10. How can I get my local radio or TV station to broadcast OTR programming?
Description
This article is from the Old Time Radio FAQ, by Lou Genco webmaster@old-time.com with numerous contributions by others.
10. How can I get my local radio or TV station to broadcast OTR programming?
Call the station and tell them of the many people who like to
listen to OTR. Suggest this programming will increase the number of
listeners and help buy things from their advertisers.
Shawn Fulper-Smith (shawnf@cc1.uca.edu), a managing director of a
non-commercial station, tells us:
The days of radio being ruled by the artisans is over, and
for some time now it has been in the hands of people who
only look at the bottom line, so to reach them you must
talk through public radio pledges, or through sponsors
on commercial stations.
Don Fisher (dfisher@sover.net) has been successful in getting his
local Public Access TV station to rebroadcast OTR. In fact, Don is
the MC of the program. Contact him for hints on how to get your
Public Access TV station to do something similar.
Elizabeth McLeod (lizmcl@midcoast.com), who has spent more than 15
years working in local radio, gave the following advice:
I can tell you that one phone call from a listener
means absolutely nothing to a program director. PD's
are totally under the thumbs of their General
Managers -- and GMs, in turn, base their decisions
EXCLUSIVELY on sales issues. It doesn't matter how
many people want to hear something -- if the GM
doesn't think he can sell it, if the GM doesn't
think it'll bring hard cash into the station, it
won't get on the air. Period.
The only reason a commercial station exists is to
make money for its owners. ALL decisions at the
station, be they about programming or anything else,
are made with this in mind.
Don't bother to approach the station itself, APPROACH
THE STATION'S ADVERTISERS!!!
Listen to the station and figure out who its biggest
sponsors are. Generally, they'll be local banks, car
dealers, insurance agencies, and appliance
retailers. Do you know anyone connected with these
advertisers? Then approach these people. Tell them
you've heard their ads on such and such a station,
and that you think a lot of people would be
interested in hearing OTR, and that advertising on
an OTR series might be a good strategy. And get your
friends to do the same. And be persistent! In other
words, SELL THEM ON THE IDEA!
You need to keep in mind that some types of stations
are more likely to air OTR than others. If your
local station is has a firmly-defined format, you
are probably "S-O-L," as the saying goes. They won't
break format, no matter what. On the other hand, if
you have a local non-commercial community-type
station, way up on the left side of the FM dial, you
may have a very good chance of success.
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