Streaming vs. Part 15 Radio
Having just had almost a week away from things related to radio, I'm discovering that the basic choice/option available to me (Delta Star Radio of Florida Inc.) boils down to:
Streaming/webcasting OR Part 15 AM Radio.
When you don't have financial investors, or a rich uncle, it's pretty much impossible to get off the sidelines of the radio biz nowadays.
When Delta Star Radio, the corporation, was created in April of 2001, it was our hope that eventually we would be able to attract enough business/sponsors that we could lease/LMA/purchase a broadcast station. I did raise about $4000
at one point. We couldn';t do anything with that amount, so I completed my home studio and began webcasting on July 9, 2001. That stream is now our
WJJD AM 1160 country Internet-only station.
If the royalty rates don't kill it off, I plan to leave that station/format as it is.
But personal streaming stations can't make money by selling time.
So now, I'm looking at Part 15 AM radio again. When I had 1160 on the air before, the over-the-air station did make some money. Even the PI spots worked a bit. Something came in every month.
This time, I'm looking at a Part 15 station in the expanded AM band. I don't want to divulge anything about this venture, other than to say I have the station name, likely frequency and format figured out. It should be sellable. It is FCC
and family friendly. It worked in Tallahassee before, and got decent Arbitron ratings. With a real signal, I can make it work. I didn't create the format, but I helped implement it before, way back in 1979.
I believe in it enough to also tell you that, behind the scenes now, I'm building
this forthcoming station an expanded, 5-page website. It has a real domain name, which I purchased this past week.
If people end up hearing this format, they will not want to listen to the Clear Channel/Cumulus 30-song playlists that pass for "radio" in Tallahassee now.
I just hope I can get enough listeners with Part 15 to make this work.
It will indeed be a new day for Tallahassee radio.
posted by Alan @ 6:35 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Good luck to you. I live in Tallahassee and have 30 years of professional broadcast experience under my belt. I miss the old-school days of radio when mixing music meant something and being a radio personality meant you actually had a personality. Nowadays I very rarely listen to commercial radio in Tallahassee and instead listen to the mix-CD's I have made for myself.
Thanks, beukeboom, for the kind words.
Did you ever work at Tallahassee stations? I learned everything (but never got hired) at WOMA (now WTNT-FM.)
I did get hired by Tommy Dee at WTAL-AM 1450..later moved over to WCVC-AM 1330. I was on the air here
from 1979 to 2004. Can't even get in the door at Clear Channel. Got a tour from Cumulus.
The new project looks promising. I'll keep this blog updated as things progress.
Best wishes to you.
Alan
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