The Strong, Silent Type

Early in my radio career, I learned an important Programming 101 lesson: When your transmitter goes off the air, it's never good. Not even a teensy-weensy bit. My first-ever on-air/programming gig was at KDUO-F and KFXM-A/San Bernardino, and the owner was a man named Howard Tullis. He taught me the sense of urgency – ok, extreme panic – required by station personnel when suddenly, all you hear is static.

"You've got no listeners anymore!" That was Howard, barking over the hotline – he was a notorious barker (and hotliner). But, he wasn't wrong about the listener part, and so we all acquired the angst, stress, dread, and fear-of-being-fired whenever we went dark, no matter how abbreviated the interruption in regularly scheduled programming. That reaction is muscle memory for me, so that even today if I'm listening to the radio and a station goes off, though I obviously have no skin in the game whatsoever, I immediately start freaking out, tensing up, sweating bullets, and prepping a resume.

I bring this up, because in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma a couple weeks ago, Renda Country WGNE/Jacksonville was knocked off the air for (gulp, gasp) TWO DAYS after a storm surge caused the St. Johns River – which runs straight through the city – to swell so much it resulted in record-setting flood levels for the city, topping the havoc wreaked by Hurricane Dora in 1964.

TWO-#$%@-ing-DAYS! I'm sweating and hyperventilating right now just typing that.

"Right after the hurricane rolled out and the water started rolling in, we were knocked off the air, because our transmitter is in downtown Jacksonville, right by the river," WGNE APD Ashley Wilson told me. "So, along with all the other businesses and houses that were affected down there, we were, too." WGNE's outage began at 10a (ET) on Monday (9/11), and as Wilson shared in perhaps the year's biggest understatement, "When you can’t do your job, it’s very frustrating."

Yes, it is, because here's another thing people in radio learn very quickly: they're supposed to help people in times of need and crisis. As the Geico commercial says, "It's what you do." It's why the station is granted a license, and serving community is part of the staff's responsibility. That becomes muscle-memory, too, so camping out at the radio station, marathon airshifts, not eating or sleeping, and ditching Plan A for Plan B – that's part of a broadcaster's DNA, too.

So, how did WGNE adjust while off the air? "It was mostly social media," said Wilson, with Facebook being the primary vehicle. "There was a lot of direct communication with people that were reaching out to us there," she said. "Anybody that was reaching out to us and asking what the heck was going on, we were very clear with them about the situation. Everyone was affected by the hurricane, so they were completely understanding. It’s funny – you don’t realize how much of a part you are in someone’s life until you’re not anymore. So, we really do have people that spend their day with us, that wake up with us in the morning, that rely on us for that information."

Losing the ability to broadcast over the air is crippling, no doubt about it. But, said Wilson, it served as a reminder. "I think more importantly than ever, radio isn’t just about being on the air anymore. Thankfully, we live in a day and age that we’re able to reach people in different ways. We did everything we could to let people know that we’re still here, and we’re going to be back." And WGNE was, returning at 10p (ET) on Wednesday (9/13) evening.

Just as I saw recently, when recapping with programmers in Houston following Hurricane Harvey, there were two approaches to covering Irma's devastation.

WGNE continued playing music, fielding calls, and talking to listeners directly during its Saturday and Sunday coverage, said Wilson. "We felt it was important for those people that were in the area, and who decided not to evacuate, to have some sort of reprise. More than anything, we wanted to let people know we were here with them." Additionally, said Wilson, "We did have coverage from News 4 Jax [WJXT-TV], a local news station here which is our partner. Our morning show co-host actually worked for the news station, so she was on the streets doing coverage and calling in to provide updates, which was extremely helpful."

Wilson says many listeners called to thank the staff for staying with music and taking their minds off everything. "When you’re in your home at three-o’clock in the morning, and the wind is just beating against the windows – I can say this, because I was in here sleeping in the radio station while my co-workers were on the radio – it was almost nice to NOT hear people talking about the hurricane for three minutes." And, Wilson explained, "The last thing we wanted to do was create a panic, because panic causes chaos."

Across town at iHeartMedia Country WQIK, PD Cindy Spicer and her team had opted to drop all music and go wall-to-wall coverage with its news partner on Sunday (9/10) and Monday (9/11). "We planned as well as we could for this," Spicer told me. Preparation included staffers camped out at the radio station, and her morning team – "The JAX Big Show" featuring Robbie, John, and Toni – anchoring WQIK's coverage. But, the extraordinary record water levels on Monday were not expected, and as Spicer told me, "Situations change, everything is flexible, and you do the best you can." Even prior to Irma hitting, Spicer had suspended all usual promotions and contesting on the station – which included a Tim McGraw and Faith Hill show in Jacksonville set for Saturday (9/16).

While WGNE was being flexible immediately after the winds subsided – out of necessity – WQIK shifted from continuous coverage back to music on Tuesday (9/12), but with breaks focused on recovery efforts. Monday was spent assessing what exactly was needed and who the station should align with for distribution of aid. Tuesday, WQIK mobilized clients and staff to deliver food and aid. "One of our goals was helping all those workers who were trying to restore power in the area," said Spicer. WQIK collected gift cards – easily redeemable – for services such as cleaning and pet supplies, then worked with a church organization and the Salvation Army to get them out to listeners.

At WGNE, says Wilson, "We had continued to talk about recovery efforts every day. Those folks in [nearby] Black Creek, which got it the worse – those were the ones we’re focusing on. That’s the core of our audience. These are hard-working people that have lost their homes and have invested their lives into them." In addition, said Wilson, "The fact that 2,500 people are not at work in downtown Jacksonville has been affecting every business downtown for the past week and a half."

There was discussion at the beginning of the week as to whether to the Tim & Faith concert would be cancelled. It wasn't, and WQIK opted to go back to giving away tickets as previously planned, part of a gradual return to some sense of normalcy. Once back on the air, WGNE also returned to promoting the concert.

"There was a big debate last week as to when we would transition away from doing so much coverage of the hurricane and recovery efforts," said Wilson. "Everybody was exhausted from this event, and we need to get our lives back on track. With Tim having such a connection to Jacksonville – since his mom lives on the outskirts here – they were committed to putting on a show Saturday night and getting people’s minds off this, and so were we. It was a great break from the chaos. It was nice to get our minds off that for a few hours. The hurricane and recovery are still very much top of mind here, but we’re also focused on moving forward and continuing to provide information and resources to people, while also being a source of entertainment."

That mixture of entertainment and recovery will continue into the near future, says Spicer. There's an upcoming Zac Brown Band show, and a Dustin Lynch/Granger Smith concert soon after. WQIK will be there, asking listeners for more gift cards.

As for WGNE's unfortunate two days, Spicer took no satisfaction in another radio station being dark in such a critical time. "I totally feel for them," she said. "This has nothing to do with ratings; in this situation, our purpose changes, and it's all about our city."