WTAG and Ice Storm

[Dave Doherty]

CC takes it on the chin for a lot of stuff, but I think they do a far better 
job than they are given credit for in the area of emergency preparedness and 
reaction.

Scott and Donna have covered the Katrina and 9/11 responses well, so I won't 
go into that.

I was in Austin for NAB Radio shortly after Hurricane Ike destroyed much of 
the Galveston area. A big portion of the convention center was taken up with 
refugee aid.  I ran into Troy Langham from CC Headquarters, who I know 
through AFCCE. He had driven down from Tulsa in a truck equipped with a 
generator and a spare transmitter, and he was actively looking for an 
off-air station he could loan this equipment to.

In the case of WTAG, as in any organization, individual initiative counts 
for a great deal. The WTAG guys were able to go on the air because they had 
working emergency generators at both the studio and the transmitter, and 
they therefore had an available venue. They _went_ on the air because they 
felt the need.

38 years ago, I was a young station employee when a severe winter storm hit 
the Albany area on a weekend around Christmas. I think it was the weekend 
between Christmas and New Year's, but it really doesn't matter. What did 
matter was that we got over 3' of snow overnight and some places got a lot 
more. WGY was the Big Kahuna in the market, and my employer, WOKO (1460) was 
a 5kW wannabe. In those days NBC provided the Monitor program on weekends, 
and WGY apparently had no announcing staff in the building. I lived not far 
from the transmitter, and I managed to get there in my Dad's VW. The phone 
was ringing, and I did just what the WTAG guys were doing the part few days. 
I passed along info about who needed heating oil, where the power was on or 
off, who needed medical attention, who had a 4WD (rare in those days) and 
could assist in getting people to shelters, and so on.  Meanwhile, WGY was 
on the network, oblivious to the emergency.  WOKO got several awards for 
that.  Nobody told me I had to do it, I just did it.

Ironically, WGY is now a part of the CC empire, and in a similar emergency I 
believe that today they would respond much more like WTAG has been doing.

-d


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dan.Strassberg" <dan.strassberg@att.net>
To: "Dave Doherty" <dave@skywaves.net>; "'BostonRadio Mailing List'" 
<boston-radio-interest@bostonradio.org>
Sent: Sunday, December 14, 2008 8:59 PM
Subject: Re: WTAG and Ice Storm


>
> Which means props to Clear Channel. which as everybody here probably
> knows, has taken it on the chin repeatedly for lapses in the past in
> emergencies in other parts of the country. Now, does WTAG's
> performance herald a new leaf? Or is the company trying to atone for
> past problems elsewhere that it claims were incorrectly reported by
> competing media and then became urban legends that refused to die? Or
> is this the impact of the company's new private ownership, which had
> the reputation of not caring about radio except for the $$$$ it could
> bring in? Although nobody wishes for natural disasters, it is in
> radio's finest tradition to really turn to when they occur. Let's hope
> that WTAG's performance in this disaster is not simply an isolated
> incident and that America's largest broadcasting company continues to
> demonstrate that it understands the importance of public service in
> regional and local disasters whenever and wherever they occur.
>
> -----
> Dan Strassberg (dan.strassberg@att.net)
> eFax 1-707-215-6367
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Dave Doherty" <dave@skywaves.net>
> To: "'BostonRadio Mailing List'"
> <boston-radio-interest@bostonradio.org>
> Sent: Sunday, December 14, 2008 8:13 PM
> Subject: WTAG and Ice Storm
>
>
>> Hi, all-
>>
>> WTAG (580 Worcester) has been doing a fabulous job this weekend.
>>
>> They are live most of the day from their studio, which is on
>> Asnebumskit Hill in Paxton, and has been barely accessible. They are
>> airing whatever information comes in via cellphone and they have
>> been announcing the phone number and encouraging text messaging to
>> the number. They've been providing a steady hand, solid advice, and
>> providing a lifeline to the communities hard hit by this disaster.
>>
>> This is local radio at its best in an emergency.
>>
>> "props" to WTAG and their staff!
>>
>> -Dave Doherty
>> Skywaves Consulting LLC
>>
>
>