You couldn't have listened for long.  Yes, they're playing music but the local stations have been carrying the media conferences and providing all of the info you would expect and I have heard the mayor doing live interviews on each of the stations I have listened to.  It was interesting to hear the CBC Radio One hourly national news focus exclusively on Yellowknife a couple of times last night.  It sounded like a local newscast but it wasn't.

I was listening again on and off Friday morning. Once again, I'm surprised how many stations are still playing some music, while providing info and interviews between the records. You'd think they'd go wall-to-wall with news coverage, as a fire approaches that could completely destroy everything in their city over the weekend. 

Maybe they simply don't have the staff and I'm expecting too much from such a small market. But my random tune-ins heard more music on the traditionally formatted FM stations, which in my mind isn't what they should be doing during a mass exodus emergency. 

Only the CBC is doing wall-to-wall coverage, and are providing the service I'd expect if I lived there. (One of their hosts is in Yellowknife, the other on location in Calgary, where many refugees are being flown.)

On Friday, 640's Alex Pierson talked to Ollie Williams, a reporter from Cabin Radio, who is reporting while also being one of the evacuees, so they're trying. He addressed the Facebook issue referred to above and admitted it's a problem, but that users have been taking screen grabs of their site and reposting them, which apparently bypasses the censorship. He says the ingenuity of the locals continues to impress him. 

If most of these stations are still at it on the weekend, I continue to wonder who they're broadcasting to. I hope they all get out safe.  

No question CBC is doing the best job of covering this, going wall to wall without interruption.

CBC Radio 1 In Yellowknife

As for the internet, you can bet it is not working to well up there with so many on the move trying to get service. Also, it’s 1000kms between Yellowknife and Peace River. I bet there are many dead spots along the route. Here’s hoping they are safe

Last edited by andysradio (August 19, 2023 7:07 pm)

In the meantime, the situation is also growing steadily worse in Kelowna, where wildfires fueled by strong winds are threatening residential neighbourhoods and thousands of people are being forced to evacuate. 

AM 1150 is Kelowna's news/talk station and regular programming has been pre-empted to provide fire updates - https://www.iheartradio.ca/am-1150

CBC Radio One in BC is offering live programming across the province to cover the Kelowna situation and are taking calls from those on the front lines of the fire. It's compelling listening - https://www.cbc.ca/lite/radio/live-radio/british-columbia/kelowna

 

Internet-based Cabin Radio is the gold standard in Yellowknife. To bad they are not on FM yet.

Bristol wrote:

Internet-based Cabin Radio is the gold standard in Yellowknife. To bad they are not on FM yet.

They've published a note to listeners to explain how they plan to continue coverage, despite the evacuation. 

Cabin Radio: Our ongoing wildfire coverage plans
 

RadioActive wrote:

Maybe they simply don't have the staff and I'm expecting too much from such a small market. 
If most of these stations are still at it on the weekend, I continue to wonder who they're broadcasting to. I hope they all get out safe.  

They don't have the staff and you are expecting too much.  This is a city of 22 000 with 2 or 3 mostly young people in each newsroom of independently owned and operated radio stations with at least one of them working remotely after evacuating.  This isn't 680 News in-depth team coverage and they can't pull resources from another market in the company like Edmonton and Calgary or Saskatoon and Regina sometimes do.  

They are broadcasting to evacuees listening online who want to know what is becoming of their homes and the few people who have stayed behind.  Why are you pretending not to understand how news coverage works all of a sudden?

RadioActive wrote:

I'm not sure if Cabin Radio has ever had this much publicity. But they've earned it doing yeoman's work during the emergency.

"On the way to emergency lodgings more than 600 kilometres away from his home, through sections of smouldering woods and thick smoke on the only road out of Yellowknife, [Cabin Radio's Ollie] Williams used a Starlink satellite propped up by bags of dog food to keep working.

"My partner was doing about 100 kilometres down the highway to safety while I was writing those live updates into our system and publishing them."

I get the feeling when this is all over that Mr. Williams will be sought out for a larger market - if he wants to go. 

Yellowknife journalists work overtime to keep community updated during evacuations

I wonder if the service Cabin has provided during this emergency will convince the CRTC to finally grant them an FM licence.

Meanwhile, it turns out Mr. Williams has quite a lot of radio experience - he used to work as a sportscaster for the BBC.

Ex-BBC reporter passionate about local news informing N.W.T. and beyond about fires