Snow (and where is local radio?)

above: view on Windy Heights Drive, Okemos, MI this morning.
25° - overcast w/blowing snow at 9:54am

This post started as the opening to my usual Sunday Morning Odds & Sods piece - but became a post of its own. Overnight Mid-Michigan received the first of the 8-12 inches of the white stuff predicted for today.

As of this writing there's probably 5-6 inches on the ground and still snowing. And just a short while ago, I ran an errand to our local Meijer store to pick up a few things. During my drive, I tuned around the radio dial just to see who might actually have current road and weather information on the air.

As a local industry "insider" - I pretty much know what stations typically have live air talent in the studio at 8am on Sunday Morning - and thats just two out of the ten local commercial FMs here. Not something that the average listening would likely know.

I did hear some road and weather info on one station; with the other perhaps I wasn't listening at the right time. Out of the other eight other commercial FM stations (which likely remained unstaffed with a hard-drive whirling away) there was zilch...nothing.

Yes - I know its Sunday Morning - but with the local heavy snow warnings posted (at least) since mid-afternoon Saturday, you might think that someone would have the foresight and plan to have a live body in the studio to relay information to its listeners who might be going out.

Especially in the middle of the Christmas shopping season when traffic is above the norm. A no-brainer that simply involves a little bit of thought and caring about your product and your audience.

As a PD - if all else wasn't possible - I would made the trek in to get this information on the air. Its local service and what I believe listeners still expect out of their local radio station.

When the weather is terrible and there's cars sliding off the roads and everything's a mess, its the one day out of the whole year you (and the snow plow drivers) have got to get into work. No excuses.

Local TV has been all over this storm - since yesterday. On the air and on their websites. Radio comes up short. At least today - and here in Lansing.

Bitch mode off. More here in a bit. I've got to start up the snow blower.

above: another view of my street this morning.