Someone raised an interesting point in another newsgroup:

I noticed that the Clear Channel stations here in
Ann Arbor, both of them, 100% of the commercial FM stations* in Ann
Arbor, MI; were off the air for the entirety of the power outage. The
same was true for the CC FM station in Detroit that is on my pre-sets.
This shows how little they were ready to be of public service in time of
need. Something that should be pointed out and recorded for license
renewal time.

*excludes public radio/college radio and a religious station.

But I don't know--Are commercial FM stations required to be prepared for
emergencies like this? One would think that they should want to be
prepared, but is it a requirement?

Radio was useless in my area for local blackout information.

The county executive resorted to calling into the New York City Channel 4
WNBC News Center to pass info to the public. So how many folks do you think
could view his State of Emergency Message and curfew decree for Orange
County, NY ?

--


Remove "zz" from e-mail address to direct reply.



"CAndersen (Kimba)" wrote in message
...
Someone raised an interesting point in another newsgroup:

I noticed that the Clear Channel stations here in
Ann Arbor, both of them, 100% of the commercial FM stations* in Ann
Arbor, MI; were off the air for the entirety of the power outage. The
same was true for the CC FM station in Detroit that is on my pre-sets.
This shows how little they were ready to be of public service in time of
need. Something that should be pointed out and recorded for license
renewal time.

*excludes public radio/college radio and a religious station.

But I don't know--Are commercial FM stations required to be prepared for
emergencies like this? One would think that they should want to be
prepared, but is it a requirement?

CAndersen (Kimba) wrote:
Someone raised an interesting point in another newsgroup:


I noticed that the Clear Channel stations here in
Ann Arbor, both of them, 100% of the commercial FM stations* in Ann
Arbor, MI; were off the air for the entirety of the power outage. The
same was true for the CC FM station in Detroit that is on my pre-sets.
This shows how little they were ready to be of public service in time of
need. Something that should be pointed out and recorded for license
renewal time.

*excludes public radio/college radio and a religious station.


But I don't know--Are commercial FM stations required to be prepared for
emergencies like this? One would think that they should want to be
prepared, but is it a requirement?

No, there are no legal requirements for backup power.
--
Doug Smith W9WI
Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66
http://www.w9wi.com

On 18 Aug 2003 14:23:48 GMT, "CAndersen (Kimba)"
wrote:

But I don't know--Are commercial FM stations required to be prepared for
emergencies like this? One would think that they should want to be
prepared, but is it a requirement?

FM stations have never been known for news. If you want to know if
Eminem wears boxers or briefs, go there. It's "lifestyle" stuff.
Doesn't your market have a full service AM? Or, at least, an AM that's
known for its news? FMs treat news as the plague. You can't, suddenly,
expect them to put together a full news staff qualified to report on
an emergency of this magnitude.

A top story for an FM might be when socialite Lizzie Grubman ran over
a group of people in a hissy fit at a trendy night club. Wars.
Blackouts. Who needs it? That's for old people.

Now where did I put my MP3 player?

Rich

List of what I hear AM from Middletown NY in Orange Cty, NY. WTBQ is the
only live station I know of left to produce local news and shows.

Radio - Kenwood TS-430S Antenna - 125 foot long wire

Date Time Frequency Call Sign AM/FM/LSB/USB/CW City State Country Comments
5/21/2003 12:46:27.98 PM 540.0 WLIE AM Islip NY USA Long Island S-8
5/23/2003 10:56:33.60 AM 560.0 AM USA
5/21/2003 12:48:58.45 PM 570.0 WMCA AM Kearny NJ USA Religous
5/21/2003 12:50:28.46 PM 600.0 WICC AM Bridgeport CT USA s-6
5/21/2003 12:52:51.90 PM 610.0 WIP AM Philadelphia PA USA sports radio
5/21/2003 12:54:22.21 PM 620.0 WSNR AM Jersey City NJ USA Eastern European /
Russian ?
5/21/2003 12:55:19.04 PM 630.0 WEJL AM Scranton PA USA ESPN - Sports
5/21/2003 1:04:04.70 PM 660.0 WFAN AM New York NY USA Sports
5/21/2003 1:05:31.01 PM 680.0 WINR AM Binghamton NY USA music - old pop (CBS
News) (LSB)
5/21/2003 1:07:28.48 PM 710.0 WOR AM New York NY USA Talk Radio
5/21/2003 1:08:20.41 PM 740.0 AM USA Asian / Chineese
5/21/2003 1:11:45.05 PM 770.0 WABC AM New York NY USA Talk Radio - Rush
5/21/2003 1:12:28.62 PM 790.0 WAEB AM Bala Cynwyd PA USA Rush
5/23/2003 11:21:49.05 AM 800.0 WLAD AM Danbury CT USA S-4
5/21/2003 1:13:06.80 PM 810.0 WGY AM Rennsaler NY USA Rush
5/21/2003 12:43:44.44 PM 820.0 WNYC AM New York NY USA NPR
5/21/2003 1:13:48.30 PM 830.0 WEEU AM Reading PA USA Rush
5/21/2003 1:14:27.48 PM 840.0 AM USA Spanish Music - fading in and out
5/21/2003 1:15:01.94 PM 850.0 WREF AM Danbury CT USA Oldies 850 - Creedance
5/23/2003 12:01:10.90 PM 860.0 AM USA AP News
5/21/2003 1:17:31.02 PM 880.0 WCBS AM New York NY USA Talk Radio
5/23/2003 1:14:25.60 PM 900.0 AM USA Black ethnic
5/21/2003 1:18:26.98 PM 920.0 WGHQ AM Poughkeepsie NY USA Clear Channel -
Music Of Your Life
5/21/2003 1:23:55.16 PM 930.0 AM USA spanish ?
5/21/2003 1:24:32.40 PM 940.0 AM USA Clear Channel - Music of Your Life
(same as 920)
5/23/2003 1:20:17.95 PM 950.0 WHVW AM Poughkeepsie NY USA 30's/40'S s-7 -
continous music
5/21/2003 1:25:24.24 PM 970.0 AM USA religous
5/23/2003 1:40:53.17 PM 980.0 AM USA rush
5/21/2003 1:25:59.08 PM 1,010.0 WINS AM New York NY USA All News
5/23/2003 1:43:37.72 PM 1,020.0 AM USA Big Band
5/23/2003 1:45:30.49 PM 1,030.0 WBZ AM Boston MA USA news - s-7
5/23/2003 1:47:11.55 PM 1,040.0 AM USA s-4 religous
5/21/2003 1:26:47.34 PM 1,050.0 WEVD AM New York NY USA ESPN
5/23/2003 1:54:35.18 PM 1,060.0 KYW AM Philadelphia PA usa news (LSB)
5/21/2003 1:27:59.34 PM 1,080.0 WTIC AM Hartford CT USA Rush S-8 all news
5/21/2003 1:28:25.63 PM 1,090.0 WBAL AM Baltimore MD USA Rush s-6
5/23/2003 2:06:44.65 PM 1,100.0 WGPA AM Bethlehem PA USA s-4
5/21/2003 1:28:57.90 PM 1,110.0 WTBQ AM Warwick NY USA
5/21/2003 1:29:29.38 PM 1,130.0 WBBR AM New York NY USA Bloomberg
5/23/2003 2:09:16.79 PM 1,160.0 WVNJ AM Oakland NJ USA show: the healthy
colon
5/21/2003 1:30:53.14 PM 1,170.0 WRWD AM Cornwall NY USA News -
5/21/2003 1:42:41.65 PM 1,190.0 WLIB AM New York USA
5/21/2003 1:43:32 PM 1,210.0 WPHD AM Philadelphia PA USA Rush s-8
5/21/2003 1:44:14.98 PM 1,220.0 WGNY AM Newburgh NY USA CNN
5/21/2003 1:45:17.81 PM 1,240.0 WVOS AM USA Country
5/21/2003 1:46:21.36 PM 1,250.0 WMTR AM Morristown NJ USA Tony Bennett
5/21/2003 1:46:51.53 PM 1,260.0 WBNR AM Beacon USA Nat King Cole
5/21/2003 1:47:39.35 PM 1,270.0 AM USA Old Time Radio
5/21/2003 1:48:24.08 PM 1,280.0 USA Spanish
5/21/2003 1:48:40.49 PM 1,290.0 WNBF AM Binghamton NY USA Rush
5/21/2003 1:49:00.57 PM 1,300.0 WRCR AM Spring Valley NY USA Rockland Cty
5/21/2003 1:49:46.40 PM 1,310.0 AM USA spanish
5/21/2003 1:50:21.83 PM 1,320.0 AM USA spanish
5/21/2003 1:50:44.33 PM 1,340.0 WALL AM Middletown NY USA Spanish
5/21/2003 1:51:01.68 PM 1,360.0 AM NJ USA Country
5/21/2003 1:51:43.16 PM 1,370.0 WELV AM Ellenville NY USA Standards s-10
5/21/2003 1:52:16.58 PM 1,380.0 AM USA spanish
5/21/2003 1:52:36.42 PM 1,390.0 AM USA spanish
5/21/2003 1:53:16.05 PM 1,410.0 AM USA 60's/70's music
5/21/2003 1:53:49.93 PM 1,420.0 WLNA AM Cornwall NY USA Perry Como
5/21/2003 1:54:18.22 PM 1,430.0 AM USA foreign ?
5/21/2003 1:54:50.76 PM 1,440.0 AM USA financial advice
5/21/2003 1:55:41.32 PM 1,470.0 WKAP AM Lehigh PA USA 60's pop - Never My
Love
5/21/2003 1:56:16.23 PM 1,480.0 AM USA asian
5/21/2003 1:56:37.45 PM 1,490.0 WTSX AM Port Jervis NY USA FOX
5/21/2003 1:59:39.59 PM 1,500.0 WGHT AM Pompton Lakes NJ USA
5/21/2003 2:00:57.23 PM 1,510.0 AM USA ABC News
5/21/2003 2:01:22.54 PM 1,520.0 AM USA religous
5/21/2003 2:02:01.55 PM 1,530.0 AM USA foreign ?
5/21/2003 2:02:28.08 PM 1,540.0 WNWR AM Philadelphia PA USA Delaware Valley
5/21/2003 2:04:32.26 PM 1,550.0 WICK AM Scranton PA USA Simon & Garfunkel -
Mrs RObinson
5/21/2003 2:05:16.40 PM 1,560.0 WQEW AM New York NY USA Disney
5/21/2003 2:05:52.24 PM 1,580.0 AM USA French ?
5/21/2003 2:06:16.13 PM 1,590.0 WPSN AM Honesdale PA USA Country (1587.8)
5/21/2003 2:06:36.65 PM 1,600.0 WWRL AM New York NY USA Urban / Ethnic
5/21/2003 2:08:29.20 PM 1,660.0 AM USA spanish
5/21/2003 2:08:51.55 PM 1,680.0 WEBC AM USA foreign / mixed / indian

The only requirements I know of were back in the days of conelrad. Nothing now.
--
Gene Seibel
http://pad39a.com/gene/broadcast.html
Because I fly, I envy no one....


I noticed that the Clear Channel stations here in
Ann Arbor, both of them, 100% of the commercial FM stations* in Ann
Arbor, MI; were off the air for the entirety of the power outage. The
same was true for the CC FM station in Detroit that is on my pre-sets.
This shows how little they were ready to be of public service in time of
need. Something that should be pointed out and recorded for license
renewal time.

*excludes public radio/college radio and a religious station.

But I don't know--Are commercial FM stations required to be prepared for
emergencies like this? One would think that they should want to be
prepared, but is it a requirement?

Doesn't your market have a full service AM? Or, at least, an AM that's
known for its news?

In Orange County, NY AM is almost dead, especially if you speak English.

Only AM station that is alive and not lights out studio is WTBQ in Warwick.

The rest are canned, lights out remote satellite or microwave feeds or non
English speaking.

Steve
N2UBP

On 20 Aug 2003 14:38:05 GMT, Rich Wood
wrote:

FM stations have never been known for news.

Guess mine must be chopped liver, then.
(AP Station of the year twice, dozens of other awards, own the news
image in the market for more than 25 years, 5-person news staff, and
#1 in the ratings, including the "money demos").

Yes, there's an AM simulcast, but the vast majority of listeners don't
even know it exists. And yes, we are a music station.

Mark Howell
News Director, KUZZ AM/FM, KCWR (FM)
Bakersfield, CA

In article , (Gene Seibel) wrote:

The only requirements I know of were back in the days of conelrad.
Nothing now.

Do you remember what the specific requirements were back in the days of
conelrad?


Regards,

John Byrns

In article , says...
In article , (Gene Seibel) wrote:

Do you remember what the specific requirements were back in the days of
conelrad?

If we're talking FM stations, I don't know for sure but I think the
FMers (what few there were) would have had to sign off. The
participating am stations all switched to one of two frequencies (1 high
or 1 low) theoretically to confuse enemy "signal tracers" from seeking
and destroying transmitters.
I must admit Conelrad was way before my time so I am speaking from
"book memory". I hit radio during EBS when the alerts were kill carrier
for 5 seconds, back on for 5, off for 5, then back on with a 1khz tone
(or at least I think that's how it went).

--
Paul Van House
(remove _removeme_ from mail address for e-mail replies)
Radio/TV Software on my home page
http://www.binxsoftware.com
Coming Soon: A Voice For You (Voiceovers, Liners, On-Hold Imaging)
http://www.avoiceforyou.com