mre29 1537 Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 WBAL and WJZ are neighbors? That must be awkward. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13593-breaking-dump-truck-crashes-into-wmar-man-barricaded-inside/page/2/#findComment-104867 Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkolsen 1684 Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 WBAL and WJZ are neighbors? That must be awkward. Theres an access road in the back of both buildings that connects the two stations and the tower. When you drive down I-83 next to TV hill you can see 'BAL has a giant neon sign on the top of their building (and at the top of the hill) that says W B A L. But the way the buildings are next to each other you can sometimes see light 'BAL's sign in 'JZ's "outback" where they do the weather. But what is really awkward is that WMAR's transmitter is in WJZ's building - WMAR after the digital switch over was put on WJZs pre conversion frequency and they just kept the transmitter in 'JZ's basement rather than move it to their old transmitter shack behind 'BAL and 'JZ. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13593-breaking-dump-truck-crashes-into-wmar-man-barricaded-inside/page/2/#findComment-104870 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess 1115 Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 WBAL and WJZ are neighbors? That must be awkward. The top two stations in the Philadelphia market, WPVI and WCAU, are located across the street from each other. That makes it primal - it should be 6 vs. 10 - but has also led to some hilarious moments. Like the time when an Action News crown vic caught fire. On Channel 10's lawn. Cue camera pan to the front of 10's building, where the entire staff is cheering and applauding. (Sadly, I can't find the damn clip.) That's gonna end in 2017 or so, when WCAU moves to its new downtown facilities right next to its lord and master, Comcast. It'll be a sad day when it happens. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13593-breaking-dump-truck-crashes-into-wmar-man-barricaded-inside/page/2/#findComment-104872 Share on other sites More sharing options...
mre29 1537 Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 But what is really awkward is that WMAR's transmitter is in WJZ's building - WMAR after the digital switch over was put on WJZs pre conversion frequency and they just kept the transmitter in 'JZ's basement rather than move it to their old transmitter shack behind 'BAL and 'JZ. I can see the comedy potential already. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13593-breaking-dump-truck-crashes-into-wmar-man-barricaded-inside/page/2/#findComment-104874 Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkolsen 1684 Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 Oh boy, WBAL just aired a promo about how they were on air during this breaking news and their promo featuring WMAR's main anchor Jamie Costello giving eyewitness accounts, mentioning how a few schools were locked down and a major road shut down for hours. Then said they have the experience to break down the situation. The promo featured shots of their talent, a close up of their live truck with WMAR's sign in the driveway and a shot of their helicopter overhead. They usually do this within a few hours of a big news event. But it does not compare to the really tacky and tasteless promo WSB put out when a gunman walked into a school in Atlanta and took the office hostage, if I remember correctly the promo said some to the extent of "When a gunman walks into a school and ordered the secretary to call OUR station, WSB!" In reality I believe he said call any TV station and WSB was the first number listed on Google. I watched WMAR's 11 PM news and they anchored it from the lobby while people were cleaning it up (it was very noisy) and that they were feeding the footage back to the control room either from a LiveU unit or a live truck because they only used one camera and two microphones which they had to pass back and forth to each reporter. The weather was done from their studio though. They described how they got back on the air where they initialed used the LiveU unit feeding to KNXV which in turn sent the footage to ABC in NY which then fed it to both WBAL and WJZ on TV Hill which put it on air. I think the reporter may have screwed up the transmission chain because I don't know why ABC News would send it to both stations on TV Hill, I believe she meant to say they got back on air by sending footage to Phoenix which in turn sent it to TV Hill (specifically WJZ because that's where WMAR's transmitter is located) to be played out on air and the footage that was sent to ABC News which would send it to other ABC affiliates. As a side note I noticed the two stations without a helicopter today, WMAR and WBFF, had aerial footage. I'm not sure whether they got the aerials from WBAL or WJZ's helicopter considering both are CNN affiliates (or WJZ feeding the footage to Network News Service) but normally that footage would be embargoed in market unless WBAL or WJZ lifted the embargo for this event. I'm tempted to believe they used WBAL's bird because it's the only station with an HD helicopter unless of course they got the footage from the WJLA/WTTG/WRC pooled feed from the DC stations where it wouldn't be embargoed in Baltimore. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13593-breaking-dump-truck-crashes-into-wmar-man-barricaded-inside/page/2/#findComment-104875 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leavellebrett 85 Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 WMAR's YouTube channel has some great videos of the event. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13593-breaking-dump-truck-crashes-into-wmar-man-barricaded-inside/page/2/#findComment-104877 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrtraveler01 738 Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 WMAR's YouTube channel has some great videos of the event. That's some chilling video. I can't imagine what the person recording that video was thinking as they were watching that. BTW: Here is the Google Map link for WMAR-TV. You can use Streetview to get a general idea of what the property looks like in its normal state. https://www.google.com/maps/search/wmar/@39.373968,-76.609708,17z Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13593-breaking-dump-truck-crashes-into-wmar-man-barricaded-inside/page/2/#findComment-104878 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leavellebrett 85 Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 That's some chilling video. I can't imagine what the person recording that video was thinking as they were watching that. BTW: Here is the Google Map link for WMAR-TV. You can use Streetview to get a general idea of what the property looks like in its normal state. https://www.google.com/maps/search/wmar/@39.373968,-76.609708,17z I go to Baltimore all the time and Towson, the neighborhood where WMAR is located, is one of the nicest in Baltimore. It's beautiful! It's a college town, lots of shopping. I was shocked to see that something like this happened there. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13593-breaking-dump-truck-crashes-into-wmar-man-barricaded-inside/page/2/#findComment-104881 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty Muck 4378 Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 But what is really awkward is that WMAR's transmitter is in WJZ's building - WMAR after the digital switch over was put on WJZs pre conversion frequency and they just kept the transmitter in 'JZ's basement rather than move it to their old transmitter shack behind 'BAL and 'JZ. I can see the comedy potential already. Ditto... [yt]DItgw1mU9Us[/yt] Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13593-breaking-dump-truck-crashes-into-wmar-man-barricaded-inside/page/2/#findComment-104882 Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkolsen 1684 Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 Oh boy, WBAL just aired a promo about how they were on air during this breaking news and their promo featuring WMAR's main anchor Jamie Costello giving eyewitness accounts, mentioning how a few schools were locked down and a major road shut down for hours. Then said they have the experience to break down the situation. The promo featured shots of their talent, a close up of their live truck with WMAR's sign in the driveway and a shot of their helicopter overhead. They usually do this within a few hours of a big news event. Here's that promo: [yt]OwBFfWRKzgA[/yt] Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13593-breaking-dump-truck-crashes-into-wmar-man-barricaded-inside/page/2/#findComment-104885 Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmkcool2002 8 Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 I'm shocked WPVI came so far just to cover this story. I wonder why that is? Also interesting how it was the #1 story at 6. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13593-breaking-dump-truck-crashes-into-wmar-man-barricaded-inside/page/2/#findComment-104886 Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkolsen 1684 Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 I'm shocked WPVI came so far just to cover this story. I wonder why that is? Also interesting how it was the #1 story at 6. I also saw WRC, NBC Washington, covering it locally and was their top story at 11 PM. Then again DC is much closer and about a 40 minute drive to Baltimore compared to the 1:46 drive over a 100 miles to Philadelphia. I almost believe the out of town stations that covered it were also going to do reports for their network news services like NBC News channel or ABC News One. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13593-breaking-dump-truck-crashes-into-wmar-man-barricaded-inside/page/2/#findComment-104887 Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRob 938 Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 I wonder if the other stations would have provided that much coverage had this been a crash/standoff in someone's house, or another business, rather than a TV station. I only watched for a little bit, but it was WJZ's feed after 2:00 in the afternoon (EDT), when they would have been in some kind of syndicated programming. It would be hard to ram our building with a vehicle considering the layout doesn't give anyone much of a running start (we also have steps), but we don't have any way to keep strangers from walking onto our property. We've had copper thieves damage our satellite dishes. People have broken into the garages. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13593-breaking-dump-truck-crashes-into-wmar-man-barricaded-inside/page/2/#findComment-104889 Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkolsen 1684 Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 I wonder if the other stations would have provided that much coverage had this been a crash/standoff in someone's house, or another business, rather than a TV station. I only watched for a little bit, but it was WJZ's feed after 2:00 in the afternoon (EDT), when they would have been in some kind of syndicated programming. I think that's exactly the case if it wasn't in a TV station the only two other places I'd think would warrant this type of coverage would be if it occurred in a hospital or a school. I remember in 2010 there was wall to wall coverage on all the Baltimore stations when a disgruntled family member shot a doctor at Johns Hopkins and then barricaded himself in a room where he proceeded to kill his mother then himself the entire situation lasted about four hours (Coincidentally the standoff happened in the room where I recovered after my first two spinal fusions and has since been converted into storage and my mother was a patient of the orthopedic surgeon.) Prior to that in 2002 there was the beltway sniper where continuous coverage continued whenever there was a shooting. Then in 2000 there was a police standoff after a man killed four people and held hostage three and there was continuous coverage during the four days it lasted (I don't remember the specifics as I was 11 then.) It would be hard to ram our building with a vehicle considering the layout doesn't give anyone much of a running start (we also have steps), but we don't have any way to keep strangers from walking onto our property. We've had copper thieves damage our satellite dishes. People have broken into the garages. I think this incident will cause stations across the country to rethink their emergency operation plans, site security and how they plan to get back on air. One thing I think maybe would have prevented this incident is if the station had a iron fence completely surrounding the building. By having a gate the person would have had to really try to break in and you would have enough time for the building to be put into lockdown or evacuate by the time the gate would have been broken down. Second I think maybe it would be wise to find another place to keep spare keys to your live truck. There are plenty of manufacturers that make strong boxes that are designed to be weather proof like the Knox Box which is used in commercial buildings in cases of emergency where spare keys are locked inside so say if there is a fire the fire department wouldn't have to knockdown the door. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13593-breaking-dump-truck-crashes-into-wmar-man-barricaded-inside/page/2/#findComment-104890 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weeters 1916 Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 I watched WMAR's 11 PM news and they anchored it from the lobby while people were cleaning it up (it was very noisy) and that they were feeding the footage back to the control room either from a LiveU unit or a live truck because they only used one camera and two microphones which they had to pass back and forth to each reporter. The weather was done from their studio though. They described how they got back on the air where they initialed used the LiveU unit feeding to KNXV which in turn sent the footage to ABC in NY which then fed it to both WBAL and WJZ on TV Hill which put it on air. I think the reporter may have screwed up the transmission chain because I don't know why ABC News would send it to both stations on TV Hill, I believe she meant to say they got back on air by sending footage to Phoenix which in turn sent it to TV Hill (specifically WJZ because that's where WMAR's transmitter is located) to be played out on air and the footage that was sent to ABC News which would send it to other ABC affiliates I'm fairly sure the transmission chain would have been as it was described. Their transmitter probably does not have the facilities to feed satellites. WJZ probably had to tune in the feed for them and, probably quite literally, plug it into the WMAR transmitter. Sending the feed from KNXV to ABC and having them grab it from that is easier than KNXV feeding WJZ/WMAR's TX, then turn around and send it back into space for ABC. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13593-breaking-dump-truck-crashes-into-wmar-man-barricaded-inside/page/2/#findComment-104892 Share on other sites More sharing options...
TVIntheDesert 183 Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 I'm fairly sure the transmission chain would have been as it was described. Their transmitter probably does not have the facilities to feed satellites. WJZ probably had to tune in the feed for them and, probably quite literally, plug it into the WMAR transmitter. Sending the feed from KNXV to ABC and having them grab it from that is easier than KNXV feeding WJZ/WMAR's TX, then turn around and send it back into space for ABC. KNXV sends "The List" to the rest of the sister stations through Pittsburgh-based uplink PMI. They could have went through them rather than ABC, even though it would be logical to use a network-provided feed. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13593-breaking-dump-truck-crashes-into-wmar-man-barricaded-inside/page/2/#findComment-104894 Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidwestTV 1232 Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 For some reason I can't help but think I would be pissed at WBAL for using my station that was attacked as an opportunity to air a promo glorifying themselves. Then again, TV stations run promos off of the misfortunes of others all the time so...guess you can't really complain. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13593-breaking-dump-truck-crashes-into-wmar-man-barricaded-inside/page/2/#findComment-104905 Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkolsen 1684 Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 For some reason I can't help but think I would be pissed at WBAL for using my station that was attacked as an opportunity to air a promo glorifying themselves. Then again, TV stations run promos off of the misfortunes of others all the time so...guess you can't really complain. Before this thread dies, I thought I should respond and say that it appears that this promo only aired once during the 11 PM newscast and that WJZ was airing promos teasing their 11 PM newscast with the same footage of the main anchor Jamie Costello giving his account. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13593-breaking-dump-truck-crashes-into-wmar-man-barricaded-inside/page/2/#findComment-104944 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundershock MN 169 Posted May 15, 2014 Share Posted May 15, 2014 Of course, as Scripps is centralizing master control ops for all their stations at WRTV, that should prevent something like this from ever happening again (the total loss of a stations programming due to an evacuation). The one big concern I have is, what if an incident like this were to take place at WRTV, and risks taking an entire station group off the air? These are two good examples where such a situation is incredibly rare. Honestly, WHAT are the chances that any television station will have to be evacuated and cease all broadcast operations? Fairly small in my opinion. However, in the event that it does happen, having a centralized control room would be nice. On the flip side, what are the chances that the station that's the hub for the group's master controls will need to be evacuated/cease all broadcast operations? Even smaller, to me. It would be quite the sight to see an entire broadcast group be unable to broadcast because the hub was unable to do anything at all. But surely they have backup plans just in case such a situation was to occur, right? I thought Scripps was going to control equipment located at each station from WRTV, so if they ever had to evacuate, employees at the local station could take control of each of their systems. However, from today's events it appears that KNXV has earned its keep as an "emergency hub." As TVIntheDesert states almost every "hubbed" station can be easily returned to local control. The output servers can run stand-alone. Modern systems are highly redundant and have at least a couple backup options for control. So, *in theory* a automated/hubbed station is in a much better position when it comes to backup & fallbacks than a un-hubbed station....even if the "hub" is unavailable. An un-hubbed station is usually left to cobble something together on the fly. Hence, in this case Scripps using a LiveU unit (for locally originated programming) fed to KNXV as the passthough -> fed to ABC (who can insert network programming) -> uplinked to ABC satellite space (creating ad hoc/temporary WMAR feed)-> received on downlink at Transmitter site (where the "regular" feed is bypassed in favor of the "temporary" feed) = Return to air. Hearst had to resort to similar tactics when WGAL had their roof collapse. Although, in Hearst's case they have their own dedicated satellite space on Galaxy 28 removing a couple steps. This is the reason why TV stations need to have a gate in their driveway and a fence around your property preventing access to your station. If I recall correctly they have public parking but their gate is just around the live trucks. I know WBAL has a gate at the bottom of their driveway which surrounds their entire property (which is pretty decent sized and irregularly shaped) - but I'm not sure about WJZ. I think this incident will cause stations across the country to rethink their emergency operation plans, site security and how they plan to get back on air. One thing I think maybe would have prevented this incident is if the station had a iron fence completely surrounding the building. By having a gate the person would have had to really try to break in and you would have enough time for the building to be put into lockdown or evacuate by the time the gate would have been broken down. Second I think maybe it would be wise to find another place to keep spare keys to your live truck. There are plenty of manufacturers that make strong boxes that are designed to be weather proof like the Knox Box which is used in commercial buildings in cases of emergency where spare keys are locked inside so say if there is a fire the fire department wouldn't have to knockdown the door. You really can't protect against every whackjob with a screw loose. Some stations can't create a compound and fence themselves in due to their location. And, what if they are part of a larger office complex? You do as much as you can and protect everyone as best you can. In some ways their emergency plans worked...everyone evacuated quickly and made it out safe. Depending on how you want to look at it the return to air procedures might leave a little something to be desired, though. Not sure keys to the ENG vehicles would do much good. Unless, the Tx site can receive the microwave feeds wouldn't they essentially be useless, no? An SNG vehicle on the other hand could be helpful though, I suppose. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13593-breaking-dump-truck-crashes-into-wmar-man-barricaded-inside/page/2/#findComment-104957 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundershock MN 169 Posted May 15, 2014 Share Posted May 15, 2014 Of course, as Scripps is centralizing master control ops for all their stations at WRTV, that should prevent something like this from ever happening again (the total loss of a stations programming due to an evacuation). The one big concern I have is, what if an incident like this were to take place at WRTV, and risks taking an entire station group off the air? These are two good examples where such a situation is incredibly rare. Honestly, WHAT are the chances that any television station will have to be evacuated and cease all broadcast operations? Fairly small in my opinion. However, in the event that it does happen, having a centralized control room would be nice. On the flip side, what are the chances that the station that's the hub for the group's master controls will need to be evacuated/cease all broadcast operations? Even smaller, to me. It would be quite the sight to see an entire broadcast group be unable to broadcast because the hub was unable to do anything at all. But surely they have backup plans just in case such a situation was to occur, right? I thought Scripps was going to control equipment located at each station from WRTV, so if they ever had to evacuate, employees at the local station could take control of each of their systems. However, from today's events it appears that KNXV has earned its keep as an "emergency hub." As TVIntheDesert states almost every "hubbed" station can be easily returned to local control. The output servers can run stand-alone. Modern systems are highly redundant and have at least a couple backup options for control. So, *in theory* a automated/hubbed station is in a much better position when it comes to backup & fallbacks than a un-hubbed station....even if the "hub" is unavailable. An un-hubbed station is usually left to cobble something together on the fly. Hence, in this case Scripps using a LiveU unit (for locally originated programming) fed to KNXV as the passthough -> fed to ABC (who can insert network programming) -> uplinked to ABC satellite space (creating an ad hoc/temporary WMAR feed)-> received on downlink at Transmitter site (where the "regular" feed is bypassed in favor of the "temporary" feed) = Return to air. Hearst had to resort to similar tactics when WGAL had their roof collapse. Although, in Hearst's case they have their own dedicated satellite space on Galaxy 28 removing a couple steps. This is the reason why TV stations need to have a gate in their driveway and a fence around your property preventing access to your station. If I recall correctly they have public parking but their gate is just around the live trucks. I know WBAL has a gate at the bottom of their driveway which surrounds their entire property (which is pretty decent sized and irregularly shaped) - but I'm not sure about WJZ. I think this incident will cause stations across the country to rethink their emergency operation plans, site security and how they plan to get back on air. One thing I think maybe would have prevented this incident is if the station had a iron fence completely surrounding the building. By having a gate the person would have had to really try to break in and you would have enough time for the building to be put into lockdown or evacuate by the time the gate would have been broken down. Second I think maybe it would be wise to find another place to keep spare keys to your live truck. There are plenty of manufacturers that make strong boxes that are designed to be weather proof like the Knox Box which is used in commercial buildings in cases of emergency where spare keys are locked inside so say if there is a fire the fire department wouldn't have to knockdown the door. You really can't protect against every whackjob with a screw loose. Some stations can't create a compound and fence themselves in due to their location. And, what if they are part of a larger office complex? You do as much as you can and protect everyone as best you can. In some ways their emergency plans worked...everyone evacuated quickly and made it out safe. Depending on how you want to look at it the return to air procedures might leave a little something to be desired, though. Not sure keys to the ENG vehicles would do much good. Unless, the Tx site can receive the microwave feeds wouldn't they essentially be useless, no? An SNG vehicle on the other hand could be helpful though, I suppose. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13593-breaking-dump-truck-crashes-into-wmar-man-barricaded-inside/page/2/#findComment-104958 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weeters 1916 Posted May 15, 2014 Share Posted May 15, 2014 Popular retro tumblr blogger "Roger Wilkerson" is an employee of WMAR and shared his rather amusing story: http://rogerwilkerson.tumblr.com/post/85716888266/when-one-works-for-a-starbucks-convenience-store Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13593-breaking-dump-truck-crashes-into-wmar-man-barricaded-inside/page/2/#findComment-104981 Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkolsen 1684 Posted May 16, 2014 Share Posted May 16, 2014 WMAR just aired a promo with video of the police department and fire department showing scenes from their security cameras storming the building saying "Thank You First Responders". It's a nice gesture but in all honesty probably very few will see it since they are ranked fourth in the DMA. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13593-breaking-dump-truck-crashes-into-wmar-man-barricaded-inside/page/2/#findComment-105052 Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmkcool2002 8 Posted May 17, 2014 Share Posted May 17, 2014 Before this thread dies, I thought I should respond and say that it appears that this promo only aired once during the 11 PM newscast and that WJZ was airing promos teasing their 11 PM newscast with the same footage of the main anchor Jamie Costello giving his account. There's a difference between airing a teaser of what's coming up and showing off that you're the best using the plight of another station Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/13593-breaking-dump-truck-crashes-into-wmar-man-barricaded-inside/page/2/#findComment-105102 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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