Bad things keep happening at inconvenient times for radio.
Whether it’s untimely deaths (Whitney Houston and Clarence Clemons both died on Saturday nights), or last weekend’s earthquake in Napa, radio’s inability to provide coverage when these emergencies occur – in either pop culture or real life – stands out. Twitter continues to be first, usually as accurate, and certainly more dependable than what radio (and TV) can provide.
While radio applauded itself in some of the trades yesterday about its earthquake coverage over the weekend, the fact is that many news/newstalk radio stations were running syndicated or recorded programming, with little to no human presence in stations. There was a whole lotta shakin’ goin’ on in Napa but as for timely coverage on the radio, not so much.
Now it’s one thing when there’s a train derailment that goes uncovered in Minot, North Dakota, as was alleged to have happened with the Clear Channel stations in that market more than a decade ago. That became one of those lightning rod stories about radio staffing, emergency coverage, budget cutbacks, and cluster efficiencies.
But it’s a whole other thing when Bay Area radio – we’re talking one of America’s largest market – provides scant coverage even a couple hours after that earthquake struck. As we now know, it was 6.0 quake – the worst in a quarter century.
And so that brings us to the “live and local” cliché we often hear so much about. Some industry pundits believe that the entire concept of hometown programming is utter nonsense or that it is not a bona fide differentiator for broadcast radio. Don’t try to convince the good citizens of Napa of that because if you woke up to loud rumbling and shaking early Sunday morning, you had to be thankful that KVON (AM 1440) in Napa,, along with sister station KVYN (The Vine) was there.
Here’s the story: KVON has been around since the Truman Administration, now owned by Roger Walther’s Wine Country Broadcasting. Later KVYN-FM was added. They are the only stations serving Napa Valley exclusively. Larry Sharp (pictured) – who many of you know from his programming days in Seattle, San Jose, Sacramento, and San Francisco – runs the joint and tells this story:
When the quake hit (Sunday) morning at 3:20 am, I headed to the stations about 10 minutes away. When I got there, the building was dark. Most of the valley was dark. Our generator had not worked as it was supposed to. I called my engineer, Ben Webster, who was taking care of broken glass at his home and calming his wife and young daughter.
He arrived within a few minutes and we quickly rewired the power to run off of two small generators. Both of our transmitters stayed on the air thanks to properly operating generators. We had operational studios within 30 minutes and began broadcasting live, simulcasting on both stations. We quickly get some authorities from the city on the air then opened the phone lines to talk to listeners.
Morning guy Bob St. Laurent came in, as well as afternoon jock Mindi Levine, to help (both pictured at left). We went live without interruption until about 7:00 am. Bob and Mindi went out and called in with live reports. Calls started to calm down, and when the sun came up, everyone was able to get a handle on what happened. We started playing a little music and breaking in every couple of songs the rest of the day.
As I drove into the station at 3:30 in the morning, the only station that was live was KCBS in San Francisco. As far as I know, no other station was able to do anything because of the lack of personnel in the middle of the night.
Simple, right? A manager and engineer who recognize the urgency of the situation and are willing to do what’s necessary to keep the station on the air, an airstaff that is invested in its community, and a small market commitment to reflecting the community and being there at a critical time of need. That’s just basic radio.
And yet, many stations in the Bay Area weren’t prepared or worse, simply did not have the personnel and the management in place to rise to the occasion. Those of you who have been through emergencies at local stations – whether 9/11 or a local weather disaster – know that these days can be tumultuous, tragic, and gut-wrenching. But they are often the most rewarding, prideful, and memorable days you can experience in radio.
These are the days when you realize that in radio, you can make a difference in your community and in people’s lives.
So as radio continues to grapple with delivery systems, FM chips in cell phones, and the promise of great local service – especially during these cataclysmic times – what will it take for the industry to invest in local systems, adequate preparedness, and a true commitment to community service? There is more to running radio stations that providing quarterly calls to Wall Street analysts. These are the moments when the good operators rise to the occasion.
Emergencies will continue to occur at inconvenient times, but if radio is to fulfill its true mission, it has to step up.
Like they did last weekend at two Napa Valley stations that may be very small in size, but proved to very big in stature and performance.
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A&O&B’s pals at Sonoma Media Group KFGY (Froggy 92.9) also must us very proud! PD Jim Murphy tells Country Aircheck, “SMG Managing Partner/President Lawrence Amaturo and I, along with members of the news team of Froggy’s News/Talk sister station KSRO, immediately came into the stations. KSRO was in wall-to-wall coverage and, using KSRO resources, I did live updates on our four music FMs up until 8am. Later in the morning Joss of Rob & Joss in the morning was joined in studio by KSRO Morning Anchor Melanie Morgan for what we call neighbor-to-neighbor coverage, opening up the phones to hear listeners’ various experiences when the quake hit. Our stations and employees did not suffer any damage other than a couple of brief power outages.”
Jaye, thanks for letting me know about this. Remarkable, is it not, that stations that may not be famous for emergency coverage stepped up big time. As Larry Sharp drove to the station early Sunday morning to start their quake broadcasts, his dial scan covered the “usual suspects” – stations that have been famous for disseminating information. How ironic that music stations and small market stations may have provided better community service.
Terrestrial radio has been letting its relevance die little by little since deregulation in the mid-1980’s and, sadly, virtually all owners will never see the cost efficiency of staffing real people to be on guard to handle breaking news of any kind at odd hours. They’d rather take their occasional lumps (from falling debris) and in essays like this rather than actually provide a community service that meant something when it counted. There once was a palpable anticipatory tension at a station knowing there was a news wire in it that someone was charged with monitoring 24 hours a day…or that was at least within earshot of someone for a multiple bell ring signaling an important story. Back in my day…. well, I’ll stop. I’ll start sounding like Dana Carvey’s grumpy old man.
Hey, but you are correct, Paul. These used to be great days to work in radio. You knew you were impacting people’s lives and providing great service. Sadly, that’s been lost in all of this, too. Appreciate you taking the time.
Being a bit contrarian…I too appreciate the local immediacy of good radio, but if Twitter provides a faster, more direct form of communication maybe we need to think more about how we adapt to the technology and use it.
When cell circuits jam up or just fall down radio really proves its value but it’s not always black/white. And frankly, if we have to staff up for emergencies 24/7 we’ll all be broke.
Jackson, thanks for the perspective and the dose of financial reality. Not every station is equipped to handle emergencies, and we cannot stop the growth of Twitter. As we saw in the Boston Marathon bombing, law enforcement used the social network to better understand what was occurring on the ground – and of course, it wasn’t always accurate.
Radio has decisions to make. If we’re going to run around promoting the notion that cell service may not hold up in emergencies but radio will always be there, then we do have to put up or….well, you know. Appreciate you taking the time.
Fred: Thanks for the great post — and kudos to all the Napa-area broadcasters who rose to the occasion and who understand they don’t hold licenses to play non-stop music sweeps, give away family four-packs or run an endless stream of out of market programming. The sad fact is that in the seminars I lead and trade articles I write, I constantly remind station operators that it’s easy to turn emergency preparedness from a cost center to a profit center. Why? Well, show me a sponsor that doesn’t want a piece of the service image, part of a year-round campaign to keep communities ready — complete with collaterals that put their brand before the listener day after day. Digital technology is a wonderful thing…and I also advise stations to treat their web streams with the same priority as their on-air signals in emergencies. But cell sites die in blackouts, earthquakes and storms. And when power goes out, our handheld devices often die, too. Radio just keeps going and going. And as an industry, we’ve done a pisspoor job reminding people of that in a meaningful way. That means more than talking about our criticality in emergencies to sidestep new regulations or competition, It means talking the talk AND walking the walk. At my website, MediaDisasterPrep.com, broadcasters learn how to prepare –and RESPOND — without spending much money at all. And – maybe — learn how to MAKE some money…doing well by doing good. It all starts with a plan…and we can help with that, too. Drop a line to Howard@MediaDisasterPrep.com and we’ll send you a free list of our top ten do-now tips to get ready for the NEXT disaster.
Thanks, Howard. That need for a preparedness plan – whether working with a firm like yours – or simply going through all those “what ifs” before there’s a crisis should be in place in every radio station in America. The one certainty in all of this is that there will be emergencies, disaster, and other unforeseen challenges in the future. There is no excuse for not preparing. Thanks for taking the time to write in.
“if we have to staff up for emergencies 24/7 we’ll all be broke” … you missed the point. The station that managed to cover things was NOT staffed ’24/7′ but it HAD a local staff that was willing to address an emergency. When the money goes offshore to feather some corporate nest and avoid taxes ‘live and local’ IS a joke. When a station is owned by someone in the community, you can expect public service will be a part of the mission, and guess what — those stations make money too if they are run well. Go figure. People who focus on the technology miss the point. “It is the programming stupid!” to coin a phrase. Provide good programming and people will listen. If people listen, you’ll get advertisers. If all you are interested in is ‘the bottom line’ and you answer to a corporate honcho in the Bahamas well, you deserve to die in the market. Too bad that such an attitude is so pervasive with multi-station groups etc. ….
As I’ve read the comments to this post and the previous one about remotes and appearances, the same theme emerges: so much of radio’s modern-day struggles goes back to the fundamentals. When you provide good service to listeners, advertisers, and communities, things have a way of taking care of themselves. Thanks for taking the time to leave your comment.