Disney Xmas Parade at 3:00AM in Boston?

[Kristi1357]

I just tried to contact WMUR. Their "contact the station" link on their website is a JOKE.... you can't forward an email without providing an address and they don't give you the address!! I copied down the phone number and will call them in about 20 minutes (nearer to 8 am). I KNOW that this will make NO difference for this year, but maybe for next year it will help..........P

Let us know if you get anywhere - and also if you find an email addy for them. This stinks!

 

[Kristi1357]

I've received no email reply from WCVB. I would bet good money that email response was created due to the amount of complaints they're getting. Since when is an entire TV station "on vacation"?

Probably not the entire station, but either the head of programming or public relations or something.

I know I am here at work at a competing tv station in Boston!

 

[boomhauer]

Probably not the entire station, but either the head of programming or public relations or something.

I know I am here at work at a competing tv station in Boston!

Wouldn't there have to be someone filling in for the head of programming if they were on vacation?

By any chance, do you work for channel 4? Whatever happened to that woman who did the news in the morning with Scott Wahile? I miss her.

 

[Kristi1357]

Wouldn't there have to be someone filling in for the head of programming if they were on vacation?

By any chance, do you work for channel 4? Whatever happened to that woman who did the news in the morning with Scott Wahile? I miss her.

There would probably be someone who could fill in & handle emergency type things - but not viewer mail. I doubt that is a high priority, unfortunately.

I don't work at 4 - I work at "the news station" (insert HUGE here). Honestly, I never watch news unless it's the morning show that I am working on. I didn't know someone at 4 left...

I just sent a message to WMUR through this page. Doubt it will get us anywhere, but at least I got to vent a bit!
http://www.thewmurchannel.com/contact/index.html

 

[cinmell]

I've received no email reply from WCVB. I would bet good money that email response was created due to the amount of complaints they're getting. Since when is an entire TV station "on vacation"?

That's what I was thinking too because usually an out of office email reply is almost instant, this one took approx. 8 hours to arrive in my mailbox from the time I sent my email.

 

[Kristi1357]

That's what I was thinking too because usually an out of office email reply is almost instant, this one took approx. 8 hours to arrive in my mailbox from the time I sent my email.

Nice viewer relations, huh?

 

[bicker]

The only information I could find regarding past Christmas Parades doesn't indicate that the ratings are particularly good or particularly bad, but I suspect that the biggest problem is that the demographics suck. And since parents are watching, they cannot even hope to sell some of the more profitable, exploitative advertising that they sell for just-plain-cartoons. It makes sense that the parade would fall down pretty far on the priority list, if the audience doesn't provide enough incentive for television stations to place it higher in priority.

Wouldn't there have to be someone filling in for the head of programming if they were on vacation?

First, I suspect that link goes to a clerk, not to the director. Second, why would there need to be someone filling in. How is this such an emergency that it need such immediate attention?

Local television stations need to urgently focus their attention only on gathering and reporting local news; the rest can wait.

 

[CamColt]

Yeah, my "auto reply" came about 12 hours after I sent my email. Hmmm????

Just think if it really is an auto reply and this poor guy is on vacation, imagine what he is going to come back to. This will teach him not to mess with Disney fanatics again.

 

[Kristi1357]

I was just thinking - the automated responses probably were legitimate. The emails from viewers probably go to a certain person to handle them. Once they read them, they are most-likely forwarded to the proper dept. I'd bet that is what happened here.

BUT, maybe there is a slim chance if the person who initially receives them sees this situation as a big deal. And then contacts or forwards the complaints to someone else in power that has the ability to handle this situation.

I can dream, huh?

 

[JimVL]

Looks like we'll have to start calling Channel 5 and complaining.

Does anybody know the email and phone info?
ETA: Oops I should have kept reading.

 

[Kristi1357]

This was posted earlier for Ch 5:
wcvbnews@thebostonchannel.com

I posted this earlier for WMUR:
http://www.thewmurchannel.com/contact/index.html

And Boomhauer also posted this for ABC:
www.abc.com
(go to bottom of the page and click contact abc)

 

[Kristi1357]

WCVB's main phone number is:
1-781-449-0400

WMUR's main phone number is:
1-800-257-5151

 

[bicker]

It'll really depend on how many emails are sitting there in the queue when the clerk gets back to work. If there are thousands, that's one thing. If there are dozens, that's another. If, as is most likely, it's hundreds -- well that goes back to the issue I raised earlier: How much can they command for advertising while broadcasting the parade, versus how much they can command for advertising while broadcasting the alternative.

Just a note about ABC: ABC is broadcasting the parade Christmas morning, so complaining to them will fall on deaf ears. They cannot tell affiliates what to do, especially affiliates owned by powerful networks like Hearst. So instead of contacting ABC, you really want to contact Hearst.

Hearst-Argyle Television, Inc.
888 Seventh Avenue
New York, NY 10106
Tel: (212) 887-6800
Fax: (212) 887-6875

 

[Kristi1357]

It'll really depend on how many emails are sitting there in the queue when the clerk gets back to work. If there are thousands, that's one thing. If there are dozens, that's another. If, as is most likely, it's hundreds -- well that goes back to the issue I raised earlier: How much can they command for advertising while broadcasting the parade, versus how much they can command for advertising while broadcasting the alternative.

Just a note about ABC: ABC is broadcasting the parade Christmas morning, so complaining to them will fall on deaf ears. They cannot tell affiliates what to do, especially affiliates owned by powerful networks like Hearst. So instead of contacting ABC, you really want to contact Hearst.

First off, working for a television station, I can tell you - one viewer email can cause tons of chaos!

Also, network could help in this situation! Someone posted from another market that their local affiliate could not air the parade since the feed from network was scheduled to come down late, and they had a contract to air a church service (I don't remember the exact story). So, in this case, if network would feed the program to that affiliate earlier, the outcome could have been very different.

I also know that if our network had a problem with us as an affiliate, something would happen!

 

[bicker]

First off, working for a television station, I can tell you - one viewer email can cause tons of chaos!

Gosh, I'd hate to work there!

So, in this case, if network would feed the program to that affiliate earlier, the outcome could have been very different.

Perhaps, but Hearst would have far more leverage with ABC than any one individual viewer.

 

[beattyfamily]

I just wish if they couldn't air it Sunday morning at 10:00a like usual, that they could have made plans to air it earlier Christmas morning (3:00a) so that I could tape it and still watch it Christmas morning rather then airing it the day AFTER Christmas at 3:00a.

So so disappointed.

 

[boomhauer]

First, I suspect that link goes to a clerk, not to the director. Second, why would there need to be someone filling in. How is this such an emergency that it need such immediate attention?

Local television stations need to urgently focus their attention only on gathering and reporting local news; the rest can wait.

It's called customer relations. If they don't want to handle customer service issues, don't post a "Contact Us" option on the website.

I totally disagree with that second comment. The news is only about 1/8 of their daily programming. I would be willing to bet good money, all stations have seperate departments for News and customer relations.

 

[pjlla]

I just called. The 800 # automatic operator only gave me three options to choose from, News, Sports, or Weather.... I choose News and asked the Newsroom person who to speak to about programming. He gave me another # to call at about 9 am. It is a local number.... 603-669-9999. I will be calling around 9 am. Maybe any other disgruntled NH folks could call also..............P

 

[pjlla]

This was posted earlier for Ch 5:
wcvbnews@thebostonchannel.com

I posted this earlier for WMUR:
http://www.thewmurchannel.com/contact/index.html

And Boomhauer also posted this for ABC:
www.abc.com
(go to bottom of the page and click contact abc)

Unfortunately, this WMUR contact link does you no good without an email address to use... and they don't provide one on the website (not that I could find, anyway)........P

 

[bicker]

It's called customer relations.

They offer customer relations. They just do it in perspective to the priority of the issue.

I'm not sure what happened in our society, but somewhere along the line people started getting the idea that anything that they feel is important to them should be of great urgency to everyone else.

I totally disagree with that second comment. The news is only about 1/8 of their daily programming.

But the only part of their programming that is of significant time-value.

It's like a hospital: If you go there with an emergency, you can expect to be seen by a doctor in a relatively short period of time. If you go there to get a copy of some old medical records, you may have to wait (at this point), until next Wednesday. And if you go there to complain about the cafeteria, you may have to wait until the cafeteria manager returns from vacation in January.