Can we get a listener-sponsored non-commercial dance station?

[nd2023]

There are so many formats that rely exclusively on listener support to keep the station alive. Most of those are niche formats like classical, jazz, religious, news, metal, etc. Why can't dance also be a listener supported format on some non-com stations? There's only one at the moment, C89.5, and that's been running for a long time. People will pay to support what they like to hear. Pulse 87 tried this approach for one day, and I estimate they got over 5,000 donations. Throughout the day, they showed that they had a lot of passionate listeners who were willing to donate hundreds to keep the station alive. A station supported by the public would play what the public wanted to hear, not what some suits at ad agencies want to hear, and it would not have to worry about the Arbitron ratings. As a non-com, a station would not be pressured to flip to a format that "sells" better because they can't sell advertising. And because the station would be self supporting, they would not have to bow down to the pressures of the school administration if it were a college station.

Only problem is, dance listeners as a whole aren't as affluent as classical listeners, mainly because of the average age of the listeners. But they can make up for that with cume. People are willing to spend $12 a month on satellite radio just for BPM, they could donate to a local dance station for half that cost.

 

[TonySantiago]

There is a difference when a station claims "hey, we're in trouble!" versus doing a listenership sponsored station such as WBAI and WBGO. C-89.5 has been around for quite awhile so for them, they're established in that regard.

Your last sentence nailed it, our listenership isn't as financially "affluent" as classical and, for the sake of argument, jazz listeners. However, just as much as not having to bow down to the Arbs, they wouldn't have to care about "cume" as much either. I'm sure it would be a curiosity to know how many listeners, but in a case like this cume means nothing unless money comes in to the station.

 

[d21ofnj]

People are willing to spend $12 a month on satellite radio just for BPM, they could donate to a local dance station for half that cost.

Even cheaper, if not, free for some stations when it comes to internet streaming, streams like Live365, Pandora, LoudCity, etc., and this industry is growing faster and stronger. Look at how many iPhones and Ipod Touches are selling. In about 10 or 15 years, you will see more WiFi towers than sticks, and possibly terrestrial radio companies like ClearChannel and Citadel wont be around. Not to mention that them pirates won't have a problem filling the dial if commercial FM dies.

 

[Dancerev889]

There are so many formats that rely exclusively on listener support to keep the station alive. Most of those are niche formats like classical, jazz, religious, news, metal, etc. Why can't dance also be a listener supported format on some non-com stations? There's only one at the moment, C89.5, and that's been running for a long time. People will pay to support what they like to hear. Pulse 87 tried this approach for one day, and I estimate they got over 5,000 donations. Throughout the day, they showed that they had a lot of passionate listeners who were willing to donate hundreds to keep the station alive. A station supported by the public would play what the public wanted to hear, not what some suits at ad agencies want to hear, and it would not have to worry about the Arbitron ratings. As a non-com, a station would not be pressured to flip to a format that "sells" better because they can't sell advertising. And because the station would be self supporting, they would not have to bow down to the pressures of the school administration if it were a college station.

Only problem is, dance listeners as a whole aren't as affluent as classical listeners, mainly because of the average age of the listeners. But they can make up for that with cume. People are willing to spend $12 a month on satellite radio just for BPM, they could donate to a local dance station for half that cost.

I think your definition of member supported stations is a little off. Just because a station gets some of its funding from its listeners does not mean they get to pick what gets played. I have worked for a member supported station in Philly and it only makes up a fraction of their budget. They get federal grant money and underwriting dollars. Non-coms today do care about cume and PPM. It helps sell underwriting. Again the economy is driving this home. People have less money to donate to a radio station and so do businesses.

 

[ronkaram]

There are listener supported stations such as KPFK in Los Angeles, owned by the Pacifica Foundation. I think they have a couple of other stations. These aren't college non-commercial stations. I don't know what thier status is, but this type of listener supported station could be a possibility.

 

[Wildstyle K]

In about 10 or 15 years, you will see more WiFi towers than sticks, and possibly terrestrial radio companies like ClearChannel and Citadel wont be around. Not to mention that them pirates won't have a problem filling the dial if commercial FM dies.

I will not...
run with scissors, sky dive, play golf or hang out in the pool during a thunderstorm, cross the street without looking both ways, hang out with people with the swine and whatever future flu's come, ignore the flight attendants as they go over emergency procedures, start smoking, forget to wear my seatbelt, start talking trash in a bar, live in California with earthquakes and wildfires....etc. for the next 15 years, because

I SURELY WANT TO LIVE LONG ENOUGH TO SEE THOSE DAYS COME!

Could you imagine how great radio would be then? But.. that's of course only if no other companies try to come up and carry on the ClearChannel tradition in ALL areas of radio within that time!

 

[Ares]

I think this is the perfect opportunity for me to share my first post as a new member.

My name's Ares and I'm the Program Director over at ShoutDRIVE. Stop by and have a listen. We're independently owned and operated, and commercial-free. Hopefully we're just what you guys are looking for.

Looking forward to some fun times here at radio-info.com - Thanks for having me!
(BTW, we don't accept donations of any kind, and we certainly don't beg for money.)

 

[gunterm]

I'll second that, Ares runs a good station with lots of live hosts and interaction (plus a website that is interactive to back that up), it's the sort of thing you don't see on the airwaves these days in a land of voicetracking and shows from satellite...