TV stations in Los Angeles and San Diego had their hands full covering major wildfires in their respective metro areas this week, and they did so by expanding their on-air coverage (including pre-empting network and syndicated programs) and expanding their web presence.
Many stations like NBC-owned KNBC in Los Angeles and McGraw-Hill’s ABC affiliate KGTV in San Diego provided live streaming, and others like locally-owned San Diego independent KUSI-TV expanded their newscasts and added more video to its website. San Diego NBC O&O KNSD did all the above, plus provided cell phone text alerts.
Radio stations’ websites, including KFMB-FM (Jack-FM) in San Diego also provided information.
But the round-the-clock coverage is costly. Coverage of the wildfires for media in both markets is expected to exceed more than $1 million (and that’s a conservative estimate), with money lost due to advertising spots being pre-empted.