Nearly one year after Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast, ratings indicate that new listeners who tuned in to hear the local coverage of the storm have continued to do so. The storm brought both literal waves of water to the shore and a metaphorical surge of listeners to the state’s radio stations.
“Since then, our stations have successfully converted many of them into regular listeners, who turned to our reliable local broadcasters when the power went out and radio became an essential lifeline for everyone in the Garden State,” said New Jersey Broadcasters Association President Paul Rotella. “What we have now notice[d] is that many of our stations now have an appreciably increased listener base across many demos than before the storm.”
However, Rotella also noted that there is still more work to be done to rebuild areas impacted by Sandy, and the NJBA is working with state agencies like the Department of Consumer Affairs, Economic Development Administration, Attorney General’s office and New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency to get the message out about programs to aid in storm recovery. Additionally, NJBA also is working to help improve its emergency alert system and New Jersey Office of Emergency Management to educate about hurricane preparedness.
“The real job is to make sure we are prepared for the next storm, which could have an even more devastating impact on our storm ravaged state because of our weakened infrastructure and dune system — but I am confident that our New Jersey Broadcasters will be ready, as in the past, to be the first responders and informers for our state in the event of another crises like Sandy,” said Rotella.
