Was re-reading an old Radio Survivor article about the start up of Gulch Radio (part 15),
Reviving the southwest with community radio
https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2015/02/reviving-southwest-community-radio/
"...Superior is very well suited to a Part 15 AM station in part because the town measures about 1.2 miles east to west an 1.85 miles north to south, so one Hamilton Rangemaster or Chez Radio Procaster, properly sited and installed, should cover the town nicely. Plus, by going the Part 15 AM route, one avoids the maze of FCC bureaucracy which afflicts low power FM licen..."
Anyway, this following observation on why hobbyist begin these stations, which so often seems to come up, jumped out at me...
". .some of the interest clearly stems from wanna-be dj’s playing radio or real radio retirees wanting to turn a former profession into a current hobby. In many cases, however, it is a reaction to the substantial extent to which commercial broadcasting has become ‘corporatized’ and community interest programming has largely disappeared. People have a real thirst for media outlets which will address their needs via news and public affairs programming and in the case of many smaller communities, that voice does not exist. Thus, I believe the growing interest in low power broadcasting is driven in significant measure by a genuine thirst for programming which addresses needs and interest of the community."
I think that's a wonderful sentiment, but hardly true. I really don't beleive most hobbyists run their stations for such noble objectives. So often over the years have I heard such proclamations but it always falls flat.
The real reason we do it is simply because we can. AM has reasonable legal range capabilities, its limited reach has potential. It's fun, it's unique, it's public accessible - plenty of room to dream and play. But so few have ever really "served the community"!
Yeah, great sentiment, but really, isnt the re reason most of us just do it because we personally find satisfaction in it? We do it because it's our hobby, and if it turns out to actually "serve the community", well that makes it all the more satisfying.
I was going to respond to the Tim Bovey post (great find by the way), but got waylaid here.
I can only respond to this post with what I did on Bowen Island a while ago, until I was waylaid with health issues (since resolved).
I had always wanted to own and run a bookstore. I had also always wanted to do radio, just because I was interested in music and electronics, including amateur radio. I thought, why not incorporate both into a storefront, on an island where they would be appreciated and could operate with synergy. The radio station was intended to serve the community, and did so for over 2 years, with local announcements and broadcasts, locally produced programs (I recently ran across one on the Internet Archive, it can probably be found by searching Artisan Radio, I believe it was called Island Time), etc. We had volunteer assistance from the community, and even live performances from local artists.
We operated on a sponsorship model, which helped pay the bills.
Along the way I also incorporated some of my other interests into the storefront, including vintage electronics and records.
In this case, I lived in the right place, at the right time (the mid 2000's before the Internet and cell phones became huge). Also, community is tough to find today.
I would say that I was doing what I loved and wanted to do, but there's no way I would have put in the time and effort if I didn't get back support and encouragement from the community. Quite frankly, it was a blast (even the 12-14 hour days).
I doubt very much if the same model would work today, at least for me, and Artisan Radio operates as a hobby with a (known) listenership of one.
So I get what you're saying. I think that community radio can work because I did it, but it's not something for the faint of heart. Or the short of pocketbook.
With me it's nothing to do with serving the community. It's serving myself. I was a radio listener since a kid. I was 8 years old and heard rock and roll and radio was a love affair that lasts to this day. When the commercial stations left me behind and I found out I could "do it" as Rich said, and personal computers came along with MP3 players with storage for 1000s of songs and being able to have them play continuously and there were transmitters on the market, that started the ball rolling to do it myself to have my own station to listen to. I started out with...yes the Chinese ones as I didn't know better and it wasn't till the 2000s that the certified legal ones came to be anyways and I learned more. I had over 500 45s and 50-60 collections albums that I converted to MP3s with a rented piece of gear from Long and Mcquade music store and did the conversions over several months. This was early 2000s(2005-6 or so) and that made half my playlist that exists today. I actually started with MP3 players as the source. Had to learn how to do all of this.
Then it progressed over the years to what it is now. I have my own station with me, the program director, and I get a pleasure out of getting a few listeners which I have. It adds to the pleasure of the hobby having others listening also.
Anyone can download whatever into a phone and pair it to a speaker or pay a subscription to get your music. Very few can do what we do.
We have a talent. Have a mini radio station with automated programming, the know how to program shows at certain times, audio processing, jingles and more. Most don't know anything about it. I like the fact that I can do something that most can't. It takes technical know how. Even getting a sweeper in your own voice and programming it for certain times...how many would know how to do that?
If it wasn't for the commercial stations abandoning me I probably wouldn't have ever gotten into this.
I couldn't just give up radio and just listen to records or songs on an MP3 player. It had to be a radio I listened on!
And also those that think a phone takes the place of a computer, see if you can do what we do with a phone.
.. I can only respond to this post with what I did on Bowen Island a while ago, ... The radio station was intended to serve the community, and did so for over 2 years, with local announcements and broadcasts, locally produced programs (I recently ran across one on the Internet Archive, it can probably be found by searching Artisan Radio, I believe it was called Island Time), etc. We had volunteer assistance from the community, and even live performances from local artists.
We operated on a sponsorship model, which helped pay the bills ...
I would say that I was doing what I loved and wanted to do, but there's no way I would have put in the time and effort if I didn't get back support and encouragement from the community. Quite frankly, it was a blast (even the 12-14 hour days)...
Yeah, I didn't really think about what I was saying. Yours and countless others have served and/or still serving their community. I know this, so I'm not sure what I was thinking. I guess there was just something about the article that rubbed me wrong... though there's nothing wrong with it.
I dont know what made me say that.
With me it's nothing to do with serving the community. It's serving myself... When the commercial stations left me behind and I found out I could "do it" as Rich said, and personal computers came along with MP3 players with storage for 1000s of songs and being able to have them play continuously and there were transmitters on the market, that started the ball rolling to do it myself to have my own station ... This was early 2000s(2005-6 or so) ....
Then it progressed over the years to what it is now. I have my own station with me, the program director, and I get a pleasure out of getting a few listeners which I have. It adds to the pleasure of the hobby having others listening also.
.... If it wasn't for the commercial stations abandoning me I probably wouldn't have ever gotten into this...
I surmise/suspect that the majority of part 15 stations stories are similar to yours. Myself, I originally had grand plans that never left the drawing table, but the hobby grabbed hold and has had a number of lives, and will reprise again. I had stumbled into this hobby from an avid 16mm film hobby years ago, to transmit the films audio.
Still not presently back on air, but its coming.
, it can probably be found by searching Artisan Radio, I believe it was called Island Time), etc.
I found it here: https://www.chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot/island-time-podcast/ which also displays the show notes. Im listening to it now, enjoyed your song about "it's our island again" after the land-something are gone - gonna have to listen to it again, but right now your talking about salmon..
But I'm confused, I thought your name was David, but here its Chris Corrigan.
@artesian That is kind of inspiring. From the comments (2) of the podcast was this one, which I agree with completely (not that I've ever been to Bowen):
Just finished listening to the podcast and it was fantastic. It really transported me to Bowen I, especially the walk to the marina with Finn. That is a classic bit that can and should be syndicated to npr and cbc stations across north america.
Thanks for the half hour vacation
The credit for that show goes entirely to Chris Corrigan. Chris was an early supporter of Artisan Radio on Bowen, and the show arose out of discussions on how he could 'radioize' (sic) his popular Island Time blog.
Unfortunately, it was the only one produced, as he was an extremely busy individual, involved with other activities on Bowen and elsewhere (never mind his day job which took him all over the province).
And that sort of highlights one of the big issues in running a community station - obtaining locally-oriented programming. Artisan Radio had lots of supporters on Bowen, and many willing to contribute money to the cause. Time, well, that was another thing altogether. Between working and usually commuting off island to that work (several hours a day for the latter at least) and other personal activities, it was difficult to get people's time invested in another thing.
I made lots of mistakes in running the radio station, as I was learning, but if I had to do it all over again, I would have spent much more time promoting the station and seeking programming amongst the teachers in the local schools (where there was semi-captive labor), and also amongst the various music and drama groups. Instead, I focused on other things (to be fair to myself, there were so many of those), expecting people to see the value in participating, and come to me. Except in certain cases, that just didn't happen as much as I would have wanted.
We were successful in getting people into the studio with live performances, jamming, etc. as well as taping and then broadcasting performances at local venues. Consistent, scheduled shows, not so much.
Continuous, targeted promotion and advertising are the keys to success for a community station. And as a side note, to the lessening of stress on the beleaguered station manager and owner.
Continuous, targeted promotion and advertising are the keys to success for a community station. And as a side note, to the lessening of stress on the beleaguered station manager and owner.
Great post, enjoyed it. But I'm not sure I agree with your closing comment above. - I mean I agree with the targeted promotion etc. but I don't see how that would result in less stress for station owner/mananger. ?
I too have learned It's relatively easy to lay out gameplans, but it's a whole other issue actually implementing and maintaining those plans. It takes manpower (and/or womanpower), time, and constant overseeing. I'm not sure at what point there would be any "lessening of stress" on station manager!