Re: Fw: No backup transmitter sites

["Joseph Pappalardo" <joepappalardo2001@yahoo.com>]

I think this link will still work...

NPR's All Things COnsidered did a pretty good story on the situation in NYC
with many radio and TV off the air...some will be off for up to a
week...some are trying to get back on with low power, etc.

It's a pretty good story...and I thought the radio geeks on the list (and I
include myself!) would find this interesting listening...!

Joe

http://www.npr.org/ramfiles/atc/20010913.atc.14.ram


----- Original Message -----
From: "Scott Saloway" <saloway@bu.edu>
To: "Paul Anderson" <plandrsn@ma.ultranet.com>
Cc: "Boston Radio Interest" <bri@bostonradio.org>
Sent: Thursday, September 13, 2001 8:44 PM
Subject: Re: Fw: No backup transmitter sites


>
> It's strange to think that this is exactly what happened back in 1993. I
> remember sitting at home (near Morristown, NJ at the time), and only
> having access to WCBS. And this was over cable. Almost all of the other
> stations were down.
>
> I was under the impression that the stations went to great lengths to set
> up backup sites following the '93 attack. I guess that was wrong.
>
> Of course, I don't think anyone expect anything like this to ever happen.
>
> On NPR tonight, reporter Ric Karr talked about the electronic impact of
> the attack on NYC.
>
> WNET president Bill Baker told Karr that his station lost an engineer in
> the attack as well, whom Baker said "kept us on the air until that tower
> began to fall."
>
> WNET, he said, is hoping to be back on the air sometime next week using a
> low-power transmitter from the Empire State Building. I imagine many
> others will follow suit.
>
> To Chris Beckwith's point about Oxygen relaying NY1: Does anyone know
> where Oxygen's studios were? Did they take over the WBIS studios - which I
> believe were with the other Dow Jones operations at 1 World Financial
> Center, across from the WTC - when WBIS was sold to Pax?
>
> I found it interesting that WFAN was simulcasting WCBS on the night of the
> attack. I'm assuming they could have also carried their sister station
> WINS. For my money, WCBS was the better choice, since they always seem to
> perform better in a crisis - but might this point out that, in Infinity's
> eyes, the demise of WCBS has been greatly exaggerated?
>
> Also, let me be one of the many to commend the vast majority of my
> colleagues in the radio and television world who did the right thing on
> Tuesday morning, as soon as it became apparent what was happening.
>
> By switching to news, you did your listeners and viewers - and this
> country - a great service. Your listeners and viewers will not forget
> that.
>
> Those of you who switched to light music, or open-phone-line talk shortly
> after the attack came to an end deserve to be commended as well.
>
> I firmly believe that the purpose of our industry, in a time of crisis, is
> first and foremost to keep our audience informed. Second, it is to comfort
> them and let them know that things are going to be OK.
>
> Those that did one or the other - or both - truly lifted the bar for all
> of us, and truly performed a public service. God bless each and every one
> of you.
>
> Stay safe,
>
> --Scott--
>
> On Thu, 13 Sep 2001, Paul Anderson wrote:
>
> > The fact that only one New York TV station is on the air* speaks volumes
> > about the affect of cable TV.  Would the same thing have happened years
> > ago, before most people had cable, if a common transmitter site had been
> > destroyed?  I can't imagine stations doing without a backup site in
> > those days.
> >
> > One of the stations (I think it was WPIX) had a note on their Web page
> > directing cable system operators to their satellite location.
> >
> > I wonder why WCBS-TV is the only station with a backup site.
> >
> > Paul
> >
> > *on their own frequency; WABC-TV's rebroadcast on suburban stations,
> > although resourceful, doesn't count
> >
>
>
>


_________________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com