STARTING UP A COMMUNITY RADIO STATION

Programming Tips

Form a programming committee very early in the piece. It doesn't need to be large. Just make sure that each committee member is dedicated to responding to your community's needs and interests, rather than focusing on their own.

Take a look at what other stations are doing. Collect as many community radio program guides from around the country as possible. (Many stations publish them on the internet, so this is easier than it sounds.) You'd be amazed by some of the innovative programs that Australian community broadcasters come up with.

Do your own surveys. Call public meetings. Run brainstorming sessions. Put a team of volunteers into your local shopping centre with a simple survey form. Get out and about at sporting events with a set of questions. Ask your local newspaper if they'll run a free or contra questionnaire. Base your station's programming on what your community wants to hear and you can't go wrong.

Remember that community stations are designed to provide specialist programs. Don't copycat the commercials or the ABC. Adhere to community broadcasting's guiding principles of access, diversity, localism and independence.

Ask your volunteers to submit their program concepts in writing. Create a submissions format that addresses details such as basic content, guest interviews, music acquisition, proposed timeslot, number of presenters/producers, and anything else that may be relevant.

Work out how to deliver relevant programs with the resources available. Spread volunteers, time and money over as much programming as possible. Beware of too much focus on just a few resource-intensive projects.

Encourage your listeners to stay tuned. No matter how many types and styles of programs you broadcast, schedule them carefully. A show about computers could be followed by a science program, then environmental issues, then mellow jazz. Be diverse, but not disjointed.

Cross-promote. Use pointers during and after each program to create interest in other shows that might appeal to the same audience. Lure your "Showstoppers" listeners to your "Local Theatre News". Or your "Women Today" devotees to your "Alternative Health" show.

Aim to do more than just "fill" airtime. A daily or weekly program should sustain listener interest from one show to the next. If it doesn't, reduce the length of the show. Fifteen or thirty minutes of top-notch listening beats sixty bland ones every time.

Be open-minded. You may personally loathe Reggae or German Polka or Gospel music, but if a reasonable segment of your community wants it, then it should be on your programming agenda.

Learn the Codes of Practice. Don't just read them. Memorise them. Comprehend them. Understanding and adhering to the Codes of Practice should play an integral role in every Australian community broadcasting station's programming procedure.