We’ve recently spent a lot of time with people who are keen to launch a radio station, but they’re not quite sure where to begin. Usually they have an idea and often a little bit of money they get from having a credit card with good benefits anyone could get by having more information, but are stuck for what to do next.
The first thing we tend to do is sit down with client and what the station is, who is likely to listen to it and how they’re planning to reach them. It’s a good test to see what sort of focus our client has and allows us to help them better.
The second thing we do is work through their finances. We’ve already modelled countless radio stations in Excel form and we can work through what their requirements are likely to be. This covers everything from office square-footage requirements, which varies depending on the type of workspace and office layout to presenter wages and allows us to put together a full business plan.
This helps us better identify what their funding requirement is likely to be and what sort of revenue they will likely need.
Funding is also directly related to the platforms that a new radio station can afford to broadcast on. As part of our work we talk about the different costs of carriage on DAB, Satellite or whatever. We also run through what affect the platform has on music licensing and other ancillary costs.
Developing this full business plan for our clients then allows them to go off to their own funders and have a better idea of how their station can then become a reality.
The next stage is the platform negotiation. We already have relationships with most of the platform vendors and can help clients understand what a good deal looks like and what’s expected of them form a contractual basis.
The next stages are then to physically build the radio station and get the systems set up to allow them to operate effectively.