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Beasley Stations Ride Sandy Out
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Prepping for Sandy’s onslaught, Beasley-owned WXTU(FM) in
Philadelphia built a microsite to use its Twitter and Facebook
accounts to feed information to listeners. As part of our coverage of the
aftermath of “Frankenstorm,” Radio World checked in for more from Beasley Broadcast Group,
which has stations in Pennsylvania and Delaware, among other states.
We talked with VP/CTO Mike Cooney.
How were operations
affected at Beasley stations during the storm?
We lost power at
two of our sites, but generators took over without interruptions. Our business
offices were closed both Oct. 29 and Oct. 30.
What are your stations telling you about
their storm experiences, good or bad?
Beasley management is very
pleased with how well prepared our stations were for Sandy.
Long before the storm arrived, discussions were taking place at the
stations to ensure that backup systems were in place and that appropriate
connections were confirmed for live coverage feeds from local TV partners. Our
staff members always rise to the occasion during emergencies, so their
dedication during Sandy didn’t surprise us. We sure are proud of them.
What radio stations were
knocked off the air? Are they back on?
WWDB(AM), Philadelphia,
and WJBR(FM), Wilmington, Del., went on generator, but neither station
experienced off-air time. WWDB was on generator for about 12 hours, WJBR for
about four.
What
else should broadcast managers and engineers know about how Beasley stations
handled the storm?
We knew it was important to have as many
engineer “hands on deck” as possible. We staffed a backup site with an engineer
during the duration of the storm. Also, we were prepared to broadcast from the
transmitter site with network audio in the event we lost the studio generator.
I traveled to Philadelphia to be on-site and help with any emergencies.
Radio World wants to hear from you about how your station or company was affected by Sandy. Email to radioworld93@gmail.com.
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