Hey, I am in no way doing anything remotely like the Buzz which, in my opinion, was stilted from their very inception by their extremely limited play lists.
I believe a show like mine would garner a large listening audience and make money if, and this is the eternal, "big if", if it were on a larger FM stick. Of coarse, I think I would have to tailor it to include some immediately identifiable tunes, but it can be done with sacrificing a core audience of "active" listeners. The programming could easily be set to appeal to, "Mr. Average" and, "Mr. Not Average".
In order to be successful, as is true with all radio stations, everybody from management, on air personalities and sales people would have to be on the same page. A successful combination of programming innovation and commerce shouldn't be viewed as the impossible dream. It is possible.
And, of coarse, it is all about money and, despite what you may believe, it would work given the proper circumstances. Even with my show on a tiny 1000 watt AM stick, I am able to bring in enough money to justify my show and I am doing this all alone. If I had a crew of sales people on a larger bandwidth, I could garner even more income for myself and the station. Also, a station that truly provided a viable listening alternative (not a poor imitation) and had true community involvement, it would immediately set themselves apart from the pack while offering advertisers a unique opportunity to reach a larger cross section on the public. And the money would come rolling in. I'd bet any amount of money on it...
A lot has been made that this is a conservative market. I agree, but that doesn't mean that it is impossible to draw those listeners in by presenting something different. People in Richmond are only as conservative as their listening options.
WRIR, which during its first pledge drive, brought in 20,000 dollars is nothing to sneeze at especially given the fact that they have only a 100 watts of power. Yes, I can hear it now, that their audience (The Fan, downtown) isn't indicative of the larger population in our humble southern abode, but their continued success dispels the notion that people only want the hits and nothing but. If the winning attributes of WRIR(open play lists, live DJ's and true community involvement) were tailored to the commercial realm, this is what I am suggesting.
Many people have asked me why I don't go to WRIR. As much as I love the station, I want to prove that what I do can be successful on the commercial dial. I want to make money. I want to be part of an WFHS, not public radio. I listen to WRIR religiously, but I want to be part of a real money making endeavor to prove that it can be successful. Nay sawyers who insist this is impossible, just fuel the motivation...
And why do I have to leave Richmond? I love Richmond. This is my hometown and despite its many debilitating faults, I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. I know that in the radio game that one moves a great many times, but I want to do it here. Charlottesville is fine, but why not take the lessons learned there and apply it here?
I am shooting for nothing less than mainstream success.
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<a target="_blank" href=http://www.wclmradio.com/pages/bopst.html>The Bopst Show</a>
Monday-Friday (1-4 PM EST-USA)
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Richmond, Virginia
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