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Hurricane Matthew coverage/contingency


GoldenShine9

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I presume Florida stations are relying on their sister station and their reporters for coverage as well. I do not know of any relocations so far.

 

If anyone wants to watch wall-to-wall online, DirecTV is running local coverage from West Palm Beach and Orlando coverage on channel 361-2. Coverage from WPBF, WESH, and WPEC for now. I would imagine they would have coverage from Jacksonville and up to South Carolina very soon.

South Florida:

 

Thankfully, NONE. WFOR, WTVJ, WSVN and WPLG all remain in their studios.

  • WFOR has been on-air continuously since 5:00am today after barely being on-air yesterday with it. CBS TNF is now on at 8:00pm.
  • WTVJ has been on-air continuously since 4:30am today, broke away for Nightly News at 6:30 and back for an hour at 7:00pm. NBC Primetime took over at 8:00pm.
  • WSVN has been on-air continuously since 5:00am today as well. FOX Primetime took over at 8:00pm.
  • WPLG has been on-air continuously the longest, since 4:30am yesterday and just kept going from there, including being LIVE on overnight last night into this morning. It finally stopped at 8:00pm for ABC Primetime.

Most have been working on 12-hour shifts for yesterday and today.

 

I haven't been keeping an eye on WLTV, WJAN or WSCV as much but they have been on-air for a long time today as well.

 

Despite WSVN 7 saying that radio simulcast would begin at 6:00pm, it never came. WFOR has been only on 560 'QAM and not on 99.9 KISS Country nor Power 96.5. WPLG Local 10 was only on on 790 The Ticket for sometime after 6:00pm but gone when WPLG stopped airing coverage at 8:00pm tonight as it broke away for ABC primetime. Earlier in the day, 101.5 Lite FM, 102.7 The Beach and 104.3 The Shark also carried WPLG's coverage.

 

91.3 WLRN-FM and 610 WIOD has been doing its own coverage and 710 WAQI was carrying WLTV Univision 23 throughout the day for Spanish-speakers.

 

As of 8:00pm - WLTV Univision 23 is the last remaining station to stay on for hurricane coverage and 710 WAQI is still carrying it. 91.3 WLRN-FM is still on it as well but that's about it.

 

Reminder...

WFOR CBS 4 = CBS Radio

WTVJ NBC 6/WSCV Telemundo 51 = iHeartRadio? (Still don't know)

WSVN 7 (FOX) = COX Radio

WPLG Local 10 (ABC) = Entercom

WLTV Univision 23 = Univision Radio

All Orlando stations (and I'm sure Jacksonville too) have been on constant coverage since this morning, and I'm pretty sure it won't let up until Saturday.

 

I'm thinking the Savannah and Charleston SC stations have moved since those cities are under mandatory evacuation.

I've been recording some online radio streams. All iHeart stations in the West Palm Beach area are simulcasting WPTV. I caught WKIS just playing country music and proclaiming "stay safe out there." WBGG in Miami was playing music too, but also giving frequent weather updates. It looks like Miami won't get much more than some brisk wind and minor coastal flooding.

 

I scheduled more recordings for overnight and tomorrow on some radio stations from Melbourne to Jacksonville.

 

CNN sent its affiliate reporter to Charleston at first... then onto Jacksonville.

 

FOX, incredibly, is doing its nightside affiliate hurricane reporter stories from New York. The morning affiliate reporter was in Sebastian Inlet.

 

Most Florida TV stations can route master control through a sister station elsewhere if necessary.

 

I'm not aware of any TV station physically moving its staff to a safer location.

Atlanta has Matthew covered as well; all of their stations have minimal coverage but did fan out some reporters to coastal Georgia and Florida (including hometown girl Jodie Fleischer, who years ago joined WSB from sister station WFTV in Orlando).

Atlanta has Matthew covered as well; all of their stations have minimal coverage but did fan out some reporters to coastal Georgia and Florida (including hometown girl Jodie Fleischer, who years ago joined WSB from sister station WFTV in Orlando).

 

Except for WGCL, the Atlanta stations all have sister stations in coastal Florida so it makes sense to send reporters down.

I'm thinking the Savannah and Charleston SC stations have moved since those cities are under mandatory evacuation.

As of right now, most people at the stations in Charleston are staying put. WCBD may have to leave soon to go to Myrtle Beach because their studio is at the base of the Ravenel Bridge in Mt. Pleasant. Its basically marsh land.

I've been recording some online radio streams. All iHeart stations in the West Palm Beach area are simulcasting WPTV. I caught WKIS just playing country music and proclaiming "stay safe out there." WBGG in Miami was playing music too, but also giving frequent weather updates. It looks like Miami won't get much more than some brisk wind and minor coastal flooding.

 

I scheduled more recordings for overnight and tomorrow on some radio stations from Melbourne to Jacksonville.

 

CNN sent its affiliate reporter to Charleston at first... then onto Jacksonville.

 

FOX, incredibly, is doing its nightside affiliate hurricane reporter stories from New York. The morning affiliate reporter was in Sebastian Inlet.

 

Most Florida TV stations can route master control through a sister station elsewhere if necessary.

 

I'm not aware of any TV station physically moving its staff to a safer location.

 

It's been mostly music on Miami Radio all day. Been checking that out all day and barely any simulcasts other than WLYF, WMXJ and WSFS earlier today before they all went away by increments.

 

WSVN would be the one to worry about. They're next to the water.

 

They never ever did. They remained at their North Bay Village studios throughout the day.

As of right now, most people at the stations in Charleston are staying put. WCBD may have to leave soon to go to Myrtle Beach because their studio is at the base of the Ravenel Bridge in Mt. Pleasant. Its basically marsh land.

 

If Myrtle Beach (WBTW) is also in an evacuation zone, the next closest option would be WSPA.

DirecTV has their severe weather mix channel activated on channel 361-2. Initially the channel will show WPBF and cycle through other stations. The mix channel seems to only include Hearst stations: WPBF, WESH, WJCL, WYFF and WBAL. WBAL is curious as the storm won't be near us.

DirecTV has their severe weather mix channel activated on channel 361-2. Initially the channel will show WPBF and cycle through other stations. The mix channel seems to only include Hearst stations: WPBF, WESH, WJCL, WYFF and WBAL. WBAL is curious as the storm won't be near us.

Just noticed the "Severe Weather Channel" is on Uverse too... Channel 1227. Currently showing WESH.

 

EDIT: It just switched to WPTV, so it looks like they are trying to get other station groups involved.

In Ft. Myers WINK and WFTX have been in continuous coverage overnight. WFTX started there coverage at 2pm Thursday. At times WINK has been simulcasting east coast stations. Somewhat surprised about the coverage because its hasn't been bad in this area at all, the focus has been on the rest of Florida.

Just noticed the "Severe Weather Channel" is on Uverse too... Channel 1227. Currently showing WESH.

 

EDIT: It just switched to WPTV, so it looks like they are trying to get other station groups involved.

 

DirecTV also did this for Hurricane Irene in 2011 and Hurricane Sandy in 2012. It's not a new thing.

If Myrtle Beach (WBTW) is also in an evacuation zone, the next closest option would be WSPA.

 

Well WBTW studio is in evacuation zone B so its not mandatory for them to leave. There more than 2 miles from the ocean. They're more likely to stay put.

Can we take a minute to address the weird rant Shepard Smith had, telling people that if they don't leave they will die and their kids will die too? He also asked them to not die because he has a wedding to go too.

 

Like, what?

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wopNdLgrBk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id=pY35loKeJKE;m=4;s=7

In Augusta, GA, they're receiving an influx of millions of evacuees from Savannah and Charleston as well as some issues with the storm in the southern part of the viewing area.

 

Of the three stations in town it seems Gray Television's WRDW/WAGT is blowing the coverage out of the water, at least on the web and social media. They're going wall-to-wall and doing a pretty decent job at it. They don't have any sister stations in the markets affected, but you would think that they were in the direct line of the storm with their coverage.

 

WJBF's coverage is looking a bit weaker, they're not as active on social media or on their website, which is surprising since they have sister stations in Charleston and Savannah that could provide them with content.

 

WFXG has been putting out minimal coverage, which again, is surprising since WTOC primarily runs their news operation and they have WCSC as a sister in Charleston.

DirecTV also did this for Hurricane Irene in 2011 and Hurricane Sandy in 2012. It's not a new thing.

 

It is new for Uverse because this is the first time this channel has been activated since At&t bought Directv.

 

In addition to the Hearst stations, I've noticed that they've been using Sinclair stations too (WPEC and WCIV so far). I find this channel to be a lot more useful than the other channels.

 

In Ft. Myers WINK and WFTX have been in continuous coverage overnight. WFTX started there coverage at 2pm Thursday. At times WINK has been simulcasting east coast stations. Somewhat surprised about the coverage because its hasn't been bad in this area at all, the focus has been on the rest of Florida.

 

It does make sense since a lot of people from the East Coast evacuated to Naples and Ft. Myers so they probably are doing that as a service to those people.

WPDE's studios have no power, according to their Twitter feed.

 

Did their generator fail or isn't providing enough power? Looked like the Wx computers were up and running. I've seen black out / power outage photos from WBAL and WJZ and it appeared although the building was dark the onset monitors and cameras were still powered by battery and then generator. Granite this happened before a show and power was restored quickly but studio and control room infrastructure should remain on the backup generator. Maybe having all the studio and rest of the lights on is backup would be a waste but there should be a minimum. But this is market 102 and cash is likely strapped.

 

Just for comparison generator power has been able to power WBAL's entire facility (TV transmitter and radio stations as well) during a heatwave. This happened when power companies asked high use consumers to switch to auxiliary power. I emailed their engineer who explained that there was a program with Constellation Energy where the station would get credits or they would pay for the cost of running the generator. WJZ I believe participated in the program.

 

Different occasion:

 

Did their generator fail or isn't providing enough power? Looked like the Wx computers were up and running. I've seen black out / power outage photos from WBAL and WJZ and it appeared although the building was dark the onset monitors and cameras were still powered by battery and then generator. Granite this happened before a show and power was restored quickly but studio and control room infrastructure should remain on the backup generator. Maybe having all the studio and rest of the lights on is backup would be a waste but there should be a minimum. But this is market 102 and cash is likely strapped.

 

 

Different occasion:

 

 

How many stations can route an ENG( live truck) receive site directly into the station transmitter? How many stations have bad-assed engineers that can pull that off in an emergency?

 

95% can't or don't know they can...or how to do it.

Do mid-west stations do this ever?

 

A simple a/v switch with a remote toggle is all it takes. Nobody remembers simple procedures anymore.

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