WTAG and Ice Storm

[Donna Halper]

>Scott wrote--
>
>During Katrina, it was Entercom's WWL that got most of the attention 
>for its emergency service, as well it should have - but the guys at 
>WWL will be the first to tell you that they were able to stay on the 
>air in large part because Clear Channel had an emergency facility 
>available in Baton Rouge, complete with satellite uplinks to get 
>programming back to whatever transmitters could stay on the air in 
>New Orleans. The emergency simulcast that was heard over every 
>working radio facility in New Orleans in the days after Katrina came 
>from that CC studio plant in Baton Rouge.

I wrote a free-lance article about this, and the CC engineering staff 
did some amazing things to keep the stations on the air under utterly 
horrendous circumstances.  I have my notes from that time, and what 
the engineers went through to keep the stations operating (and what 
the announcers did, working long shifts, getting the information the 
public desperately needed and putting it on the air, encouraging and 
comforting people) was so impressive that words do not adequately 
express it.  I've been very critical of Lowry and Mark Mays on a 
number of occasions, but in this case, Scott is 100% correct -- Clear 
Channel's response to Katrina spared no expense and  what was 
achieved was commendable.  During Katrina, it really was a team 
effort on behalf of all the stations -- they put aside competition, 
worked together and shared all their facilities to serve the 
audience.  And both CC and Entercom also flew in people from some of 
their other markets to offer their assistance. In those frightening 
days, as the storm's violence was unfolding, radio was a lifeline for 
many people, proving once again that live and local is what the public wants.