a state of emergency in the making.
You don't stick to your normal schedules when conditions are as bad as they were.. you increase weather updates... report traffic conditions and serve the public. Every station (including TV) dropped the ball with the tornado and power outages in our area in December... two months later.. nothing has changed.. I honestly don't know where to tune in when conditions deteriorate or an emergency happens. When will management realize that stuff happens outside of the "morning commute" and afternoon drive time....I'm at a total loss to describe me disgust for local radio.
You don't stick to your normal schedules when conditions are as bad as they were.. you increase weather updates... report traffic conditions and serve the public. Every station (including TV) dropped the ball with the tornado and power outages in our area in December... two months later.. nothing has changed.. I honestly don't know where to tune in when conditions deteriorate or an emergency happens. When will management realize that stuff happens outside of the "morning commute" and afternoon drive time....I'm at a total loss to describe me disgust for local radio.
Although it doesn't carry over to WB or Scranton, little WAZL in Hazleton had a lot of area news on. They had messages from Mayor Barletta and from Todd Eachus, and Mike & Tony were broadcasting where travelers who were stuck on 80 or 81 could find an emergency shelter. I think they're mostly automated, but this time it sounded like they were live. But they had weather, traffic and local news running pretty constantly.
WILK had excellent coverage.
S
scmidlapp
Guest
When I was working news, and this was twelve years ago but it seems nothing has changed, we were told to stay away from that sort of thing as it was "clutter" and the listeners didn't want to hear it. We didn't even do school closings.
It's no surprise WILK had the best (only?) coverage.....
If WARM still had a full time news department I guarantee they would have been on top of things, too.
It's no surprise WILK had the best (only?) coverage.....
If WARM still had a full time news department I guarantee they would have been on top of things, too.
WILK started off early in the morning. Actually Nancy and Kevin's cautions are the reason I opted not to open the office. (side note, Kevin Lynn after telling us to stay off the roads drove to Harvey's Lake :
). Sue picked up and Dale was giving info, as he was getting throughout the day. The next day Sue and Nancy picked up at 6am, the previously mentioned Kevin Lynn was stuck out at the lake. Steve Corbett came in and Dale kept up with the traffic reports. Again the up dates helped make my decision about how to handle my office, and they seemed to be right on the money.
). Sue picked up and Dale was giving info, as he was getting throughout the day. The next day Sue and Nancy picked up at 6am, the previously mentioned Kevin Lynn was stuck out at the lake. Steve Corbett came in and Dale kept up with the traffic reports. Again the up dates helped make my decision about how to handle my office, and they seemed to be right on the money.WILK did a pretty good job. The Hazleton station, WAZL, sounded like it recorded a bunch of announcements, some of which were running all day and pretty outdated. It was also rebroadcasting a cable TV show around lunchtime. The TV announcers sounded kind of lame, but I guess it was better than nothing.
It's pretty much a sign of the times, but I turned to WILK immediately as I slugged my way to the office that morning. I NEVER listen to radio in my truck, but it's not like I'm listening to anything else - I tend to enjoy the quiet on the way in. I digress.
I turned to WILK because I knew full well they'd be the best chance at getting timely and useful info. Instead, I got Sue Henry for roughly a half hour, during which she took no calls, nor gave any numbers for anyone to call. She also did not do any road reports, no closings. This is not a slam on her, but she didn't seem to grasp the enormity of the situation at all. "Life" of the roads that morning was dreadful, she seemed to be unaware of just how bad it was.
I turned to WILK because I knew full well they'd be the best chance at getting timely and useful info. Instead, I got Sue Henry for roughly a half hour, during which she took no calls, nor gave any numbers for anyone to call. She also did not do any road reports, no closings. This is not a slam on her, but she didn't seem to grasp the enormity of the situation at all. "Life" of the roads that morning was dreadful, she seemed to be unaware of just how bad it was.
P
PhilGalasso
Guest
scmidlapp said:
WARM was on top of things. The station did cut-ins to air school closings, cancellations, and road advisories. It also carried the Emergency Alert System announcements that originated at PEMA in Harrisburg.
There's a new regime in place at The Mighty 590. WILK isn't the only game in town anymore.
On regular weekdays, WARM now has news in morning drive at :20 and :50 past each hour (local news at :20, ABC network news at :50), local weather, and sports. A Community Calendar feature started this week and airs sporadically throughout each day. It is updated frequently. The music format is oldies, featuring a lot of the songs that played during WARM's heyday.
Give a listen. You may be pleasantly surprised!
WARM... what a joke.. who are you fooling? Cut in's!!! It needs to be live.. there's no signal and by the time you record your cut in and pay it during a scheduled network break.. it's outdated. Did these cut-in's provide up to the minute road conditions? A new regime? Sounds like just a new PR campaign.. until WARM goes live and puts a full time news staff on board, it's just a shell of what it used to be and no competition for WILK.. which by the way is no big deal anyway! When something serious occurs, you want to tune into the station that's "live" and dedicated to getting the news out.. not the sation that does drop-ins when the network has an open block. Get real!
Agreed, rotten signal.. I listened to the "True Oldies Station" WARM all the way home.. "hey this is Mike.. happy Wednesday.. here's the Beatles!"... wow let me reset my AM dial!!!! You guys sure have become a force to be reckoned with...And by the way, aren't you required to carry the Emergency Alert System announcements... I mean, it's required.. don't act like you did something special.. no time checks, road reports, weather... Oh, I'm sorry... "Happy Wednesday.. it's 20 after the hour (WHAT HOUR?)".. you're on the bird.. you took a once powerful station and drove it off the road, set it on fire and left it on cinderblocks. Now yo got the wipers to work again and you're a force to be reckoned with???.. more like a FARCE to be reckoned with.
P
PhilGalasso
Guest
emo said:
And WILK isn't on the bird? Or do their syndicated, non-drive time hosts do their shows from Pittston and feed them nationwide from there? Unfortunately, there's only so much one can do with an AM station on a limited budget. Perhaps some of you should apply for a sales job at either WARM or WILK, specify to their respective sales managers that you want to specialize in AM sales, and bring in some money so that these stations can afford to go live and local again on a full-time basis. All of the group owners who are active in this area are looking for good salespeople who can sell refrigerators to the Eskimos. Or pool your resources, buy a station, and see how well you can do. If you buy WARM, be sure to include enough money for a new ground system. With 128 quarter-wavelength radials under five towers at 590 kHz, that's a lot of copper! With the acidic soil of this area, an AM ground system should be replaced every 20 years. How many local stations have done that?
As for the Emergency Alert System, stations are only required by the FCC to rebroadcast presidential emergency messages (Emergency Alert Notifications) and the Required Monthly Tests. They are also required to originate a weekly test. All other messages are at the discretion of the broadcaster and/or the people who put together the state or local EAS plan. Weather messages can be relayed from EAS and this is what most automated stations do. Stations that are live and local can opt to have their own talent read these messages on the air. Stations are required, however, to monitor at least two sources for EAS. The actual monitoring assignments are prescribed under the state EAS plan.
As for expecting information on the hour and half-hour, I guess none of you have ever heard of WABC. They used to do their news at :55 and :25. How about WHN, which used to do news at :50? Both of these were successful 50 kW stations in New York City. And I guess none of you were around in 1966, when ABC Radio split into four networks, feeding news at the top of the hour (American Information Network), :15 (American FM Radio Network), :30 (American Entertainment Radio Network), and :55 (American Contemporary Radio Network).
K2pg.... now you're starting to sound like a real person, instead of a PR machine... Yes, I understand your problem and I've been there. Even if you got two or three crack sales persons and made some money, do you really think thery would reinvest it in the AM station? As I said too, WILK is no big shake... but be honest, and take off the Corporate hat for one moment... If, lord forbid, a commuter plane crashed at the WB-Scranton International Airport and you needed news right now, where would you turn WILK or WARM? In the not too distant past, there was really only one choice, WARM... that's no longer the case.
Equipment, Towers, Staff.. that all costs big bucks, but hey Citadel bought this station, these were not hidden secret costs. There is no force to be reckoned with in this market on the am dial. All the things you're doing now to try and sound as real and "live" as possible, I've had to do too... but did I feel good about cutting staff, producing liners, doing "drop ins" instead of taking hold of a situation or story, listening to some jock in, who knows where, say "Hey it's a great Wednesday, here in this great city at twenty after the hour"?
No... No.. No! There was once a time when radio was a passion for me... I'd spend every hour of every day at the studios.. times when I should have been with my family, but I was hooked... Now I listen and shake my head... I do sympathize with you.. I wish you well.. turn this trend around and you'll be my hero! Best of luck.
Equipment, Towers, Staff.. that all costs big bucks, but hey Citadel bought this station, these were not hidden secret costs. There is no force to be reckoned with in this market on the am dial. All the things you're doing now to try and sound as real and "live" as possible, I've had to do too... but did I feel good about cutting staff, producing liners, doing "drop ins" instead of taking hold of a situation or story, listening to some jock in, who knows where, say "Hey it's a great Wednesday, here in this great city at twenty after the hour"?
No... No.. No! There was once a time when radio was a passion for me... I'd spend every hour of every day at the studios.. times when I should have been with my family, but I was hooked... Now I listen and shake my head... I do sympathize with you.. I wish you well.. turn this trend around and you'll be my hero! Best of luck.
You have to spend money to make money. It's called an investment in your property. I'm sure a strong news/talk station could make a nice profit, but it's easier to cut than to commit to an operation and build it up.
When WABC and those other stations with news at :55, at least you had a live jock promo-ing the news on the way. I've listened. Scott Shannon has yet to record a breaker saying "WARM News is coming up."
When WABC and those other stations with news at :55, at least you had a live jock promo-ing the news on the way. I've listened. Scott Shannon has yet to record a breaker saying "WARM News is coming up."
"You have to spend money to make money. It's called an investment in your property."....
Yes, Nigel.. and in too many cases we're telling the advertiser.. "Hey you have to spend money and a lot, not just a week or two.. but contstant, targeted advertising dollars to make an image for yourself and money (if the product they have is truly good)". But on the flip side, there's no investment in the veichle we use to sell that advertising. Once that image is made, it's golden... but you have to put in the dollars and creativity. Quick.. "on Mundy Street.. Mundy Steet"... that's all you need to hear and you know the advertiser!!!! And just as it takes a long time to build up a good image, it takes a long or longer time to repair a damaged image.. Anyone want to fly JetBlue? WARM had the image, let it die and the repair process will not be a quick fix.. Nor will playing a few oldies from the good old days and dropping in some liners.
Repair the product and they will come, but it will take a while!
Yes, Nigel.. and in too many cases we're telling the advertiser.. "Hey you have to spend money and a lot, not just a week or two.. but contstant, targeted advertising dollars to make an image for yourself and money (if the product they have is truly good)". But on the flip side, there's no investment in the veichle we use to sell that advertising. Once that image is made, it's golden... but you have to put in the dollars and creativity. Quick.. "on Mundy Street.. Mundy Steet"... that's all you need to hear and you know the advertiser!!!! And just as it takes a long time to build up a good image, it takes a long or longer time to repair a damaged image.. Anyone want to fly JetBlue? WARM had the image, let it die and the repair process will not be a quick fix.. Nor will playing a few oldies from the good old days and dropping in some liners.
Repair the product and they will come, but it will take a while!
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