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November 16, 2021 10:21 am  #1


Merritt, B.C. Radio Station Remains On Air Despite Town's Evacuation

I've never worked in a city facing the kind of emergency Merritt, B.C., is currently in. The community is in crisis after once-in-a-lifetime flooding struck the province. But CKMQ-FM, apparently the only station actually in Merritt, is still on the air. Exactly who they're broadcasting to is another question. The entire town has been evacuated and there's supposedly no one left to hear it.

Still, the Pattison-owned greatest hits outlet was up and running when I tuned it in online Tuesday morning. But what a weird feed. At first, they were playing music, then the signal went dead for about a minute or more. Then a guy came on doing news, which was all about the emergency. But before the newscast ended, the morning show started and for the next few minutes, several commercials played, followed by a promo and then into a song - all while the newscaster was still reading his copy, creating a cacophony of clutter so bad, you couldn't understand any of it. 

It was later explained that they were on remote at their Kamloops station (B101) and still hadn't gotten the bugs out of the connection. But mostly, they kept the format intact, including a traffic report about how many of the roads and bridges are either flooded or washed away. 

My question: why would you keep playing music when your entire city is in so much peril? Wouldn't you expect as close to round-the-clock coverage of the disaster as a small station could generate? It's baffling why they think going back to regular programming is the way to go. I'm sure Pattison has the resources to find a way to make it happen. I don't think they're serving their community especially well by playing "Sweet Dreams" by the Eurythmics. 

Has anyone ever worked at a radio station facing this kind of an emergency? What was it like to keep on going knowing disaster may be just outside the door? 

Q101.1 Live Feed

 

November 16, 2021 11:05 am  #2


Re: Merritt, B.C. Radio Station Remains On Air Despite Town's Evacuation

My guess of why they didn't go full coverage on it, is resources.   I have a feeling they likely are a very small team and limited on abilities on their remote setup.  Playing music buys time to get the info together and share it as possible.  Also keep in mind the time of day there..  It may limit their ability to be full coverage at this point as well if the team is barely able to cover 9-5 issues. . 

Last edited by radiokid (November 16, 2021 11:06 am)

 

November 16, 2021 11:39 am  #3


Re: Merritt, B.C. Radio Station Remains On Air Despite Town's Evacuation

The city of Merritt is about 7,200 people so not a big community.  There is no point rehashing things that happened 24 hours ago over and over. I have heard stations that do this and that is more frustrating than hearing music. I think this is more of a case when there is something new to report or any updates, it will be covered. 

The on air announcer and newsperson did just that.  A four minute update as to what was happening and a conversation between the two.  The announcer then did a bit of a pep talk to the community and then into The Hip!  Love it.  Also they are talking every break and  have had news every half hour, although it is still early morning in  BC with the three hour time difference. 

They have lots of people listening right now as the announcer just mentioned since they are getting calls and feedback from listeners calling in to the Kamloops station.  And many people are also listening on line. 

So rather than criticism I think that the station and limited staff are doing as good as could be expected.  A credit to Merritt that the city was evacuated in an orderly way, same with the 245 people stranded on the highway that have been rescued by helicopter with no loss of life or injury in either case. 

Last edited by paterson1 (November 16, 2021 11:40 am)

 

November 16, 2021 11:49 am  #4


Re: Merritt, B.C. Radio Station Remains On Air Despite Town's Evacuation

paterson1 wrote:

So rather than criticism I think that the station and limited staff are doing as good as could be expected.  A credit to Merritt that the city was evacuated in an orderly way, same with the 245 people stranded on the highway that have been rescued by helicopter with no loss of life or injury in either case. 

I tend to agree completely here at this point.. I think because the issue has been happening for a while now, it just become overkill to rehash the same details. 

I've listened for a while and I think they are loading voice tracks remotely before going to air, instead of being live...  This also could be why they are doing this, as it's not possible to do wall to wall coverage in this setup.  I only caught that he was voice tracked due to the board not being setup correctly and a loop back echo playing going into spots until he stopped recording.    

Good on them to stay on air for the people who refused to leave, and for those to turn to remotely to know what's happening.    It really is what local radio should be.

 

November 16, 2021 1:45 pm  #5


Re: Merritt, B.C. Radio Station Remains On Air Despite Town's Evacuation

I'm not completely in disagreement with you guys, but here's what I think they could do better. Scrap most of the music and the format, go live as much as possible, and take phone calls from residents, who might be in Kamloops, still in Merritt or in surrounding areas. You don't need a lot of extra staff to make that happen. 

People asking about missing family members, does anyone know how bad the flooding is in my neighbourhood, how can I clean up the mess when we get back, calls from people stranded because of the water, are there any roads still safe enough to travel, etc. Constant updates from Environment Canada meteorologists, police, government and hydro officials (the power is out for thousands of people), insurance company spokespeople and the like. Things you need to know but also useful info. 

That's what happened during Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, and while admittedly they're not the same size or situation, putting desperate people on the air to help each other, give what info they know based on where they are, or just soothe frightened folks, is what could really help serve the public. 

Less music, more information. Just for the duration of the emergency, in which 2 months of rain fell in just over a single day. It's an incredible disaster and this radio station is right in the middle of it. I'm sure they're serving listeners as best they can. But in this case, the music shouldn't be getting in the way. 

     Thread Starter
 

November 16, 2021 1:54 pm  #6


Re: Merritt, B.C. Radio Station Remains On Air Despite Town's Evacuation

They're most likely no set up to go live with nobody in the building. Makes total sense that they'd be loading in pre-recorded carts from the other facility

 

November 16, 2021 8:11 pm  #7


Re: Merritt, B.C. Radio Station Remains On Air Despite Town's Evacuation

When the Fort Mac wildfires happened in 2016, I recall that Rogers-owned Country 93.3 simulcast News 660 from Calgary, and information was relayed by way of 660.

 

December 8, 2021 12:25 am  #8


Re: Merritt, B.C. Radio Station Remains On Air Despite Town's Evacuation

RadioActive wrote:

I've never worked in a city facing the kind of emergency Merritt, B.C., is currently in. The community is in crisis after once-in-a-lifetime flooding struck the province. But CKMQ-FM, apparently the only station actually in Merritt, is still on the air. Exactly who they're broadcasting to is another question. The entire town has been evacuated and there's supposedly no one left to hear it.

Still, the Pattison-owned greatest hits outlet was up and running when I tuned it in online Tuesday morning. But what a weird feed. At first, they were playing music, then the signal went dead for about a minute or more. Then a guy came on doing news, which was all about the emergency. But before the newscast ended, the morning show started and for the next few minutes, several commercials played, followed by a promo and then into a song - all while the newscaster was still reading his copy, creating a cacophony of clutter so bad, you couldn't understand any of it. 

It was later explained that they were on remote at their Kamloops station (B101) and still hadn't gotten the bugs out of the connection. But mostly, they kept the format intact, including a traffic report about how many of the roads and bridges are either flooded or washed away. 

My question: why would you keep playing music when your entire city is in so much peril? Wouldn't you expect as close to round-the-clock coverage of the disaster as a small station could generate? It's baffling why they think going back to regular programming is the way to go. I'm sure Pattison has the resources to find a way to make it happen. I don't think they're serving their community especially well by playing "Sweet Dreams" by the Eurythmics. 

I first wrote that last month. Now I see on Canadian Radio News that a local MP - a former broadcaster - is equally outraged that the local stations were on automation as the flood waters swept in and there was no one there to report on the conditions as all hell was breaking loose in his part of B.C. 

Another local ex-radio man agreed:

With a license goes ‘responsibility to the community served’. I applaud this! In similar flooding in 1990, half our CFVR/850 staff were in the station at midnight on a Saturday, handling phone calls, providing on-the-scene coverage of floodwaters, working with police to provide on-air directions for farmers on where to move cattle, etc.,…a huge effort for a community radio station that helped immensely. That kind of commitment SHOULD be a ‘condition of license’.

Surrey MP and Former Broadcaster to Raise Issue Over Lack of Local Radio Flood Coverage in the Valley 

     Thread Starter