how to manage a radio station
So it is not enough to say ‘here are the rules. That is also good for the culture at the station. If you are first starting out, a computer will cut down on a lot of your audio costs. (see Box **) This good will might even out last the renewal of the BBC’s Charter. It is also very dangerous. They have been a wonderful resource for us and we have provided them with talent and good programming. The induction should be formally organised, and offer an opportunity for the new volunteer to ask any questions about the station and its policies. Marketing 10. The management need to know when to mediate, when to think, and when to stop listening and start acting. This means you can ensure consistency no matter how listeners enjoy your station. All the ‘community’ criteria apply but they might evolve differently. Line Management 6. You must maintain a steady pace, and to do that you must be aware of what your limitations are. An overview of your station and your stated aims, Details of any expenses or benefits available, Is as important a part of your job as supporting model volunteers, May often come down to education and training. Free HR policies are available from the NCVO website at: https://knowhownonprofit.org/tools-resources/hr-policies. The board are all-powerful, but should always remember that the secret of wielding power is knowing when not to use it. Relationships with BBC and (especially) commercial stations may be more delicate. Discover the best music, sports and news talk radio stations. Minor offences, such as use of offensive or inappropriate language, might best be dealt with over a firm but friendly chat. You'll need to have a tough skin and a cool demeanor as you'll manage temperamental on-air personalities, interns and stubborn salespeople. Those voices need to be heard and considered and, then if necessary acted upon. But the volunteer may be reluctant to admit to literacy, language or comprehension problems, or more commonly just never gets around to reading them. Always be prepared for controversy, especially if you manage a talk-oriented radio station. This is an important point to consider when appointing (or applying for) community radio management positions. The Radio Manager will be responsible for sending the programming to a dedicated radio server and playing it for the radio host. So the authority over training might reside with the station manager and the partner college, while the responsibility for it lies with the member of staff. As the name implies, the Station Manager oversees just about everything that goes on at a radio station. Of course that day never comes, and in the meantime your station is going unnoticed by many of your potential volunteers, partners and listeners. They must know what they can expect from you, and the station must be clear what standards of commitment and behaviour is expected from volunteers. The temptation to let lapses and breaches of the rules slip past is often very strong. If a volunteer is causing trouble on or off air, obstructing the progress of the station and other volunteers, or otherwise behaving inappropriately you must have systems to deal with that. Typically, a group may begin as a purely voluntary project, but by the time it is receiving significant funding for training or community projects, it will feel the need to employ an administrator or project manager. Connect your Google Analytics account to your site to get even more statistical data. A good leader can inspire others, bring out the best in their colleagues and volunteers, and create a positive, creative, happy working environment. So turning their values and vision into efficient and effective day-to-day management is the key role of the manager or management team. When you are struggling with few resources it is vital to have that goodwill. Often you won’t know unless you ask, whether individually at point of first contact or through your internal communications such as a newsletter or notice board. Stitcher Creates Streaming Radio Stations from Your Favorite Podcasts, Pandora-Style. Needs to be based on mutual trust, respect and understanding. (see a mass of new resources in the Training section), The biggest difference between voluntary sector management and other types is that volunteers are there because they want to be involved, not because you are paying them. In this chapter we will explain how to get the most from your volunteers and staff without anyone exhausting themselves or burning out. In practice that usually means a broad-based community partnership will form the Board of Directors and/ or steering group. ICASA will shortly be making available a number of AM frequencies to anyone, meaning commercial or community stations, … Develop Listener Communication. Applicants for full-time community radio licenses typically propose a staff of around three or four full time positions. Many Radio Stations are already taking advantage of broadcasting to these homes by getting Alexa to play their stations with a simple ‘Alexa, play My Radio Station’. You'll be responsible for seeing that everyone at the station complies with FCC regulations and federal and local laws. In the case of the Board, legally speaking, that someone is Company House and/or the Charities Commission, and OFCOM for sticking to the promises made in your license. If they even sense that the latter is the case, they may become angry and confused about any disciplinary action. But in the desire to achieve so much, it is all too easy to do too much. As we go to print the BBC nationally is talking to the CMA about exploring the many ways BBC local stations and community radio stations can enjoy many a happy collaboration. Should be considered in much more depth than we can spare/do? If you have a hundred volunteers, then you can be sure they will include people with professional experience in everything from plumbing to PR. Many community groups (not just radio stations) will employ a part-time administrator long before they employ a full-time project manager. It is possible to manage a project – sometimes for a surprising length of time – without really being in control of it. You are in control of your station if you are aware of everything that happens in your station, and have agreed to (or sometimes dictated) the activities of all your colleagues. Take action to help you and your station stand out in a cluttered market. © 2020 Google LLC. In any voluntary organisation everyone, from the newest volunteer to the most senior member of the board, should be accountable to someone and know who that someone is. It’s like a magic as if you ever interested in internet radio broadcasting you will know how hard or expensive it may be. Once you schedule a show in a station you can set specific episodes of the schedule and organise the... Add a … Staff Roles & Responsibilities 4. Keep thumbing up the songs you like, rock out to your favorite radio stations, whether it's a live station or a custom artist station ... like Taylor Swift Radio. Much of that work will be conducted by support workers, trainers, producers etc. Few organisations can be as useful to you as other radio stations, whatever their size or nature. Clarity is the key and consideration for others the touch-stone. Here's an overview of what to expect when you manage a radio station. Good networking, gentle diplomacy and a growing awareness of the nature of community radio should hopefully mean this will change in the not-so-distant future. (see Motivation & Stress). You do not want your station to feel like a prison or a school. If the volunteers feel like it is theirs, a microphone is much less likely to walk out the door. The chemistry which develops between paid staff and unpaid volunteers is a key component in the success or failure of a community radio station. It is vital that neither staff members or volunteers feel that one is ‘outranked’ by the other. Learn what they are so you can ensure none of the rules are violated. Radio evangelists will promote your radio station shows for you by sharing socially online which builds trust for your station… But spend a bit more time in their company and you spot the red rims to their eyes, the occasional tic that betrays too little sleep and too much caffeine. Your volunteers need to be able to express themselves in their own way on air and off, but you do need to set boundaries. A great leader with poor management skills may gather a dynamic team around him, but the station is liable to be pulled in many different directions or find itself focussed to an unhealthy extent on that one charismatic individual. You can also consider using freelances for some roles that are ‘seasonal’ such as training. Both parties must know what will happen if such agreements are breached (see Rules & Agreements ), Let community radio be your passion, not your obsession, If community radio is not your passion, you probably shouldn’t be involved at all. In those circumstances it is easy to lose sight of who has responsibility for what. Create and Manage a FREE Streaming Radio Station. The driving ethos of community radio is that access to the airwaves is a human right. Update: there is a Memorandum of Understanding between the BBC and the CMA that basically asks the BBC to ‘do the right thing’ and give a lift to community stations (I summarise). But you can’t run a community radio station purely by committee. OFCOM have recognised the brilliance of your licence application. If playback doesn't begin shortly, try restarting your device. It can soak up as much energy and money as you have available, but marketing can be effective even with very limited resources. The great community radio manager will also have: Most management is based upon structures, ensuring that the group or station is organised in a way that helps ensure efficient and effective activities. Much of it will be about what happens on air, with basic explanations of broadcast regulations and legislation around libel, obscenity etc and station policy on those standards, which may well be more strict (see Your Own Station Rules). Some breaches of the volunteer agreement – such as physical assault or vandalism – should probably carry an instant ban from the station. No sane person likes having to discipline volunteers. Community radio stations are like ants’ nests at times, with volunteers bustling around each other and working in close proximity. There might be an accountancy graduate and an untrained, unemployed artistic genius who would love to design your flyers and posters. If you are from an outside agency in that role, growing the community links might not be your most pressing operational priority but that does not lessen its importance. Key Principles 2. Duties include coordinating and managing administrative and operational activities, offering the support necessary to deliver the station’s 24-hour radio programming. What is the difference between a club DJ and a Radio DJ? So to really create your most awesome radio station ever, get to listening! This body controls and manages the frequency spectrum. If you’re sending a CD, I recommend that you attempt to make a connection with the station or program host before you put a package together, and pony up the $3-$7 to mail something physical out. A member of staff may be responsible for training volunteers, but not have the authority to decide the curriculum of the course. The staff are there to enable the volunteers to train, to broadcast and to serve their community, and get little of the glory themselves. Lecturer Jimmy Ewing uses Radio.co on a module called Radio Entrepreneurs. The classic management chain (see Figure **) has the senior manager employed by the governing body, or Board. An easy to use platform for professionals and beginners alike to stream Sports, News, Talk, and Politics. No one’s going to mind if you ‘launch’ a month after actually going live. What are the main roles within a radio? In this area, like so many others, you have to find a balance you can live with. First, you’ll need to head to “settings”, which can be found in the left-hand menu. Other details are procedural – what the volunteer should do if they can’t make their show or there is a technical failure in the studio, for example. Tap to unmute. How to Manage a Radio Station. Volunteers are the lifeblood of your station, without them your existence is meaningless. Software packages geared to broadcast management make it easier to send emails to listeners, schedule commercials, compile music playlists and coordinate contests and promotions. You can get great free entertainment for your event from a radio station, and the stations may be eager to get the free publicity. Most home internet connections have a maximum upload speed of around 500 mbps. Once up and running, full-time community radio stations will typically employ staff with responsibilities broadly as follows: Usually those roles will be combined into a smaller number of positions, so one person might be employed as technician and volunteer support worker. Although setting up your radio station might not be that difficult, there are a lot of behind … It is a fine balance, but eventually returns to mutual respect and trust. STATION MANAGER. Prepr is a radio management system. Community radio is by its nature democratic. Invest in radio station and scheduling software. The role of a director is not to crawl all over the day-to-day activities at the station, which is likely to cause problems with authority and morale. It is up to each station to decide where those limits lie. Your management structures need to allow someone the authority to take the final decisions and to be clear about what happens to community ideas when they are presented to the station . One tool to prepare and deliver radio shows, manage messages and phone calls, administer contests, and manage the station. Be wary of the strident volunteers or ambitious junior staff members who take it upon themselves act beyond their authority. Learn More → Maybe you feel like you have things worth saying in a public forum, or maybe you’ve just always loved the idea of being on the radio. In May 2010, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated the salary of a general manager … One way to think of this is that the station provides the volunteer with a blank canvas upon which they can paint – but that canvas, even if it’s really huge, is already bound by a frame. Community radio stations around the country – including ours – have discovered to their enormous cost that exhaustion and burn-out are real risks, and can lose you the very people who have the most to offer. When you build a radio brand, you help fight the perception that all radio stations are the same - with too many commercials and not enough music or other content. Another source of HR support for your team is a local business who might allow their HR people to help you as part of a ‘corporate social responsibility’ partnership. Make yourself known to larger local commercials, stress your social gain achievements and that you are not trying to put them out of business, and you may well find the reaction is: ‘That sounds great. They are not being paid, they are generally nice people, maybe you even socialise with them after work. Commercial and BBC stations often struggle to find recruits who aren’t identikit trust-funded, white, middle class, media studies graduates. In this article, we’ll be looking at how you can better organise your schedule using the Programs module on the Radio Manager. You’ve got your key partners in place and you are ready to replicate the thrill of your RSL broadcasts for up to 24 hours a day, seven days a week. To submit your questions or ideas, or to simply learn more, see our about us page: link below. You can offer opportunities for a wayward volunteer to improve their behaviour and they simply refuse to change their ways. It is a lot to ask of an unpaid volunteer – especially if they have other career or family commitments. Step 1: Set up your station, time zone and user roles. “Radio Scotland have been one of our partners from the start, they’ve given us training and support, we have worked with them in a number of outside broadcasts and so on. Develop a financial plan by meeting with the owner, accounting department and other department heads to determine how funds should be allocated and what to expect in terms of revenue from the sales staff and other employees. It’s a very equal partnership, they haven’t been patronising at all. This brings community radio to a national audience, and hopefully other BBC stations will take this up as well.”. Any time you can get your band name in front of a cultural tastemaker, whether they play your music or not, it’s a great investment.If you get a station’s mailing address and decide to send a package ou… iOS/Android: If you're a podcast junkie, you're probably always on the hunt for new shows, not to Having established a culture of good behaviour, it’s important to remember that your duty to support, care for and improve the lives of your volunteers extends even to those who are in breach of the rules. And if one volunteer breaks a rule or policy, others will soon do likewise and station discipline begins to dissolve along with your authority. One consequence of that is that they know when someone gets away with mischief and when they don’t. It is dull, but filling in forms to apply for funding and monitor your activities, taking minutes at meetings and distributing them, logging volunteer activities and community contacts, filling in tax returns and performing all the other bureaucratic and administrative tasks involved in running a community radio station is absolutely vital. Consider a dedicated radio station server. That’s three or four people who between them may need to be project manager, administrator, trainer, accountant, secretary, community worker, youth worker, technician, publicist, producer, diplomat, fundraiser, social worker, counsellor, painter, decorator, carpenter, tea-maker, cleaner and, oh yeah, broadcaster. How is a radio station internally structured? Human resources management skills include: The practice of human resources management in the community radio sector should be no different to any other, so we shall swiftly move on. Creating your own radio station can be a lot of fun, and with Internet radio becoming more and more popular, anyone can create their own radio shows and voice their opinions.