SETUP - PLANNING YOUR STATION
Setting Goals
One of the most important steps in designing a radio station format is thinking-through the reasons for your station; why you're doing it, who it is trying to serve, and what you hope to accomplish. Below are some good thought starters.
If you already have a strong sense of what you want to accomplish with your radio station, or you are moving an existing format to the TuneTracker™ System, feel free to skip this section.
THINKING IT THROUGH
Taking a little time now to consider these questions will help you make decisions that will lead you toward the creation of a station which balances your goals against your time and other resources.Take a blank sheet of paper and start scribbling notes as you read these questions. You'll definitely come away from the experience with a stronger sense of what you want to do, and why. Those new notions will help make the rest of the decisions a lot easier.
- Why are you creating this station?
- Who are you targeting with your programming?
- Are you primarily interested in entertaining or informing?
- Are you intending to be music-based
- How will you provide your station? (Internet, LPFM, Intranet, On-hold Telephone System, Elevators, etc.)
- How much time can you initially spend preparing your station?
- How much ongoing time can you devote to its "care and feeding?"
- How fresh do you want to keep the information?
- What external resources are at your disposal which you can tap for interesting features, external voices, etc?
- Are you willing to spend time and/or money promoting your station?
Once you've done some head scratching and drawn your conclusions about what you want to accomplish, why, and with what resources, etc., the next step is to consider the various programming elements you want to include.
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