Wayne Hamilton <hamilton@osiris.cso.uiuc.edu> (01/04/90)
Last nite I saw a promo spot for a local TV station's news department.
They (WCIA, Channel 3, Champaign, IL) have arranged with Ameritech
Cellular for "*3" dialed on cellular phones in this area to connect to
WCIA news, toll-free, so that motorists can report unusual news events
as they happen.
wayne hamilton
U of Il and US Army Corps of Engineers CERL
UUCP: {att,iuvax,uunet}!uiucuxc!osiris!hamilton
I'net: hamilton@osiris.cso.uiuc.edu
Lowtek: Box 476, Urbana, IL 61801; (217)384-4310(voice), -4311(BBS)John Higdon <john@bovine.ati.com> (01/05/90)
Wayne Hamilton <hamilton@osiris.cso.uiuc.edu> writes: > They (WCIA, Channel 3, Champaign, IL) have arranged with Ameritech > Cellular for "*3" dialed on cellular phones in this area to connect to > WCIA news, toll-free, so that motorists can report unusual news events > as they happen. About two years ago, Cellular One set up a similar service with a "newstalk" radio station in San Francisco. To report (mainly traffic) events one dials "*KGO81". The airtime is picked up by the station. Not to be outdone, Mobilnet turned around and offered a similar arrangement with the other "newstalk" station. Mobilnet customers dial "*CBS" and of course, KCBS picks up the tab. Apparently this arrangement has paid off, since both operations are still in force after these two years. They usually give air credit to a "traffic spotter" when the report they are giving comes from a cellular subscriber. John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@bovine.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o !
Edward Vielmetti <emv@math.lsa.umich.edu> (01/06/90)
> WCAI Channel 3 in Champaign is toll-free *3
WWJ Radio in Detroit has a similar arrangement, dial *WWJ (*995) to
get their traffic bureau to report accidents or big pot-holes or the
like. Seems like they get more traffic reports by phone than from the
helicopter these days.
--Edtad@ssc.UUCP (Tad Cook) (01/08/90)
A friend of mine works for the local ABC affiliate, and they put in this kind of service for reporting of traffic problems to their AM radio new department. He claims the service has turned out to be a big pain for the radio station....most of the calls are from cellular customers asking why the traffic is slow, rather than giving information! Tad Cook tad@ssc.UUCP
johnw@gatech.edu> (01/09/90)
In article <2616@accuvax.nwu.edu> emv@math.lsa.umich.edu (Edward Vielmetti) writes: >WWJ Radio in Detroit has a similar arrangement, dial *WWJ (*995) to >get their traffic bureau to report accidents or big pot-holes or the >like. Here in Atlanta, on January 1, 1990, the "WGST NewsRadio Six-Forty BellSouth Mobility Traffic Center" became the "WGST NewsRadio Six-Forty Pac*Tel Traffic Center". Access is, of course, by dialing *640 from your Pac*Tel mobile phone. Apparently Pac*Tel outbid BellSouth for the advertising. At least it made the name shorter! * John Wheeler - Unix/C Systems Designer/Programmer/Administrator/etc... * * Turner Entertainment Networks * Superstation TBS * TNT * Turner Production * * ...!gatech!nanovx!techwood!johnw (404) TBS-1421 * * "the opinions expressed in this program are not necessarily those of TBS" *