Waiting for a
hurricane is like waiting for unwanted company. You have to get ready, even
though you hope plans will change and your company won’t show up.
No such luck in
New Jersey today as Hurricane Sandy, arguably the state’s most unwanted guest,
is at our doorstep.
With Atlantic
City projected to be close to the landfall cross-hairs, I waited for
Sandy’s arrival Monday morning by checking out websites for the majority of the
market’s FM stations.
Yes, of course, it’s first and foremost about ‘what’s on the air.’ Still, with the potential
historic nature of the storm, the appetite for information is already bordering
on insatiable. Some stations had strong online
efforts augmenting their on air content while for others, online content about the storm was non-existent.
WENJ,
97.3 ESPN: three of
five flippers were dedicated to Hurricane Sandy content including a live video
feed and storm photos.
While not an
Atlantic City station, New Jersey 101.5 was heavily invested with unique
pages for "Cancellations and Delays," "How Bad Will It Get?" (video that was also
posted on a number of other websites), "Here Comes Sandy" (east coast story), "Sandy Ready to Blast New Jersey," "Share Your Storm Photos," plus about a dozen other
hurricane-related stories and information pieces.
WFPG, Lite Rock 96.9 and WPUR, Cat Country 107.3: Each had a single, static, satellite
photo of Sandy (still showing it south of Florida) that clicked through to
links for live radar, headlines and evacuation news.
Two stations simply relied on their Facebook feeds; there were a few updates and photos but nothing
approaching substantial.
For seven
others, beyond an AccuWeather.com (or similar) link, there was nothing
on the homepage about the hurricane. Instead, it was the usual collection of flippers one might see on any non-extraordinary day: how to win concert
tickets for shows (the shows ranged from December to April), plugs for weekend countdown
and/or request shows, plus flippers for downloading the TuneIn app, booking a
cruise with a personality (none of these activities I suspect were high on
listeners’ ‘to do’ lists), and a couple or slides about winning a DJ poll or the last rating period.
Then there was this listener poll question: “The best thing about fall is…” Hurricane Sandy wasn’t listed as one of the choices.
In today’s RadioInfo.com
, New JerseyBroadcasting Association President Paul Rotella said, “…that’s what local radio is all about: being prepared, being
nimble, and being informative, with real information our listeners need. It’s
amazing how dedicated local broadcasters are, especially in New Jersey where
local radio means so much to our state!”
Some of our state’s broadcasters clearly have embraced this
attitude both on air and online. A salute to you and your staff and a thank you for your work and dedication during a very difficult time.
Hopefully too you've inspired others.
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2 comments:
That's great that these stations updated their websites for the hurricane, even if in some cases the graphics were still showing Florida. Do they think this took the place of live up to the minute reporting, or are they so busy voice tracking that this is the best they can give?
Thanks for the comment, Bob. I don't know the answer for all the stations' on air products, but I did spend some time with NJ 101.5 which was definitely live and all over the storm.
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