Thoughts on expanding our syndicated program...

Hello everyone,

As of this entry, I am new to the Radio Discussions forum and thank everyone in advance for taking the time to read this post. Our one hour podcast covering the latest news and trends in Pop Culture has just started to cross over into airing on over the air stations after years of finding success on many online outlets. With the radio/podcast landscape being what it is today, what is the most prudent approach in becoming a welcomed part of more station's schedules?

(Please note: I have had varying experiences in corresponding with radio outlets and can elaborate further if needed. As a reference, it is the Pop Culture Cosmos show which you can find here: https://anchor.fm/pop-culture-cosmos-one-hour-radio-show-edit)

I would say as long as you are set up with optional breaks for stations and well formatted, you will do fine. You need a certain number of minutes an hour an station can sell, a strict hourly clock, forward promotion throughout, good pacing and plenty of inserts for stations to identify themselves. The station should not have to adjust to make the program fit. If they have to rework it, they have way too many options they can simply do nothing more than insert it in the programming.

The biggest complaints I hear from stations is syndicated programs that do not offer breaks or insertion of the station ID, poor programming standards where moments are good and moments are dreadful rambling and not sticking with a firm content format. Some say one show is in right field and the next is in left field. Language is a problem for some hopefuls. Inconsistent breaks: it's not the length or how many but where they fall within the hour. Consistency is the key.

Once you start, you just can't quit. You need fresh material always. If you have topics where you might have more content some weeks than others, you have to ration it out. You need to think getting a show out if sick or on vacation. You can't just skip a week. A fresh show beats a re-run every time. I'd keep a few 'evergreen' shows ready to roll just in case.

By format, listeners like consistency. If you talk about a certain broad topic, it should be covered every show at the same time and have a fixed time length. It needs to sound exciting and fast paced. It must catch the ear of the listener. It must compel the listener to stay through breaks.

Remember, you are your biggest fan. Take criticism as advice. Nobody will think your offering is what you think it is. A decent person will tell you what they need if you ask even though you might leave the conversation hurt and disenchanted. Apply the advice and realize you got some priceless information. No matter how good, you can always be better. Honesty can be a bitter pill.

Never give up trying to bend the ear of that station. You are trying to reach people with too much on their plate already who have no idea what you offer might be good for them. It is really tough to bend the ear of a person who thinks they are just fine not knowing about what you offer, especially when a spare minute is something they don't have.

Thanks so much for your input on my post. I appreciate the insight into what you had to say and when I transitioned from one podcast to this current one a couple of years ago, following a radio show type format was one of the foremost ideas in creating the program. The Monday and Friday shows that we drop do have room for commercials, station breaks and/or ID's because it was first marketed to radio stations before investing heavily into the podcast medium. To this day it is still structured as such which we hope makes it more palatable to not only the stations we're on now but others who may be interested in the future. You are spot on with the advice and much of what you have to say gets implemented into the program every episode but it truly is good to hear someone with a similar point of view and is very reassuring. Thanks so much again for reaching out as I truly appreciate the feedback and wise words as we continue to market ourselves to more fine radio stations...

Is this another rip and read from yahoo type show? Because that's what most every. single. jock. out there is doing now.

G

Thank you for the kind words. It sound like you will do fine in getting some more stations on board.

Hello upstate29651, I am not familiar with what you are referring to when it comes to a "Yahoo" type show. Our shows focusing on many aspects of the pop culture phenomenon delves deeper into many of these subjects, not only from a critical and analyzing standpoint but the business and future of where these trending aspects might be heading as well. From what I hear on the radio via broadcast or satellite, 99% of these disc jockeys give only a small 30 second to two minute sampling of what's out there during their shows to focus more on playing music. Our shows primarily devote the hour to guest interviews and deep discussion between the hosts on what is trending in pop culture and why it should matter to you the consumer out there (we do occasionally play a song from indpendent artists if they send them in). If interested, the Anchor link is above if you want to give one of our episodes a listen and understand that this is much more of a conversational talk show format then a "Let's just throw in a pop culture or who is dating who" reference segment in between the music (which is fine but we have found there are those who are looking for a bit more) that most every single radio personality from what you are saying is doing out there. I appreciate sincerely the time taken with your inquiry upstate 29651 and I hope this response helps clarify the intetion each week of our programs not only for yourself but for those who read this response as well. Thanks again for the response.