Raycom Stations Air Spill Special

Five Raycom stations have partnered to produce the special Coastal Crisis: Impact Alabama, which airs June 23 at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. Central time. The hour-long live program focuses on the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and is the work of Raycom’s Alabama stations in Huntsville, Birmingham, Montgomery and Dothan, along with WTVM in nearby Columbus, Ga.

Anchors from all the stations involved will contribute.

Coastal Crisis is being overseen by WAFF Huntsville News Director Adam Henning. Alabama Governor Bob Riley will be interviewed. “The spill impacts the entire state, not just the coastal areas,” says Henning.

The spill has hit close to home for Raycom, which is based in Montgomery, Alabama, and has stations all over the Southeast.With that cluster of local media outlets, Raycom has always been good at sharing among its stations, whether it’s a hurricane’s progress or other breaking news that’s of interest to multiple markets. Stations can grab any content they want from the others through Raycom’s BitCentral system.“It’s part of the strategy of our company-we share every day,” says VP of News Susana Schuler. “The oil special ought to be a real nice event.”

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.