Could This Succeed Here?

[RadioGuy1864]

Not sure how that would work. Using music in a podcast is pretty expensive. That's why very few do it.

I think the poster meant the radio program would sound like a podcast with music, but broadcast on the radio. So no extra licensing fees to pay

 

[davideduardo]

The first question anyone in radio asks when new programming ideas come up is: Who would pay for it? If fact, that's usually the only question. Give me a list of ten potential sponsors by name and their contact information. There's an audience for just about any idea anyone can come up with. But the real question is how to monetize it. If you can't do that, it's a hobby.

I don't know of many contemporary music stations that sell sponsorships. We sell spots.

If a talent-based show enhances shares in PM drive or other daypart, the rates can be adjusted to compensate for the added costs.

 

[davideduardo]

Not sure how that would work. Using music in a podcast is pretty expensive. That's why very few do it.

I don't know of any music based podcasts. Can you name one or two to see how they do it?

 

[Miss Tuned]

Again, this sounds very much like the daytime fare on the BBC local stations. All are available on the BBC website, through the BBC app, or through any number of radio amalgamator sites. Radio Essex, Radio London, Radio Newcastle, Radio Leeds ... one size fits all.

The BBC local stations are a strange mix that pleases very few - one hour, the topic will be "what's the weirdest place you've ever eaten a scone?" and the next hour the topic will be some weighty, tough political debate like "are there too many woke snowflakes?" or "should trans women be allowed to play sports?".

Nobody wants to listen to both of those, alongside the latest from Dua Lipa and Ed Sheeran, and the ratings show it. The political stuff is redundant, because there are multiple national radio stations doing political talk, and all the local aspect does is to lower the quality.

You either have to go all-politics, or all-entertainment. I'd rather the latter, as someone who has little desire to listen to the political opinions of strangers who are as uneducated as me.

 

[AceBiscuits]

Not sure how that would work. Using music in a podcast is pretty expensive. That's why very few do it.

To rephrase: you take the casual, conversational nature of podcasting and bring that to radio, with music. That's basically what CKPK feels like to me having listened briefly.

 

[Miss Tuned]

To rephrase: you take the casual, conversational nature of podcasting and bring that to radio, with music. That's basically what CKPK feels like to me having listened briefly.

Something a little bit like KTMY "myTalk 107.1" in Minneapolis, but with added music. Hubbard have persevered with that format in that market for 20 years now when they could easily have put something cheaper-to-run on the air, so the economics must work out for them.

 

[AceBiscuits]

I think the poster meant the radio program would sound like a podcast with music, but broadcast on the radio. So no extra licensing fees to pay

Precisely. I don’t know how to exactly describe it but there’s a difference in presentation from your average talk-heavy radio show and that of a comedy/lifestyle-type podcast.

 

[Identnut]

This sounds like the kind of format of "morning shows all day" that DR programmed in Puerto Rico's WPRM and got double-digit ratings with, and that other stations on the island such as WMEG and WXYX have also succeeded with.

Those stations talk show do get political at times, but there is still a significant difference between these shows and what airs at a news-talk station like co-owned WUNO (and given the national sport in Puerto Rico is politics, it is pretty much unavoidable).

 

[Larry]

Sounds similar to what Philly’s WIP-AM tried years ago midday with a 4 hour block of “infotainment.” If you can include some brief celebrity Interviews (with a local slant, maybe someone appearing in a touring theater production, a touring comedian), author or other non political newsmaker brief interviews, similar to local morning tv shows that many stations produced/aired for years, it could be a success. Many people might listen while working.

 

[b-turner]

Such a format could be very costly to pull off and there's not much research to give you a road map to success.

I have heard talk radio that was conversational with 3 to 4 voices and heavy on callers. There was some comedy but mostly it was talk average people talked about. It was not earth shattering but the programming was interesting enough to keep you tuned in and it was easy to bond with the hosts. I'd say at least one or two would remind you of someone you know. There was no music other than a parody song or two.

I have listened to the BBC style of this format and they used a variation on China Radio International when they were leasing stations in the USA. What I noticed about the China Radio International version was they played 2 songs an hour, the same two monster hits every hour.