What Kind of Coverage Did Your Local Station Provide During the Tornado Outbreak

[fybush]

Just "staying on the air" in the midst of crisis or disaster is only one piece of this big puzzle, though.

Let's say you have managed to build out a physical plant that's robust enough to survive in useful form - you've invested in a generator, maybe you have an aux facility off site, and you are the one of the minority of stations which still employs an engineer who has the resources to keep up with the latest best standards in disaster prep and recovery.

You have at least one of your signal paths on the air, and you have a studio somewhere that's at least functional.

You're ahead of probably 95 percent of the industry at this point - but now what?

Who are you putting on the air? What information are they broadcasting? Where's it coming from and how are you gathering and verifying it? How long are you able to stay on the air and keep your key people fed, housed and (when needed) rested? How are you getting those key people to the building if it's the middle of the night and the roads are impassable, and what are plans B and C if your plan A team is injured or dead or just unreachable?

A lot of the skill set that once was semi-automatic in disaster coverage doesn't exist in abundance in today's broadcast world. Nobody is born with the ability to stay on the air live for three hours juggling information and phone calls and summarizing and reassuring along the way.

It's a skill many of us learned earlier in our careers. It's not one that's a given now. Just knowing how to interview someone and quickly write and cut a :55 spot that summarizes the story (or better yet DO IT LIVE timed right to the second) is a dying art, because the small and medium market newsrooms where we learned those skills are gone and the big market all news stations where some of us really polished those skills are on life support. Most of us who still can do these things in our sleep are sleeping more these days, because we're in our 40s, 50s or older. There's no automatic next generation coming in with those skills because where would they be learning them, and why? The marketplace doesn't value them in 2024.

Which then leads into the next and most vicious circle: because most radio stations aren't there like that for their communities on a daily basis, even if you're fully geared up when disaster hits, who's going to think to tune in to you at that moment - and with what hardware?

It's depressingly complicated, but also has a lot of potential for broadcasters willing to put in the effort to be that go-to spot in their markets.

 

[TheBigA]

Which then leads into the next and most vicious circle: because most radio stations aren't there like that for their communities on a daily basis, even if you're fully geared up when disaster hits, who's going to think to tune in to you at that moment - and with what hardware?

I think that's at the core of the situation, and the basis of it came 40 years ago when the FCC eliminated the news requirement. Once that happened, stations no longer felt the need to have local news staff on board. As Scott says, if there aren't news people on staff, they have no one when disasters hit. The DJs aren't trained to handle disaster coverage. By contract, local TV stations are built around coverage of local news. It's their only product. They don't do entertainment shows or talk shows. The whole focus is covering news and weather. When a big weather disaster happens, the local stations pre-empt network entertainment and go to non-stop coverage of that story. They have the staff to do it, not radio. The smart radio stations make deals with the local TV stations to draw on that staff when disasters happen. The only radio stations you can expect to do this are the ones that actually have news staffs there every day.

Then in 2003, congress wrote the Department of Homeland Security Act, and they put all of the emphasis and resources in local emergency officials. They got the money, and they got the responsibility, not radio. Radio is just the medium that delivers the information created by the local emergency officials. So that relationship between emergency responders and media is important, and requires regular contact for it to work.

 

[kwthom]

Sounds like the 1 DJ did what was expected: repeating the warning. What else could the DJ do? How many tornado warnings end up being nothing? <...>

Um...

Watch: It could happen...

Warning: It *is* happening.

https://www.weather.gov/lwx/WarningsDefined

Generally speaking, then, if stations are (for whatever reasons are out there....) lacking the manpower and other resources to cover active events such as this, it might be of use for those in 'tornado country' to have multiple means of getting information about these events on a more real-time basis.

SImilar discussion last year on this: https://www.radiodiscussions.com/threads/car-makes-models-with-no-am-band.761464/page-6#post-6600314

 

[TheBigA]

it might be of use for those in 'tornado country' to have multiple means of getting information about these events on a more real-time basis.

I think that's the intent. The only purpose of the AM law is to have that option available. Not to guarantee that every AM station has local staffing.

 

[fybush]

Um...

Watch: It could happen...

Warning: It *is* happening.

https://www.weather.gov/lwx/WarningsDefined

Generally speaking, then, if stations are (for whatever reasons are out there....) lacking the manpower and other resources to cover active events such as this, it might be of use for those in 'tornado country' to have multiple means of getting information about these events on a more real-time basis.

SImilar discussion last year on this: https://www.radiodiscussions.com/threads/car-makes-models-with-no-am-band.761464/page-6#post-6600314

If I lived anywhere that had a decent chance of being hit by tornadoes or other such short-warning events, I would have NOAA weather radio receivers in multiple places in the house with the appropriate SAME codes programmed in so they would wake up and blare on warnings.

I don't care how good the local radio station is, an alert will get to me that way faster than it will if filtered through a live air personality.

 

[ac175]

More and More folks in Ohio may be getting a weather radio. I know I did last year. Tornado alley seems to be shifting closer and closer to Ohio the last few years.

 

[davideduardo]

If I were in the marketing department at Walmart or Target or Best Buy or the like, I'd get a bulk buy of NOAA weather receivers (the ones Fybush mentions) and do a loss-leader or "at cost" special. I'd have little booklets done with some emergency tips and how to use the radio. And I'd put some guidance on a label don the back or bottom of the radio with my brand.

A campaign of "... when there are tornado warnings" or ".... when a hurricane is approaching" or "... if flooding is possible" (and others) depending on the market and area would bring some additional traffic to the stores and create an image of community responsibility.

I think many people are unaware of NOAA radio and the dedicated radios and being the retailer to "take care" of its customers can't hurt in the area of brand loyalty.

 

[TheBigA]

If I were in the marketing department at Walmart or Target or Best Buy or the like, I'd get a bulk buy of NOAA weather receivers

This is typically what a local TV station would do as kind of a co-op deal with the local big box store.

That way they get built-in publicity and advertising as part of it.

 

[fybush]

Promotions like that are actually quite common in tornado country. They're often done in conjunction with local TV stations that want to sell themselves as the local source of severe weather coverage.

Go to a market like Wichita or OKC and you'll find the TV stations publishing annual (and heavily sponsored) severe weather guides in print and digital and holding events to meet the meteorologist and distribute weather alert radios.

It's already saving lives.

 

[davideduardo]

Promotions like that are actually quite common in tornado country. They're often done in conjunction with local TV stations that want to sell themselves as the local source of severe weather coverage.

Interesting. I did not know that.

However, if a big national chain were to make a full campaign out of it, it certainly would increase awareness. In particular, in more urban and suburban areas where people may think "that only happens out in the country..."

Go to a market like Wichita or OKC and you'll find the TV stations publishing annual (and heavily sponsored) severe weather guides in print and digital and holding events to meet the meteorologist and distribute weather alert radios.

It's already saving lives.

Good to know. Getting a national chain to get a single manufacturer to produce a lower cost radio might broaden the penetration into homes that don't have them already. And it would build traffic in the stores, particularly if they featured other emergency supplies from flashlights to first aid kits under the "be prepared... Walmart helps you!" banner.

 

[kwthom]

(...)
I don't care how good the local radio station is, an alert will get to me that way faster than it will if filtered through a live air personality.

Of course... which might be an answer for the OP on how well local broadcast radio did in the area for coverage of this event.

 

[bturner1]

I think that the original poster was pointing out he was not receiving any info on the local station about clean up and services set up to aid the tornado victims. While the local station may not be equipped to provide coverage, I'm sure someone could get a fast okay to clean a TV station in the area. He pointed out Bobby Bones playing. My question was the coverage area of the station of the station and if any info was available in local breaks.

 

[Theater of My Mind]

After so many threads on this site about how radio failed to deliver emergency information when an emergency actually happened, we all know the reasons why by now.

The issue isn't that radio doesn't always come through in a crisis. It's that lobbyists like the NAB, and the elected officials whose palms they grease, constantly keep misrepresenting that it does. Every time they want to "save" AM radio, revitalize it, put in in cell phones, etc., they play the emergency card and overstate how vital radio is, as if it's still 1974.

It's not. Millennials and Gen Z rely on their cell phones the way boomers once relied on radio. Their community town square isn't a local AM radio station, it's a Facebook group. For many, radio isn't even in their lives and they wouldn't even think of it in an emergency. They use multiple other resources available to them in the modern age.

Honestly, if there weren't so much puffery about radio being such a vital emergency resource in the 21st century, then nobody would be surprised when it inevitably turns out not to be, and we wouldn't even be having this discussion.

 

[TheBigA]

After so many threads on this site about how radio failed to deliver emergency information

I'll direct your comments to the Minister of Radio, who convene his team to address the problem.

Radio is not one thing. It's thousands of stations. Some do a great job, some don't. Radio is just a medium: A window through which information can pass. The government part is preserving it as an option from which people can get information. That's why they want to save or revitalize it. The main thing the FCC demands of its licensees is that stations stay on the air. That is so they can send emergency information directly to the public using EAS. They have the ability to over-ride local programming with emergency information. They rarely use it. But that's the government side of the equation. That option exists regardless of who owns the station or how it's staffed.

 

[Theater of My Mind]

I'll direct your comments to the Minister of Radio, who convene his team to address the problem.

Radio is not one thing. It's thousands of stations. Some do a great job, some don't. Radio is just a medium: A window through which information can pass. The government part is preserving it as an option from which people can get information. That's why they want to save or revitalize it. The main thing the FCC demands of its licensees is that stations stay on the air. That is so they can send emergency information directly to the public using EAS. They have the ability to over-ride local programming with emergency information. They rarely use it. But that's the government side of the equation. That option exists regardless of who owns the station or how it's staffed.

AC175 referred to the "NWS announcements" in the second post which I presume were EAS alerts. The National Weather Service makes good use of EAS and it would most likely have been triggered for all the tornado watches and warnings.

It would have also sounded on everyone's phone, TV and NOAA S.A.M.E. weather radio, and I don't see the industry trying to "save" them.

 

[TheBigA]

It would have also sounded on everyone's phone, TV and NOAA S.A.M.E. weather radio, and I don't see the industry trying to "save" them.

It doesn't sound on MY phone because I purposely shut off all notifications. I'd be in favor of a rule to save NOAA. I think the previous president wanted to shut it down.

I have heard exactly what you're describing on my car radio while driving. It happens, but because it isn't continuous, people might miss it. If they miss it, they get the impression that there was no emergency coverage at all.

 

[davideduardo]

IThe main thing the FCC demands of its licensees is that stations stay on the air. That is so they can send emergency information directly to the public using EAS. They have the ability to over-ride local programming with emergency information. They rarely use it. But that's the government side of the equation. That option exists regardless of who owns the station or how it's staffed.

Interestingly, during a key moment of the Oscars, my local TV station carrying the event was interrupted by an EAS alert for potential flash floods in the High Desert area near Barstow.

Then, I got messages on my cell phone about the same thing.

Barstow is about 140 miles away; it is a 2 hour and a half drive. Palm Springs media has no signal anywhere near Barstow... in fact, the signals originate from a hill deep in our valley and can't be viewed outside the area.

I can repeat stories from months and years back that parallel this... alerts of no interest locally that are taking place well over 100 miles away. A few years back I was at a meeting of donors to one of our local hospitals an nearly everyone's phone went off with alerts... for an incident a few miles from the Mexican border and another 100 or so miles away.

My point is that the "government side of the equation" is horribly administered. When "everyone" gets repeated messages about events in totally different and distant communities, most of us turn off the ability of our phones to receive them. The end result is that the government system can't reach us in the event of an actual local event (I've never, in 23 years here, gotten one of those).

 

[TheBigA]

My point is that the "government side of the equation" is horribly administered. When "everyone" gets repeated messages about events in totally different and distant communities, most of us turn off the ability of our phones to receive them.

Which is exactly what I did. I did it after receiving numerous thunderstorm warnings at 3AM. I didn't need the warnings, since I could hear the thunder. But yes, I agree that all of this is badly administered. As I said in the previous post, the bad part about the radio announcements is they only interrupt for the announcement, and then return to local programming. If you missed it, you think there's no warning.

What the EAS people should do is offer continuous emergency coverage. That would give the public what they want, and present it from an authoritative source. Such as it is. Of course what they would do is put the information on a continuous loop, and that would drive people crazy. I heard that done by a local state police service on an AM station.

 

[schmave]

I was in Dayton on Thursday night for work and can confirm there was some coverage on WHIO-FM, but UD basketball was playing at the time. I wasn't able to listen for long.
Dayton TV, at least WDTN and WHIO, broke in when Mercer, Auglaize and Logan counties were under tornado warnings. I assume WKEF did the same. I was told Columbus stations did so when the storms hit Logan and stayed on as they marched east.
WBNS and WCMH consider Logan in their viewing area, even though the latter isn't carried there given that they already get their NBC from Dayton and Lima. Logan is officially in the Dayton market but it's basically an equal distance from Columbus and WBNS has been on cable there forever.

 

[xmusicmatt]

I was told Columbus stations did so when the storms hit Logan and stayed on as they marched east.

Yep, I watched WCMH all evening here in Columbus, OH - they were on for the entire duration of the warnings. Central Ohio TV does a very good job at covering that area despite being on the fringe of their market coverage.

I believe 95.3 WKTN in Kenton was on air doing their best to cover the storms as much as a small-town station with limited resources could.