Re: TV Stations Scrambling for Antennas, Ratings and Revenue

[Ben Gore <ben@hrdent.com>]

Scott Saloway wrote:

"...The proposed shared tower site would accommodate digital
stations WABC-DT, WNBC-DT, WNET-DT, WPIX-DT, and WWOR-DT,
that were also knocked off the North tower of the WTC...."


I hope these stations are at least considering having backup sites at another location. I would never want to see a situation where something happens to take out the big "master facility" (wherever it happens to be built), but in the event that was to happen, they would all be in the same
boat again. (except, of course, WCBS..assuming they continue having a primary and backup location. It seems the bean counters might see the need as justified after this disaster). At times like WTC when the media plays a huge role in informing the public it was clearly demonstrated that
having all the "eggs in one basket" isn't always a good idea.

One could expand this thought process to the facilities where studios are located. If something were to happen to the studio clusters that the big conglomerates seem to be installing in major markets, it could only take one incident to take all the stations in the facility off the air (or
at least to automation). Hopefully creative engineering would be able to restore the stations quickly from alternate locations, but it would create havoc in the meantime.

-Ben