Re:America's rural radio stations are vanishing
by 8bitsrule on Saturday June 08, 2019 @07:15PM
(#20135828)
I just learned the other day that the last college station I DJ'd at was sold to Public Radio, long ago.
Commercial radio? Given the facility, equipment, antenna, license, electricity, that's just the start. A one-person operation is almost impossible, even if you're independently wealthy and have the technical chops. But if all you've got is automation? the 'community' part is hopeless ... might as well be 'iHeart' (hah!)
'People' radio is unavoidably a people-intensive operation. How do you fill 16 hours a day with sound? That's 4 four-hour shifts. Every.Day. Assume you've somehow found 3 volunteers, each with a personal record collection. How many people will you find to interview in a town of 3000-10000? Who's going to sell quality advertising? Who's going to produce it? Who's going to manage the business side? Climb the tower?
Sad it is, but that model is over. Mr. Lucke is the one fanatic in a town of 3000 - I salute him, Behringer console and all.
But community radio has headed in a different direction, and across the US is finding ways. For anyone interested in what is still working, across the US, check out the Radio Survivor podcasts. (These guys know their stuff.) http://www.radiosurvivor.com/category/podcast/
Commercial radio? Given the facility, equipment, antenna, license, electricity, that's just the start. A one-person operation is almost impossible, even if you're independently wealthy and have the technical chops. But if all you've got is automation? the 'community' part is hopeless ... might as well be 'iHeart' (hah!)
'People' radio is unavoidably a people-intensive operation. How do you fill 16 hours a day with sound? That's 4 four-hour shifts. Every. Day. Assume you've somehow found 3 volunteers, each with a personal record collection. How many people will you find to interview in a town of 3000-10000? Who's going to sell quality advertising? Who's going to produce it? Who's going to manage the business side? Climb the tower?
Sad it is, but that model is over. Mr. Lucke is the one fanatic in a town of 3000 - I salute him, Behringer console and all.
But community radio has headed in a different direction, and across the US is finding ways. For anyone interested in what is still working, across the US, check out the Radio Survivor podcasts. (These guys know their stuff.) http://www.radiosurvivor.com/category/podcast/