Leaving Las Vegas after the NAB Show, traffic was at a standstill on the I-15, backed up for miles in the blazing 98 degree heat. Listeners had NO idea what was happening as the flurry of flashing lights and sirens raced by….NOTHING on local radio.
After the road reopened, I made a pit stop at a place called “Terrible’s Gas Station,” where the man in front of me at the counter was making a joke, “Now that wasn’t so terrible was it?”
I KNEW that voice… “Tom?”
Yep. It was SiriusXM 60s Gold, & LA Radio personality “Shotgun Tom” Kelly.
Both of us were still in the dark about the cause of the road closure. The woman behind the counter told us she’d seen a Facebook post saying someone had stolen a big rig truck and taken it for a joyride on I-15. But during the incident it was radio silence.
Alpha Media programmer Rob Kelley says, “I’ve had consultants over the years defend dumping traffic reports (when we had a budget for them) arguing, ‘if you’re not in it, you don’t care,’ then talk about the percentage of your “local” audience that may possibly be affected by that situation. Then came the Google/Apple map justification. Pretty much guaranteed most listeners were on their phones looking for a way out. I’m more disappointed N/T didn’t have it for the news worthiness.”
Podcast host, former radio general manager Matthew Arnett agrees, “Shame on radio” but points out, “The Apple Maps app gives you real time traffic updates and speed warnings. If I’m listening to a Podcast it pauses the Podcast, gives the information and then continues with the Podcast from a couple of seconds before the interruption. Hard to beat that, no?”
The story did finally get picked up by local TV, but did not explain what I’d seen driving by: a big rig over on the side of the road and a woman on her knees surrounded by a LOT of police.
No news during a breaking event is bad enough, but there’s another issue: How do you know what really happened? How can you trust that a Facebook post, as told to us by the truck stop lady, is correct?
Like most listeners, I don’t care where the information comes from, but we do need the information. And sadly, now, we can’t count on radio to deliver it.
Mav3rick 
realscott 
Todd Hallidy
If I’m driving alone, I can’t go messing with my iPhone to find traffic info. So I always tune into the radio for info. Here in Vegas I know who to tune into. And when I’m back home in LA, I ALWAYS listen to 97.1/1070 KNX to see what’s up ahead or find an alternative route or stay the course.
And it’s also about being local. Listeners like to hear what’s going on around them. Period. Take a way localism, traffic, weather, events that are happening in the moment (be creative)…and you’ve got a bunch a liner card jocks telling you about some guy in Florida.
Las Vegas Radio (most) have forgotten its purpose. Nary a reminder of what makes Radio fun to the listener. The unexpected is never expected; what a bore that is!
WOW! My thoughts exactly.
Now I will show my age. Whenever something happened, the first thing we did was turn on the radio! Not the TV or wait for the newspaper- radio was immediate! No way nowadays. This Vegas story is a good example of why radio is in the shape it’s in…sadly….
It’s a sad commentary this was not a radio news story in real time, but the traffic angle is better covered by smartphone apps.
I don’t go anywhere without first checking Google maps for trouble spots that I can either avoid or allow time for. If I get into a jam later, the app can tell me far ahead I’ll have to go to get clear or where I can get to a plausible escape route that also isn’t jammed with everybody doing the same thing. Radio traffic reports in most markets were never very good at any of that, and are much worse now. Especially now that traffic services provide reports recorded nearly ten minutes before they air.
Yet, stations still do them and sponsors still buy them. Go figure.