Communiqué
WOUB-TV Installs Emergency Generators As Part Of New Emergency Network
By: Kelly Martin
Posted on:
Emergency generators are being installed at WOUB-TV transmitters and will allow both Athens and Cambridge’s TV signals to stay on the air in the event of a commercial power outage.
According to WOUB’s Chief Technology Officer Steve Skidmore, the generators will provide a critical service to the community.
“The generators will automatically compensate for the loss of commercial power for both of WOUB-TV’s Athens and Cambridge transmitters and provide critical information during emergency situations, no matter what the weather conditions are, ” he said. “It will help us ensure public safety.”
The generators are a part of the “Warning, Alert and Response Network” (WARN) Act passed by Congress in 2006, which is an update to the aging Emergency Alert System. The program is being designed to deliver multimedia alerts using video, audio, text and graphics to cellphones, tablets, laptops and netbooks, as well as in-car navigation systems. The data will be fed through public television stations.
The project will be completed within the next few weeks and provide emergency information to around 55 counties served by WOUB-TV in southeast Ohio, western West Virginia and parts of northern Kentucky.
General Manager and Director Tom Hodson says the generators are a welcome addition.
“We’re thrilled that during weather emergencies commercial power outages will not restrict us from distributing emergency information,” Hodson said. “Our job is to provide information, both educational and informational, to the region and this addition will allow us to do it in a much more efficient way.”