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WBT: Why No Traffic Reports On Weekends?

A

amfmradio1

Charlotte, being the largest city & metro area between DC & Atlanta, programming Traffic Reports on weekends on the legendary, heritage 1110/WBT would be advantageous to motorists, travelers just passing through on Interstates 85 & 77 (we see a lot of travelers from GA, FL, VA, NY, NJ, CT, etc.) & commuters on our busy highways. A few months ago, I emailed the News Dept. & thought my suggestion was approved, as I heard a report on the 4pm cast on a Saturday. After that, I didn't hear a weekend report ever again. Very inconsistent. A few months ago I emailed the WBT News Dept. as well as News Dir. Jason Furst several times without a response as to why WBT doesn't, & would they consider programming Traffic Reports on weekends. Not a big question, & one that could have had a brief response. Not receiving a response for months from a station of this magnitude is indescribable. I finally received a response from PD Darla Thomas (you might remember she was the PD of 102.9/The Lake). I was glad to receive a response, but from the PD? What about Jason Furst, the "News" Director? Isn't that his position? Darla said they receive their Traffic Reports from 107.9/The Link, & are at the mercy of what they receive. Geez, WBT & The Link are both owned by Greater Media, & you would think that the News/Talk station would have precedence of a Traffic Report - who cares about a Traffic Report on The Link? So, I would have to wait for every weekend to wonder if I'm going to hear Traffic & Weather Together if it's programmed @the hourly newscasts. Darla said that Traffic on weekends is only programmed during special events such as car races. So, if I'm in weekend traffic during a special event, how am I supposed to know that? WBT saying that they'll have special traffic reports? What if I didn't listen to them beforehand? So, if I'm in weekend traffic during a special event, I'll say to myself "MAYBE WBT programs Traffic on weekends" instead of "I KNOW WBT programs Traffic on weekends". That's the difference between mediocre & the epitome of a news station. WONDERING if they program it or RELYING on them because you KNOW they program it. You might know that NewsRadio88/WCBS-NY programs Traffic & Weather Together on the "8"s every 8 minutes, as well as NY's 1010WINS with Traffic & Weather Together on the "1's". Since that's the response I received from WBT, I thought you guys might have an opinion. Yes, Mike Sheridan, it's a shame I (or we) can't get the programming we want on weekends - besides their audio chain that makes it unlistenable to some listeners. What do you think & will you respond, Jason?
 
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I have written Jason on a couple of occasions and never received a response. As for traffic I use the Waze app on my cellphone. It's about as good as a radio traffic report, maybe better since the users contribute information.
 
mp3RadioGuy said:
I also use the Waze app and it has saved my ass many times driving to and from work.
Click to expand...

That's a good point. Traffic information is pretty specific. Especially on weekends. Certain routes, certain times of day are pretty general. But for a lot of people, they don't care about anything except their specific route. For radio, that's becoming less useful. It was a big deal 40 years ago, became the business model for several radio companies, including Metro Traffic, which is now part of Total Traffic. But even those radio companies realize that they're better off providing more localized information via an app than broadcasting it to the entire region.
 
Agreed, the Waze app is great. But, most of the listening public doesn't know about it, or don't want to use apps when they drive. Another thing that gets me are TV Traffic Reports. By the time you watch it on TV, get in your car & drive near or be involved in the residual delay, the issue might be resolved. If & when there are tolls on I-77, that will make the situation even worse. Even WLKO & WRFX give traffic reports, even if there aren't any issues.
 
Another reason they might not have traffic reports on the weekend is they can't sell it. I believe if you look at the ratings the weekend audience isn't very large. At one time the biggest weekend audience was 10:00am to 3:00pm. I wonder if that's changed in this PPM world we now live in?
 
How much traffic is there in Charlotte on any given weekend, save a big sporting event or something like that? People have different schedules and destinations on weekends as opposed to mostly heading to and from work at the same times during the week.
 
I remember back when Jeff Pilot did the Skyview traffic reports on WBT. Then they used another service and later Chuck Rhodes did a great job. He is now on WJZY FOX-46 morning show.
 
WSB in Atlanta has traffic reports on the weekends. You can listen to 95.5 all the way from Anderson, SC to the Georgia suburbs and it is very helpful because the traffic can back up on 85 even on the weekends.
 
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