Opening your own radio station is a serious undertaking that will require a lot of effort, time and money, but in the end it will give you the opportunity to make very good money. The most promising undertaking is a commercial radio station, which is a mass media outlet and operates in the VHF-2 or VHF-3 frequency range (better known as FM). These are the ranges from 76 to 100 MHz (VHF-2) and from 100 to 108 MHz (VHF-3), but the most famous radio stations work precisely in the latter range. All-Russian radio stations transmit a powerful enough signal so that it cannot be muffled, so a certain frequency always remains behind them, but there is also a local radio that works at unoccupied frequencies and broadcasts to a small area.
Radio is presented in completely different formats, and it is rather difficult to offer the listener something truly interesting. In this type of business, everything is decided by the idea - it is worth coming up with something new that will attract an audience, and success is almost guaranteed. If the airtime is busy with uninteresting programs and disgusting music, then there will be very few listeners, and it will not work to make money on advertising, and this is the main source of income for a commercial radio station. Therefore, a creative person with a good idea has every chance of success in such an interesting undertaking.
But before the broadcast is first filled with the sounds of a new radio, there are many difficulties to go through. It all starts with a simple registration of a legal entity - of course, it is optimal to choose the form of a limited liability company, but you can also become a joint stock company - this will only simplify work with investors in the future. Registration will not be free, and up to 20 thousand rubles may be needed for all the red tape. It will not work to become a simple sole proprietor - they are not given serious broadcasting licenses. The type of activity is strictly defined, it is assigned an exhaustive code (OKPD 2) 60.1 Radio broadcasting services.
Collisions with the bureaucracy will not end there, and it will be necessary to contact the Federal Service for Supervision in the Sphere of Telecommunications, Information Technologies and Mass Communications, for short - Roskomnadzor. First, you need to register a mass media (media) at a local branch. To do this, you need to provide all the documents and their notarized copies attesting to the legal status of the registered legal entity, as well as a copy of the editorial charter. That is, it will be necessary already at this stage to have at least a document in the staff of the chief editor and the charter of the work of the directly editorial media department. It will be necessary to pay a fee (for radio stations - 6 thousand rubles) and wait for the decision of Roskomnadzor, which will be determined after a month.
While an answer is expected, you can contact the Main Radio Frequency Center (GRES), which will issue an expert opinion that allows you to use certain frequencies - this is necessary so as not to occupy the range that is used by military and civilian organizations. In fact, this is the biggest difficulty of such an undertaking - there may not be any free frequencies at all, and a tender for them is usually held once a year, during which new frequencies are developed. If you already have a conclusion on hand, then you can return to Roskomnadzor to obtain a broadcasting license. There is some peculiarity here, if broadcasting is supposed to be within a city with a population of up to 100 thousand people, then you can get a license for any free frequency, but if a city has a larger number of inhabitants, then frequencies are issued on a competitive basis.
For a commercial radio station, this can be a very important issue, because the sonorous frequency also in some way affects listeners who remember it easier, and therefore, more often tune to the desired wave. The deadline for considering an application for a broadcasting license is already 45 working days and you also need to pay 6 thousand rubles for it. You can significantly simplify your task by transferring the task of obtaining a license to a third-party organization. In this case, the intermediary will turn to the licensee himself, solve all bureaucratic issues, but he may ask for up to 30 thousand rubles for his services. At the same time, it is unlikely that they will be able to reduce the time, so here everyone decides for himself that he is more important - nerves or money.
Working without a license is dangerous for freedom, although there are so-called “pirate radio stations”, which are a mobile radio channel that clogs the air. Yes, after obtaining the licenses you need to start working within a year, otherwise the media license may be canceled. In addition, you will also need to obtain permission to use the received frequency and a certificate of registration of the radio transmitter.
The most difficult question is precisely the legal one, it can be understood that it will take several months to complete all the formalities, while the business itself will not advance (even after all the paperwork, Roskomnadzor will allocate time for testing, and it will be prohibited to engage in commercial activities). However, while licensing issues are being considered, it is possible to search for a place, equip premises and hire personnel. It all depends on the format of the station and the city of work.
Large radio stations share rooms for technicians and presenters, that is, sound engineers sit and adjust the signal quality in their closet, while in the next room the presenter only transmits using the remote control and the microphone. In a simple (and, therefore, in a beginner too) radio station there is no such separation - one person manages everything. But in such a business, you can do without DJ, if you just broadcast information, and not engage in the production of programs, do not conduct competitions and do not turn to creativity at all.
Another advantageous option is to work with well-known radio stations that will only be happy to convey the broadcasting opportunity to an agent. In this case, your own radio will become just a working tool of a large company, which will take part of the money from advertising and oblige to launch sponsored commercials for free. But the benefit here is substantial - you don’t need to engage in the recruitment and development of the team, to enter into the most difficult competition for the listener, and there will be less obligations, because the media are still not completely free from censorship. One condition is that a license should not be obtained for their own media organization, but for agent promotion (although both forms can be chosen at the stage of media licensing). In fact, this is how a very large number of radio stations work, becoming part of a large network. But sometimes a person wants to make a statement to the world about something, and here a completely different type of business begins, which can lead to tremendous success, or can quickly go bankrupt.
To open a new radio station in the understanding of the listener, that is, his own radio with the hosts, programs and format, you need a team. One person is unlikely to pull out such a thing, but the entrepreneur’s creativity is also necessary. In this case, it is best to first focus on the region in which work begins in order to offer listeners something really new. All topics, in general, have been busy for a long time (there is also a children's radio, and about animals, and about business, and a lot of everything else), but to catch all the existing waves is unrealistic even in cities of federal significance. Something is missing somewhere, so you can use a new format for residents of the surrounding area.
If you manage to come up with something completely new, then in the foreseeable future you can apply for students from all over the country (it should be noted right away that work in several regions is possible only by decision of the main department of Roskomnadzor, so you will have to go to the capital if the work was not mastered there initially).
The main thing is interesting and fascinating programs run by competent and interesting people. A muttering something slurred man with a nasty voice makes the listener switch - and this is the loss of the audience, followed by the loss of the attractiveness of the radio for customers who want to advertise. Leading should be energetic people, and even better - those who know how to make them listen. The program can be fun, but you need to be able to teach it.
Of course, radio is primarily music in the listener's mind, but people chattering during breaks are also of interest to many. Music must be licensed, and this is done by special companies that offer either music packages or individual artists, but in this case the low price results in a limited repertoire. You can also get a license for contributions to the Russian Authors Society (RAO) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), so that you can use absolutely any music of all artists without restrictions. But then you have to pay a very substantial amount. Of course, working with certain artists or genres is preferable for radio, therefore it is much more profitable to acquire the right to public reproduction only part of the global intellectual property fund. Moreover, you can always turn to new performers. Prices here depend on the company with which the contract will be concluded, and on the number of compositions used.
As for the premises themselves, you can get by with a small closet in some inexpensive building for rent. What is much more expensive is the installation of antennas and transmitters. It is best to find the owners of the towers who will place the antennas on their property, because the construction of their towers is a multimillion-dollar investment in the structure itself, in the purchase of land for it, in the supply of power and in ensuring its operability. With transmitters it is much simpler, they are located at the station itself and transmit the signal to the antenna. The entire list of equipment may look like this:
Broadcasting
Console - from 70 thousand rubles.
Recorder - from 50 thousand rubles.
FM transmitter - from 40 thousand rubles.
Antenna-feeder equipment - from 20 thousand rubles.
Studio
Mixer - from 60 thousand rubles.
Microphone - from 50 thousand rubles.
Monitor - from 40 thousand rubles.
Headphones - from 10 thousand rubles.
The total amount is 340 thousand rubles. Of course, this is not the most expensive (and therefore not the most high-quality and not the most powerful) equipment, it is generally almost the minimum, but this should be enough for a beginner radio station. Also, one workstation for one DJ was recorded here, but different programs can be carried out by different people, and sometimes there is a dialogue between the two presenters on the air.
However, the beginning radio station is sometimes enough for an entrepreneur who takes the place of the presenter himself. At the same time, it is better to outsource all related processes that are not related to the core business. The radio station earns mainly on advertising, but quizzes can be a good additional source of income. Here you have to purchase a paid number, which you can call, and a short paid number to receive sms.
But not only with the help of rallies you can earn money - everyone remembers sending greetings live, so that the leading hello read out, he needs to be sent to the same paid number. True, from the very first days it is unlikely to engage in such activities. Therefore, you need to hire a sales manager who will look for customers who are ready to advertise. Radio receives money for every second of airtime, but its cost, of course, greatly depends on the level and popularity of the radio station. It is possible that at first it will be necessary to work only to cover expenses. To be a more attractive site for advertisers, you can contact the statistics collection agencies that will track the volume of the audience of listeners, and then post this information for free access. This is necessary so that the pricing policy is understandable to the client.
It is worth mentioning a new way to open your own radio station, which has gained popularity recently. This is the work of internet radio. Its essence is not to use standard radio equipment, but to broadcast it through the Internet. The advantages of this method are obvious - lower costs, access to a larger audience, a better signal level in the presence of high-speed Internet, good equipment and direct hands. At the same time, it is necessary to purchase studio equipment (a mixer, a good microphone with headphones), but antennas and radio transmitters will no longer be needed.
For the organization, you need to find a radio provider (in fact, this is a regular hoster that provides space on its server for files of an Internet radio station, but also broadcasts it). There are many similar firms with different pricing policies and conditions. After that, you need to install professional sound processing software on your computer, without it, listeners will not be able to properly evaluate the radio - just interference and noise. Also, if you plan to play music, you will have to pay organizations that regulate copyright issues (this is not much different from solving a similar issue in the case of a regular radio station).
Thus, broadcasting can be carried out practically from home, once having bought hardware and software (but no one has canceled the license) and monthly paid only for the use of intellectual property, hosting services and electricity. If successful, such a home studio can start broadcasting large and real radio stations or, having earned on advertising through Internet radio, you can start to open a full-fledged radio station, but already having its own permanent audience and a famous name. However, with the abundance of Internet radio stations, getting into the top and becoming famous and listened to by a large number of people is quite problematic for radio, but it is creative solutions that can be a good advantage, because most of the competitors here are amateurs, subsections of other radio stations and just amateur radio enthusiasts.
In conclusion, alternative broadcasting methods should be mentioned. This is a wired and satellite broadcast. With the usual broadcasting, all of these methods are related only by the principle itself - the transmission of sound messages "from one to many, " but the technologies and methods are significantly different. The disadvantage of wired broadcasting is the stationarity of the listeners' receivers (this is not a telephone that does not have wires at all, or even a car radio, which, although stationary, receives non-wired signals). The satellite method of data transmission requires expensive equipment and relatively expensive receivers from listeners, although both methods outperform traditional ones, but companies that specialize in alternative broadcasting are much smaller than conventional radio.
As usual from the last century, standard radio does not lose, surprisingly, even today, modern telephones are equipped with FM receivers, the radio waves of many stations are easy to catch on the simplest equipment, and the radio firmly holds the position of a good channel for ATL marketing; perhaps only television is more effective in this regard. Today, large broadcasting meters use absolutely all methods of broadcasting, from the Internet to satellites, but you can start with absolutely any method of delivering your radio signal to a grateful listener.
Matthias Laudanum
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08/18/2019