Batboard

NBC "Dateline" Explores World of Tower Climbers, July 21 @ 10 pm EDT
Posted by: "Will Sperling" [email protected] will.sperling
Sat Jul 19, 2008 1:50 pm (PDT)
NBC's "Dateline" to explore the perilous world of tower dogs on July 21

July 16, 2008 - NBC's "Dateline Presents" says it will take "a
never-before-seen journey into the hazardous world of the tower climbers who
work on the frontlines of America's high-tech communications system." The
program, "Tower Dogs," will air on Monday, July 21 at 10:00 PM/ET.

The hour-long broadcast is expected to give an up close and personal
no-holds-barred look at tower dogs' lives - up in the air and on the
ground. "We experience their on-the-job tension and watch them work
hard, play hard, and mourn when they lose one of their own," NBC said
in a press release. In a twist on all the dangerous-job programs that
solely feature males, typically narrated with muscular prose, "Tower
Dogs" follows an unusual tower crew boss: a woman named Nikki Collins,
a single mom, former cheerleader, and the person keeping her tough-guy
charges in one piece. Although there has been a noted increase in tower
construction company owners and climbers that are women they are in a
small minority in a predominately male profession.

The "Dateline" team worked for four months documenting this group of
tower climbers as they worked their way through 40 towns and cities in
24 states. During this time there were seven fatalities nationwide,
including five deaths in a 12-day period in April. National exposure long
overdue, say many.

$15/hr for that? No effin way mate. Those guys are nuts. Being on a tower is probably my least favorite part of being in this business.

I saw some of the show last night.

Wow. You really have to be certifiable to want to do that for a living, especially at $14 an hour.

I can also see why monopoles are the worst to climb.

Actually seeing people 'way up on towers has become a much more common
sight with the advent of so many cell towers today. What a way to make a
living! Me? I'm definitely an acrophobic, and from the time I was a kid putting
up wire antennas I was not any real good at getting out on a roof, even a low
roof, to hook one end of the long wire or dipole to the house.

I caught the last fifteen minutes of the show and it was definitely worth watching.
Maybe they'll repeat it so I can see the whole thing next time.

For those of you that missed it, some clips can be found here:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032600/

I can't seem to find when it will rerun. Please post or PM if you know when it will air again.

Reading one of the tower lists, I'd have to agree with many of the posters that it put the whole "group" in a negitive light as drunken losers with nothing else to do.

It almost seemed like there was too much focus on the people (in a negitive way) than on the profession as a whole.

Could have been done better, IMHO.

I don't necessarily think it was negative, but more brutally honest. It's a stressful job... that is unquestionable. You have a time schedule to keep and then you have to keep yourself safe at the same time. And your life depends on that. One false move and you'll only have a few seconds to consider your position before its all over. So the fact that they go out and party up afterwards... that is real life. And that is how those people live their lives. If they can make a living at it... good on them. But the fact that after a long day on the job that they go out and get themselves knackered is only a reflection on their individual personalities, and not the industry as a whole. If other people in the industry don't realize that, then maybe they need to reconsider their own careers.

I wouldn't criticize those guys and gals a bit for their lifestyle. And that's only because I wouldn't walk a mile in their shoes.

A follow up article:
http://urgentcomm.com/commentary/newsle ... fety-0801/