Did any Brevard County station have any worthwhile coverage, especially Sunday (11) when the smoke was pluming over Palm Bay and Melbourne?
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Wildfire Coverage
- Thread starter smedge2006
- Start date
Nothing I heard on Sunday.
In fact, the only worthwhile coverage I heard on Monday when homes were burning and the fire was really getting out of hand came from Kiss 95.1 (a CHR station?!). The reason I say that is because the afternoon guy was actually taking calls from evacuees and people next door to burning lots, and devoting every break to fire coverage. I didn't hear any other station do that. They were the only station that had a reporter on scene in a station vehicle (me, and when I say "on scene," I was literally helping people pour water on flames on their property at one point).
Where were all the other stations? Who knows, being lazy I guess. For a natural disaster on par with a hurricane in terms of destruction in the county's most-populous city, there should've been heavy coverage. I was really disappointed with the coverage. But that's why radio keeps losing. We had the chance to shine, but blew it. As I was driving around the burning areas, I saw lots of TV trucks, but mine was the only radio vehicle.
In fact, the only worthwhile coverage I heard on Monday when homes were burning and the fire was really getting out of hand came from Kiss 95.1 (a CHR station?!). The reason I say that is because the afternoon guy was actually taking calls from evacuees and people next door to burning lots, and devoting every break to fire coverage. I didn't hear any other station do that. They were the only station that had a reporter on scene in a station vehicle (me, and when I say "on scene," I was literally helping people pour water on flames on their property at one point).
Where were all the other stations? Who knows, being lazy I guess. For a natural disaster on par with a hurricane in terms of destruction in the county's most-populous city, there should've been heavy coverage. I was really disappointed with the coverage. But that's why radio keeps losing. We had the chance to shine, but blew it. As I was driving around the burning areas, I saw lots of TV trucks, but mine was the only radio vehicle.
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froggiesmother
Guest
Oh please indy...Matt hit the nail on the head....The few local radio options don't do anything out of the ordinary....If a hundred funnel clouds were descending on Brevard County they'd keep taking caller 14 to win the gift certificate ....The only places to go for any local information are the internet, News 13 and to a lesser extent the local Orlando TV affiliates...Radio has dropped the ball again and again, even when there is an opportunity to be local and informative...Matt may be tooting his own horn a bit, but hell, he should be ....He was doing things the way it should be done, not being a 100,000 watt i-pod...And what radio needs is more people pissed off and passionate about the state of the industry and less condescending know it alls who are satisfied with the mediocrity that exists all over the dial.
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youreallcrazy
Guest
froggiesmother said:
i think the problem here is that perhaps, yes, radio "dropped the ball" on the fires...however, radio, because of their alienation of the news and such, has made this ball you talk of just a little too heavy to pick up...
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this is not meant to be an insensitive statement
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these fires were devastating to those who experienced them, however, for the most part of the county, the power stayed on...the internet and tv was accessable...unfortunately, thats the first option for something like this...another point is that if the fires WEREN'T going to effect you, you didn't care...and you knew, if you wanted your music for your drive home, you had it...i, like many others, kept track of the fires on the TV or the internet...
i remember in 2004 when the hurricanes came through...the CC Orlando cluster was in full force! most of the stations went to simulcasted coverage from 540...but we're talking about a widespread power failure, as well as a disaster that covered the whole listening region!...radio picked up the ball there...because it was the only way...
unfortunately, if the internet or tv or (gasp) mobile devices are available, radio shouldn't be picking up the ball, because its not expected of them...not in this case at least...
Re: What is radio Losing?
Ok I’ll play! One word “relevance'
When disastores happened, when presidents gave speeches people knew they could count on radio for information about their communities that mattered to their lives.
What is radio losing? Radio is no longer relevant in lives of their listeners. It’s becoming meaningless. Unless you’re a prize pig then radio matters.
In the future, your mobile device will replace the role of radio for LOCAL accurate relevant information. Your local TV stations do a better job than radio.
When wireless internet access becomes standard in all cars, we will all turn to the internet. Actually we all turn to it now, what am I saying.
Marketing #101 Radio is losing the RELEVANCE battle.
Read the book Positioning - The Battle for Your Mind. Al Ries and Jack Trout.
Stop drinking the Kool-Aid
Ok I’ll play! One word “relevance'
When disastores happened, when presidents gave speeches people knew they could count on radio for information about their communities that mattered to their lives.
What is radio losing? Radio is no longer relevant in lives of their listeners. It’s becoming meaningless. Unless you’re a prize pig then radio matters.
In the future, your mobile device will replace the role of radio for LOCAL accurate relevant information. Your local TV stations do a better job than radio.
When wireless internet access becomes standard in all cars, we will all turn to the internet. Actually we all turn to it now, what am I saying.
Marketing #101 Radio is losing the RELEVANCE battle.
Read the book Positioning - The Battle for Your Mind. Al Ries and Jack Trout.
Stop drinking the Kool-Aid
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froggiesmother
Guest
I was just about to type a response to indy but I can't say it any better than pocketradio...it is all about relevance....radio has lost it, almost totally....and "youreallcrazy", I understand the point you're presenting, but when over a dozen fires are burning out of control for the largest city in your primary broadcast area(population approx 100,000)...then it is a MAJOR story for any broadcasting outlet...when you're stuck at work without a TV or internet then radio becomes a very important source for information...and I'm sorry but if I use a mobile device(gasp) for info it certainly isn't a source for official and accurate information.
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youreallcrazy
Guest
froggiesmother said:
its not? i guess thats why almost all major news networks offer text alerts for breaking news...espn has text alerts for breaking news...amber alerts can be sent out via text...
i guess you can tell the Orlando Sentinel that they wasted their time making an iPhone friendly website for users...same for CBSnews...they're hardly official or accurate, right?
with all due respect to my friends who work in the Melbourne market...id trust a top NEWS source sending me a text message just as much as id trust a jock reading the EAS tape...
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froggiesmother
Guest
what can be more accurate than I guy on the radio looking at the fire with his own two eyes and reporting what he is seeing on his radio station...that's the point I'm trying to make!...radio used to do that, it's lost relevance because it doesn't do enough of that anymore...Also, when refering to mobile devices I was under the impression you were simply talking about people picking up their cell phones and placing calls to friends for info....I'll grant you that subscribing to those info sources , text alerts etc, is a valid way to get some accurate up-to-date info, but not everyone has those services, probably not even cell phones, especially alot of the lower income or elderly people that reside in Palm Bay.... Radio needs to be local , it needs to be relevant when given the opportunity...if it's just the music people are listening for, then it stands no chance of survival against satellite radio, ipods and other technologies...An ipod, a satellite radio station, a text message can't do the job of a live report, a live phone call with a fire official, a live report given by a public information officer....it's just sort of sad that only one local radio station felt the need to be relevant.
I think radio is losing the jukebox war too.
Steve Jobs built a better jukebox. And more devices are on the horizon.
The trends are showing adults 12 -34, could care less about radio today. Top down programming and playing what the pd likes, won’t cut it. Cell phones, social networking, the internet, ipods and alike all mean more to them than radio. Walk into any office, "outside of the station building" and you’ll see workers wearing their ear buds and the radio is off in some corner gathering dust.
Adults 35+ (really 45-70) grew up listening to radio. But like the music of your life listeners, radio’s core listeners “today” will some day meet their maker. And the question is who will replace them? Remember what I said about adults 12-34????
This is what Clear Channel said in print as they launched their now “failed” less is more campaign. The mass market is vanishing! In 1960 American’s were exposed to 560 commercials a day. Today it’s an average of 3,000 marketing messages per day.
The Mass media is dead, as consumers “listeners” insist on being treated as individuals with unique needs and preferences.
Less is more failed. And Clear Channel knew the gig was up about 10 years ago.
That’s why they’re selling the remains of their radio company to an investment group (suckers) who don’t know what they don’t know. They plan on selling the billboard division of Clear Channel the real money maker for the company. Sounds like the pieces are worth more than actually running a radio company???
Steve Jobs built a better jukebox. And more devices are on the horizon.
The trends are showing adults 12 -34, could care less about radio today. Top down programming and playing what the pd likes, won’t cut it. Cell phones, social networking, the internet, ipods and alike all mean more to them than radio. Walk into any office, "outside of the station building" and you’ll see workers wearing their ear buds and the radio is off in some corner gathering dust.
Adults 35+ (really 45-70) grew up listening to radio. But like the music of your life listeners, radio’s core listeners “today” will some day meet their maker. And the question is who will replace them? Remember what I said about adults 12-34????
This is what Clear Channel said in print as they launched their now “failed” less is more campaign. The mass market is vanishing! In 1960 American’s were exposed to 560 commercials a day. Today it’s an average of 3,000 marketing messages per day.
The Mass media is dead, as consumers “listeners” insist on being treated as individuals with unique needs and preferences.
Less is more failed. And Clear Channel knew the gig was up about 10 years ago.
That’s why they’re selling the remains of their radio company to an investment group (suckers) who don’t know what they don’t know. They plan on selling the billboard division of Clear Channel the real money maker for the company. Sounds like the pieces are worth more than actually running a radio company???
Re: What is radio Losing?
Take a look at the trends of radio's market share over the past 20 years.
The fires might have only affected the south part of the county, but it says something to me when national news networks are covering a story. The fires in California don't affect me, but I see them in the local news, same with floods in the Midwest, blizzards in New England, etc. People love natural disaster news (if they didn't, why would news outlets that spend tons of money on audience research cover them?), and if it's a story that affects the people they work with or are friends with, then it means even more to them. If I'm a Titusville resident, the fires didn't affect me, but they did affect my coworker, my friend, my commute down I-95, etc.
By the way, it wasn't my intention to brag about what I did or anything, and I think radio overall is still doing pretty damn well despite the naysaying, reaching over 90% of the population weekly. I'm just frustrated that local radio had a great opportunity to shine that no stations seemed interested in or didn't know how to cover. We could've done a better job than any of the Orlando TV stations or national news networks because WE know the roads, and WE can sneak past police road blocks (not that I'd ever dream of doing that). So while those TV stations were sitting at the press area a mile from the fire lines, WE could've been next to the flames giving play-by-play of houses burning or talk to ashy people just escaping the smoke.
indydood said:
Take a look at the trends of radio's market share over the past 20 years.
The fires might have only affected the south part of the county, but it says something to me when national news networks are covering a story. The fires in California don't affect me, but I see them in the local news, same with floods in the Midwest, blizzards in New England, etc. People love natural disaster news (if they didn't, why would news outlets that spend tons of money on audience research cover them?), and if it's a story that affects the people they work with or are friends with, then it means even more to them. If I'm a Titusville resident, the fires didn't affect me, but they did affect my coworker, my friend, my commute down I-95, etc.
By the way, it wasn't my intention to brag about what I did or anything, and I think radio overall is still doing pretty damn well despite the naysaying, reaching over 90% of the population weekly. I'm just frustrated that local radio had a great opportunity to shine that no stations seemed interested in or didn't know how to cover. We could've done a better job than any of the Orlando TV stations or national news networks because WE know the roads, and WE can sneak past police road blocks (not that I'd ever dream of doing that). So while those TV stations were sitting at the press area a mile from the fire lines, WE could've been next to the flames giving play-by-play of houses burning or talk to ashy people just escaping the smoke.
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froggiesmother
Guest
Ok Indy....Revenue is down and listenership is down...The medium, as it exists today is diminishing in just about every important area....Nothing else needs to be added. The options of competing forms of media and technology are all growing at the expense of diminishing dollars and relevance of terrestrial radio?..and radio reacts by doing less and less..
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youreallcrazy
Guest
do you have some proof for us then, indy? in actuality, an opinion is a fact to the person saying it, no? you tell us who have radio jobs that if we bitch, then we're part of the problem, and we should leave the industry. Thats like saying if you don't support the war, you're un-American.
No, I'm not part of the problem, I bitch because think i see where the holes are, and where radio IS dropping the ball, and unfortunately, another downfall of big company radio, is that those of us with ideas, mostly are overlooked, because they're either too much work, or they challenge the ideas of the high and mighty...Although we've had our differences, i credit "thematt" for his efforts in fire coverage...the sad thing is that, as to my knowledge, he will never be exposed to "the big company" about his efforts to make the stations he is involved in what they should be...how about a shame on the Orlando cluster, the big brother of Melbourne radio, for not having someone on the scene giving reports...they already had a company employee out there...they just didn't know it...because they didn't care enough to find out...
I could be naive in thinking that I have all the answers, (or a "genius plan", as one former colleague once said), but I'm not going to roll over and die, while the present ideas are failing. I like to live by this: "If the things I've been taught are the only things I know, then I know nothing."
In other words, instead of putting someones opinion down, LISTEN to what they're saying. You could learn alot, and maybe even spark up your imagination. Thats whole other conversation. Radio in the big company days has forgotten how to listen to people. Thus explains the lack of imagination and forum for new ideas!
No, I'm not part of the problem, I bitch because think i see where the holes are, and where radio IS dropping the ball, and unfortunately, another downfall of big company radio, is that those of us with ideas, mostly are overlooked, because they're either too much work, or they challenge the ideas of the high and mighty...Although we've had our differences, i credit "thematt" for his efforts in fire coverage...the sad thing is that, as to my knowledge, he will never be exposed to "the big company" about his efforts to make the stations he is involved in what they should be...how about a shame on the Orlando cluster, the big brother of Melbourne radio, for not having someone on the scene giving reports...they already had a company employee out there...they just didn't know it...because they didn't care enough to find out...
I could be naive in thinking that I have all the answers, (or a "genius plan", as one former colleague once said), but I'm not going to roll over and die, while the present ideas are failing. I like to live by this: "If the things I've been taught are the only things I know, then I know nothing."
In other words, instead of putting someones opinion down, LISTEN to what they're saying. You could learn alot, and maybe even spark up your imagination. Thats whole other conversation. Radio in the big company days has forgotten how to listen to people. Thus explains the lack of imagination and forum for new ideas!
Fact: Radio is losing it's audience share.
Opinion: Once internet in cars is standard and signal strength is everyplace AM/FM listening will plummet even more.
Fact: Summer book Persons Using Radio (PUR) numbers declined to their lowest level since Arbitron began keeping statistics in Fall 1998. Radio usage dropped in every cell except 50-54s. Steepest declines continue to be among teenagers and young adults, as their attention is increasingly diverted to other media. That’s especially true among males, with Men 18-24 and 18-34 cells posting the biggest year-over-year declines. But the crowded media world is also taking a toll on the 25-54 money demo, which fell 15.1-14.9. There’s also a disturbing trend among female demos. In the Summer book not a single female cell saw an increase in listening. All but two (50-54 and 65+) declined. Compare that to male demos. While older women mirror the trend of listening less, the Summer book shows Men 45-64 were listening to the radio more.
Opinion: If the picture for radio was so great why is Clear Channel selling?
Fact: Clear Channel put in print and declared "Mass Media is Dead"
Fact: The trends are towards MORE voice tracking, and cyber jocks. More jobs have been lost as stations continue to slash budgets focusing on short term profits. If you’re in the bus then you’ve seen more on air shifts eliminated and people let go.
Fact: 66% of us households own Ipods.
Fact: 66% of listeners have no interest in HD radio.
Opinion: Once internet in cars is standard and signal strength is everyplace AM/FM listening will plummet even more.
Fact: Summer book Persons Using Radio (PUR) numbers declined to their lowest level since Arbitron began keeping statistics in Fall 1998. Radio usage dropped in every cell except 50-54s. Steepest declines continue to be among teenagers and young adults, as their attention is increasingly diverted to other media. That’s especially true among males, with Men 18-24 and 18-34 cells posting the biggest year-over-year declines. But the crowded media world is also taking a toll on the 25-54 money demo, which fell 15.1-14.9. There’s also a disturbing trend among female demos. In the Summer book not a single female cell saw an increase in listening. All but two (50-54 and 65+) declined. Compare that to male demos. While older women mirror the trend of listening less, the Summer book shows Men 45-64 were listening to the radio more.
Opinion: If the picture for radio was so great why is Clear Channel selling?
Fact: Clear Channel put in print and declared "Mass Media is Dead"
Fact: The trends are towards MORE voice tracking, and cyber jocks. More jobs have been lost as stations continue to slash budgets focusing on short term profits. If you’re in the bus then you’ve seen more on air shifts eliminated and people let go.
Fact: 66% of us households own Ipods.
Fact: 66% of listeners have no interest in HD radio.
H
homer29
Guest
Fact: 66% of us households own Ipods.
Fact: 66% of listeners have no interest in HD radio
Oh, people can come up with statistics to prove anything, Kent. 14% of people know that. ~ Homer Simpson
Fact: 66% of listeners have no interest in HD radio
Oh, people can come up with statistics to prove anything, Kent. 14% of people know that. ~ Homer Simpson
CNN is reporting the tornadoes in Kansas. They’ve also been running coverage on fires in FL and California. The local CHR stations are probably playing another Madonna hit
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So if I’ve been away on business and returning home in my car and I’d again tune to XM and CNN for local natural disaster coverage? Or, if USA declared war on Iran say on Sunday at 3
m, I’d again have tune to CNN on XM to hear breaking news? Because, nobody would be home at the radio station except for Freddy who is playing another Madonna hit and voice tracks?
You see how CNN is more relevant in lives of people than local radio?
What is radio losing? plenty!
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So if I’ve been away on business and returning home in my car and I’d again tune to XM and CNN for local natural disaster coverage? Or, if USA declared war on Iran say on Sunday at 3
m, I’d again have tune to CNN on XM to hear breaking news? Because, nobody would be home at the radio station except for Freddy who is playing another Madonna hit and voice tracks?You see how CNN is more relevant in lives of people than local radio?
What is radio losing? plenty!
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