All of the networks of REC (broadcast services, J1 Radio and Delmarva FM) are closely watching the developments going on at Twitter. While we will take no position on the current labor situation that is impacting Twitter at this time nor are we taking a position on the current ownership structure of the social network, we are concerned about the interruption of Twitter services and the impacts on the services that are provided by REC Networks that depend on them.
REC Broadcast Services
On the broadcast services network, the only activity at this time are manual tweets regarding various news items. Following the 2013 LPFM filing window, REC operated account @LPFMS which provided application status of original construction permit applications filed during that window. That service was put into retirement in 2019 following the last FCC LPFM filing window actions. Our plan is to resume this automated service for any future LPFM filing window.
J1 Radio
Through REC, J1 Radio has an extensive operation of automated Twitter services including:
@J1FM - Live Playlist for J1 HITS
@J1Xtra - Live Playlist for J1 XTRA.
@J1_gold - Live Playlist for J1 GOLD
@J1HDLA - Live Playlist for J1 HD Southern California 99.1 HD3
@J1_travel - Train travel alerts for the Tokyo metro area and Kanto region
@J1_quake - Information on earthquakes throughout Japan
These services would be impacted. We currently have no plans to replace these services on an alternate social network.
While most of the Japan train information, weather and earthquake information is obtained using APIs and screen scraping, we do continue to use Twitter to drive our train delay informaiton both on the website and over the air for the following railway companies: Seibu, Keisei, Keio, Odakyu, Tokyu, TWR and Keikyu. Receiving alerts from those companies will be impacted unless an alternate method is found to obtain the information.
We also use Twitter on J1HD to drive our rail transit information for Metro and Metrolink. Traffic and weather information are derived from APIs which are not impacted.
Therefore, a Twitter shutdown would have significant impacts on the on air and online presentations for all four J1 channels.
Delmarva FM
Our current offering @DelmarvaEAS will be reactivated sometime in November, 2022 as we work with FEMA for IPAWS OPEN access.
Our other automated Twitter account @DelmarvaFM_Live has been dormant for awhile but we plan to reactivate it in the future.
