Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Travel network getting boost from wattage

From: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2003 18:55:07 -0400

Travel network getting boost from wattage

Bob Mervine
Staff Writer

KISSIMMEE -- A plan for a statewide travel radio network aimed at tourists is
edging closer
to reality.

"The idea has always had great potential," says Dick Kane, a
Florida Department of Transportation spokesman.

Yet for the past four years, the Travel Information Radio
Network, a venture between a local broadcast entrepreneur
and the state's transportation depa rtment, has tuned in mostly
static.

Economic conditions, bureaucratic delays and fickle financing all have delayed the
project.

Now, though, with AM radio stations signing onto the idea,
tweaked technology, a new Web site and marketable
programming, the Travel Information Radio Network appears
poised for growth.

Roadblocks

Four years ago, the state announced it was teaming with a
private broadcaster, Joe Gettys, to create the network.

The former marketing director for Kissimmee's Old Town had
launched a more rudimentary version while working at the
Osceola retail complex.

The state's transportation department was
interested in developing the network, if for no
other reason than as part of its Intelligent
Transportation Network, an information system
designed to keep traffic slowing smoothly.

Plans called to provide a 24-hour statewide radio
network broadcasting tourism information,
weather reports and travel advisories.

Roadblocks appeared almost immediately.

The local AM station that was the prototype for
the network -- WLAA-AM 1680 -- operated on
an old frequency with what Gettys describes as
"a big hole" in their broadcast coverage area. Extensive engineering fixes
failed. Marketing the fledgling information network to passing cars was
the network's single biggest cost: erecting thousands of official blue
roadway signs engineered to withstand 200-mph winds, which needed
to be placed along rights of way along the state's highway system.

The delays, though, have actually helped, says the highway department's
Kane.

"During the delay, Joe has had a chance to develop a wonderful, very
listenable format," he says.

Tuning in

More important, the network is making changes aimed at ensuring that
motorists will be more likely to hear that format. The network is
switching over its Orlando radio station from the old 1680 frequency to
a better-located, powerful transmitter in Ocoee, WTIR-AM 1300.

An improved signal from WTIR's more powerful 10,000-watt AM
should be on the air any day, says Gettys. He believes that by Aug. 1
the upgraded one-station "network" will add two more affiliates from
Valdosta, Ga. (910 AM), and a new station, (1410 AM) from Alachua,
near Gainesville.

Three more stations covering Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Daytona
are expected to be operational by Sept. 1.

Gettys says, "By Labor Day, we will be able to reach the 33 million
out-of-town motorists visiting the area on those three highways from
Savannah to Palm Bay."

And 158 roadside signs are already in place along Central Florida's
major highways, Interstate 95, Interstate 75 and Florida's Turnpike, as
well as Interstate 4 in Central Florida -- all directing visitors to listen for
traffic and tourism updates.

Programming appeal

The network program content is a 10-minute "wheel" of repeating
information, regularly updated by the network and by the local station.

Six of the 10 minutes are produced for a statewide audience and will
include everything from slickly produced 30-second features to a minute
of traffic updates and lane closures on state roads, as well as reminders
about seat belt and child seat laws in the state.

In addition to the minute of programming, the state also can take control
of the entire network in the case of emergencies and natural disasters.

The other four minutes are locally produced and contain two minutes of
local advertising. "We've found that the content needs to be short,"
Gettys says. "If anything is too long, people just change the channel and
we lose them."

The appeal to potential radio advertisers is raw numbers.

Many Florida tourists now are traveling the state in cars as an alternative
to the lengthy waits and crowded planes of air travel. Of the 37.4 million
people who plan to travel 50 miles or more from home just on the
Fourth of July weekend, AAA reports 32.6 million plan to go by motor
vehicle, an increase of 2 percent -- while air travel plans have declined
by 2 percent.

There are still hurdles.

Certain technical upgrades at the new tower are not finished and the
station can't be heard in much of Orlando -- including the travel
network's offices on John Young Parkway. Thus, the sophisticated Web
site newly developed for the network (www.tirn.com) can't stream the
network's audio programming.

Marjorie Dobbins, media director for Fry Hammond Barr points out,
"There's no way to measure any of that tourist media to determine
whether it's reaching the right audience."

Dobbins holds a glimmer of hope for future ad buys with the network,
but notes "there's a lot more work to do first."

Gettys, though, remains upbeat -- if only because the network offers the
struggling AM radio market a rich source of listeners.

"There are about 700 AM stations out there losing money," he notes.
"There's been no lack of broadcasters dying for a niche format like this
one."

http://orlando.bizjournals.com/orlando/stories/2003/06/23/story6.html

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