WCHL is my hometown radio station and I’m a big fan. I got hooked when we moved here in ’94, so count me among those who were upset when WCHL was sold to Curtis Media in 1995 and moved to Durham. Jim Heavner repurchased the station in 2002 and returned it to Chapel Hill with a commitment that WCHL would remain a local service to the community and would provide a daily news and programming service that is heavily local in character.
WCHL is our community voice and has demonstrated time and again its commitment to community. Therefore it really doesn’t matter to me a whole lot who owns the station; what matters is how it remains committed to being the voice of our community. I wish Barry Leffler well as he takes the helm as CEO and Managing Partner.
So please use all of your experience in broadcasting and be a leader who will creatively efficiently to take WCHL to the place where it represents, informs and supports our community better than any other medium. You also need to prepare folks when you decide to make changes and maybe even do some listener testing before implementation.
Again, good luck to you and to WCHL as we embark on a new chapter, and oh, we won’t hold it against you because your degree is from Miami. GO HEELS AND GO WCHL!
Showing posts with label WCHL. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WCHL. Show all posts
Friday, October 9, 2009
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
KUDOS! (WCHL Commentary)
WOW! We sure were lucky with the intruder named Hanna, and even more so when you think about her relative named Fran who was very unkind to us that terrible 5th and 6th of September 1996. Fortunately, Hanna did nowhere near the damage, and for that, we should be very thankful.
But Hanna was clearly wasn’t a non-event for everyone.
For our governments, significant time and resources went into planning for the storm. Some folks after the storm called it about much ado about nothing, but sanity dictates that we plan for the worst and hope for the best. After all, predicting the exact track that an unpredictable storm will follow just isn’t possible.
We had a lot of water fall on us and we did experience flooding, fallen trees and power losses. We received great information and I think that we owe a debt of gratitude to WCHL for what they did during the storm. Once again, they proved the value of a community radio station by providing the kind of LOCAL coverage that they did. Not only did they air field reports and updates from their staff, Duke Energy and Town officials on the conditions in the local area Saturday morning, they also had listeners call in and share what they were seeing.
We as a community are truly fortunate to have a resource like WCHL to provide accurate, timely and useful information on what’s happening as a result of these weather events. Kudos to you WCHL and all of the members of the 1360 family; you are a true asset to our community.
But Hanna was clearly wasn’t a non-event for everyone.
For our governments, significant time and resources went into planning for the storm. Some folks after the storm called it about much ado about nothing, but sanity dictates that we plan for the worst and hope for the best. After all, predicting the exact track that an unpredictable storm will follow just isn’t possible.
We had a lot of water fall on us and we did experience flooding, fallen trees and power losses. We received great information and I think that we owe a debt of gratitude to WCHL for what they did during the storm. Once again, they proved the value of a community radio station by providing the kind of LOCAL coverage that they did. Not only did they air field reports and updates from their staff, Duke Energy and Town officials on the conditions in the local area Saturday morning, they also had listeners call in and share what they were seeing.
We as a community are truly fortunate to have a resource like WCHL to provide accurate, timely and useful information on what’s happening as a result of these weather events. Kudos to you WCHL and all of the members of the 1360 family; you are a true asset to our community.
Friday, May 25, 2007
RADIO (WCHL Commentary)
Do you have one of those XM Satellite radios? If you do, you probably were a little perturbed when you experienced an outage earlier this week. Hearing about their satellite being down and then hearing the story on TV about the ominous 2007 hurricane season made me wonder; if the predicted number of named storms and number of hurricane days is anywhere close to accurate, it’s going to be an interesting season!
Remember the ice storm back in December of 2002. Fortunately, WCHL had just returned as a local station and was able to provide 24 hour information and updates for those of us who had working radios. What would have happened if we had to depend on a satellite signal for our local advisories and updates? Sure, if you had a battery operated TV or a generator, you got news and updates from the TV stations, but it was regional. Hearing our mayor and town manager projecting calm and competent leadership as they provided advisories and updates was really reassuring.
Sadly, I think we will face another crisis of that sort in the future and it may come during this hurricane season. Now is the time to get ready by doing what the emergency preparedness folks have suggested. Go to the Orange County webpage and check out their advice. Having a working radio and extra batteries is one of their suggestions. I don’t know about you, but my family and I will most definitely be tuned to WCHL 1360 in order to stay informed. Satellite radio may have the music you want but it sure won’t have the local information that you really need!
Remember the ice storm back in December of 2002. Fortunately, WCHL had just returned as a local station and was able to provide 24 hour information and updates for those of us who had working radios. What would have happened if we had to depend on a satellite signal for our local advisories and updates? Sure, if you had a battery operated TV or a generator, you got news and updates from the TV stations, but it was regional. Hearing our mayor and town manager projecting calm and competent leadership as they provided advisories and updates was really reassuring.
Sadly, I think we will face another crisis of that sort in the future and it may come during this hurricane season. Now is the time to get ready by doing what the emergency preparedness folks have suggested. Go to the Orange County webpage and check out their advice. Having a working radio and extra batteries is one of their suggestions. I don’t know about you, but my family and I will most definitely be tuned to WCHL 1360 in order to stay informed. Satellite radio may have the music you want but it sure won’t have the local information that you really need!
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