[BC] Goodbye Local Radio

[Paul B. Walker, Jr.]

Willie:

is this station 30Khz up the dial from you and just a few miles away?

PW


On 2/25/06, WFIFeng at aol.com <WFIFeng at aol.com> wrote:
>
> In a message dated 02/25/2006 2:17:25 PM Eastern Standard Time,
> richwood at pobox.com writes:
>
> > No. However, I've done quite a bit of consulting. There comes a time
> >  when it's just easier by virtue of a sale or signal deficiencies to
> >  take the easy road and go canned religion. It's usually cash up front
> >  and a High School kid to push buttons. I've recommended the canned
> >  religion approach to many stations that really had no options. They
> >  made money. It's like shooting fish in a barrel. You just have to
> >  make sure you keep your cassette machines operating. In many cases
> >  it's the primary delivery system.
> >
>
> Not necessarily. At WFIF, we only have four locals who still use
> cassettes.
> Those 4 cassettes are digitally recorded and processed before broadcast.
> This
> ensures better quality control. We are working with them to get them into
> the
> digital era. One is almost there, and another is slowly moving along. The
> other
> 2 will have to change, eventually. The rest burn CD's or use FTP or e-mail
> to
> send us MP3's of their programs. Everything else is delivered via digital
> satellite.
>
> Running a Christian format isn't necessarily "like shooting fish in a
> barrel", either. There are many stations who tried and failed! To be
> sucessful, one
> either needs a *lot* of local churches with enough money to stay on the
> air,
> even if they get no response at all, ("dollar-a-hollar" radio) or
> everything has
> to meet high standards of integrity and audio quality. You also need to
> see
> how many other stations are running a Christian format. If you're going to
> duplicate one of them, your chances of success are much lower. (It's a
> smaller
> slice of the total audience "pie.") Better to find a niche and fill that.
>
> If all it's going to be is "dollar-a-hollar" and no care is given to the
> audio quality and content, then you don't even need a human being to
> operate the
> thing. Just maintain the minimum FCC staffing, and let the computer run it
> all.
> Listenership will be very low, naturally. Eventually, even those
> well-funded
> locals are going to get tired of throwing money down a rat hole... if
> nobody's
> listening, they will eventually drop off the air. (There's a station near
> us
> doing just this. They have a VERY high "churn" rate among their
> programmers!
> Their audio is lousy, and programming is all-over-the-map.)
>
> Listeners to good Christian Radio are very loyal and supportive. "It takes
> one to know one" - The most important thing for a successful Christian
> station
> is the ability to relate to your listeners on their level. Provide them
> with
> high quality programming and/or music, and consistency in Doctrine. If
> Doctrine
> is all-over-the-map, so will be the listenership.
>
> I've been fully involved in Christian Radio for nearly 19 years, now, so I
> know a few things about it. :) It's a very specialized format with very
> specialized needs.
>
> Willie...
>
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