As this year’s flurry of destructive storms rages on I am wondering which of them may blow into Alabama. It was just such a worry that led the Alabama Broadcasters Association to adopt an FM RDS emergency messaging in 2006. We recently had a close call from hurricane Gustav, so these days I am glad to have it.
As the immediate past chairman of ABA, I was instrumental in adopting ALERT FM and have stayed involved with its statewide roll-out. Though we have not faced a situation that calls for its use, as more storms approach, the first time may be this time.
The ABA board did not select ALERT FM without careful consideration. Following 9/11 and Katrina, we recognized the deficiencies of the EAS, and as broadcasters, understood the robust and reliable platform of FM RDS. This was not a typical business decision. Our mission was to provide an emergency messaging technology that was capable of warning a large number of Alabamians, even in the smallest markets, before, during and after an event. We viewed ALERT FM as a great opportunity to succeed in that cause.
We have implemented the ALERT FM system for our seven stations in the Birmingham market and all has gone pretty smoothly. There were a couple of glitches early on, but GSS’s technology team was physically in our facilities, troubleshooting problems and solving them to our satisfaction. We have tested the system extensively and found no degradation of signal or effects on our broadcast quality.
I am not an engineer, but the bandwidth requirement seems relatively insignificant. What is significant are the opportunities that such a system offers to broadcasters. Currently, we are using the messaging for “Title & Artist” and station branding. Plus, we are adding a new Advertiser feature that allows additional information, such as business name, phone number or website address to appear during broadcast of the advertiser’s commercial. I view this as a mutually beneficial situation, a win-win if you will. Broadcasters continue a tradition of providing weather and other emergency warnings as a listener benefit, plus music and advertiser messaging. It costs us nothing to have it, aside from the bandwidth we dedicate to the system, and opens up many new and badly needed doors for radio.
This is a new technology era of private message notification, texting and the like. Radio can take advantage of these tools to bind both listeners and sponsors to our station brands. We can message sports scores, traffic delays, Amber and emergency alerts. Some of these value-added features will produce additional revenues and increase our competitiveness.
Think about it. If we don’t adopt these outside links to our marketplaces, we will be stuck selling spots forever, versus offering advertisers integrated marketing campaigns. It is actually the choice to be leaders into a new frontier that will keep radio relevant and alive in the minds of consumers.
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