[BC] Comments about Meridian MS

[Jerry Mathis]

Well, it's been interesting to read all the posts over the weekend 
concerning the Meridian MS radio market. I've learned a lot about what has 
gone before me here. As Spock would say, "Fascinating". I'd heard some 
"comments" from the staff about some of the other broadcast owners from days 
gone by, and, well.....if you can't say anything good about somebody, 
then...you know.......

I've been the Engineer here for Clear Channel since Feb 1 if memory serves. 
I've been through two hurricanes (Dennis and Katrina), and a devastating 
lightning strike from a third (offshoot of Rita) that we're still recovering 
from. I've done more physical work during this time than the previous 7 or 8 
years combined, I'd guess.

Yes, I take care of a lot of stations, but it's been pretty focused. As Mike 
Gideon pointed out, I don't have all the responsibilities of a large-market 
staff. It hasn't all been Radio Engineering, though; in Tupelo, I wired the 
new studio/office building addition for telephone and LAN services.

Hurricane Dennis was bad, but Katrina was a downright disaster. I haven't 
talked about it much, because it was so much worse further to the south. But 
Meridian was reduced to pretty much 3rd world conditions for about a week 
after Katrina. There was practically no power in Meridian for almost 48 
hours after the storm. Getting around was difficult because of the trees and 
power lines across the roads. The power being out meant no stores open, 
including gas stations, grocery stores, restaurants, fast-food outlets, 
pharmacies, etc. I went 36 hours with no food, because there was none to be 
had. When a Winn-Dixie finally opened, I stood in line for an hour to get 
some basic nourishment: bread, tuna, peanut butter and jelly, mayonnaise. No 
meat or fresh vegetables available. The stores all threw it all out because 
the power failure had spoiled it all.

I rode out a good bit of Katrina out at the WJDQ transmitter site. We tried 
to keep a balky generator working to stay on the air. Finally the generator 
died for good, and we left the site, by that time I considered it too 
dangerous to stay anyway. Fortunately, the studio site had a god backup 
generator that ran on NG. It ran continuously for 4 or 5 days until 
commercial power was restored.

The day after the  hurricane we got the generator running again, but it 
required babysitting to keep it going. This went on for about 5 days until 
power up the hill out of Meridian was restored. I arrived in Meridian Sunday 
night before the hurricane hit, and didn't leave until the following 
Saturday night.

While I may be the only designated Engineer, I want to add that the staff of 
the stations, including the Operations Manager and General Manager, both did 
everything they could to assist me in keeping things going. Without them it 
wouldn't have been possible.

After several days, it was obvious our generator wasn't going to last much 
longer, so I called for help. As Mike said, when I need it I can call in the 
cavalry. I tried not to call much, because I knew the cavalry had its hands 
full already, but we needed another generator really bad. Within 24 hours we 
had a mobile backup generator that could run WJDQ at full power. The GM 
worked hard finding some gas stations with power so we could get diesel fuel 
to keep it going. This involved a couple of 55 gallon drums in the back of 
his pickup, and a hand pump.

I also want to credit the staff back at the studios who, even though many 
had homes and family they were concerned about, stayed at the studios to 
broadcast local emergency information. We had local authorities, and 
representatives from the power companies, come in and give reports daily as 
to what was going on. We took phone calls. During the storm, we had **0ne** 
working phone line in the building. Our WAN went out early because the 
circuit was routed through New Orleans. The next day, we got a few more 
phone lines working, and we re-configured the phones so people could call 
in. We used one line for dial-up computer access so we could get basic news 
and weather. We were pretty much cut off from the rest of the world for a 
couple of days after the storm. The local TV stations were off the air, and 
the cable was out, and we had very limited Internet.

I could go on, but I will stop here, as I'm sure many others have similar 
and worse stories. CC Meridian suffered no damage to its facilities, other 
than some rotated satellite dishes, which was a miracle. Hattiesburg lost 3 
towers at their cluster.

Before I came to work for Clear Channel, I took a few shots at them myself 
on these lists. Having now worked for them, and having read the things 
others say, I can say that many of you who criticize Clear Channel just 
don't know what you're talking about, or at the least you are just plain 
wrong. An example: we have real live DJ's at our stations who have their own 
shows. We are NOT bringing in voice-tracked shows from other CC markets. 
Yes, we use voice tracking, but it is used as a time-saving and show 
improvement technique. This is the same as EVERY OTHER STATION I HAVE WORKED 
AT. So I don't think I'm giving away any corporate secrets here.

Oh, and by the way....there was a note from Corporate in my e-mail last 
week, stating that they appreciated the extra hard work the affected Clear 
Channel Engineers had done through this hurricane season, and promised to 
show their appreciation. My last paycheck showed the followup to that 
promise: a SUBSTANTIAL  bonus. Now THAT's something I've not gotten from ANY 
of my previous employers...............'nuff said.



Jerry Mathis
Clear Channel Radio, Tupelo & Meridian MS