[WXBH-Discuss] Paul's rant on Programming

[topdog at woofer.com]

Hi,

I'm also interested in programming.  I have a few friends (most of whom are
audio engineers) who I have casually approached about possibly doing their own
shows and they have all expressed interest.  One guy is into old folk music,
another is a progressive rock enthusiast, another is just into "weird" stuff
like Beefhart and Zappa.  I had thought of doing my own show of (highly 
edited)
garage band jams that I have collected over the years - many done with the
Zappahead.  Needless to say, all of the forementioned people (including 
myself)
have their own studios or access to studios so production costs would be the
cost of blank CD's.  If they want to "beam" their shows to us via the 
internet,
then the cost to us would be FREE.

I think locally produced shows would be the key to our success - and 
what we all
envision.  I feel that subscribing to network programming (just to be 
on the air
for the sake of being allowed to be on the air) is a bit of a copout.

Lets say, for instance, that the four shows that I just mentioned are 
approved. Lets also say that each show is a two hour block.  That is 8 
hours of local
programming.  There is a current technique being used by a number of  from
cable TV networks (i.e. the Food Network, History Channel, Discovery...) of
repeating BLOCKS of shows.  I think the same show you can watch at 8PM is on
again at 12AM - and the 9:00AM show is on at 1:00AM...  I can't currently
envision anyone listening to us for more than 8 hours at time so that 8 hour
block could then be repeated and still seem fresh to most listeners.  A
"threepeat" would give us 24 hours of programming - at no cost whatsoever to
WXBH!!!

The repeats do not have to be linear.  Say that this 8 hour block is 
programmed
for the first airing on Monday from 8AM to 4PM.  The repeat can be 
Tuesday from
4PM until midnight Wednesday and the Threepeat starting at midnight on 
Thursday.
That way, all of the DJ's and all of their friends (our new listeners) have a
chance to hear their show no matter what their work or school schedule may be!

Say there are seven of us interested in programming.  If each of us found 4
people to do shows (possibly including themselves) then we would have a 24/7
week full of local programming.  If all of these people had their own
facilities (yeah... I know) then ALL of our programming would be free.  Aron
and I had talked about possibly running the station out of a closet from the
transmitter site.  Shows could be uploaded to a computer at the 
transmitter via
DSL (which seems to be our cheapest option).  The scheduling could be done on
the computer there.  If we are not "live" then the speed of the lines (or the
internet) is no longer an issue.

There are literally HUNDREDS of recording studios in the city of Louisville
alone.  All one really needs is a microphone and a computer.  If the cost of
producing the show could be made the burden of the DJ then production costs
would be ZERO!

You don't need the best of computers to do this either.  An old 486 with a CD
burner and a sound card would suffice.  I remember seeing quite a 
number of old
donated computer parts in the storeroom.  Let's do something with them!  An
internal IDE CD burner is like $20 or so.  For anyone interested in production
or having their own show that does not have a computer, lets fix up a comp and
give it to them for free (with a signed agreement that they give us x 
number of
shows or give us the computer back).

It would of course be ideal to have a live, on-air station but I think we have
to be realistic - at least at first.  Our main goal is to get on the 
air and we
have until Oct 29 to do so.  Right now, the free time that I have is being
solely devoted to the tech group and I don't get to read a lot of the
Discussion Group topics.  Once we are "on the air" I would love to help with
the programming.

I think everyone sees the tremendous cost (at least to us) of having a
production facility.  Equipment, electricity, security, uncouth DJ's, heating,
cooling....  Unless these grants come through, we are on our own.  I don't
envision "a lot" of money coming through underwriting or CD sales but it could
pay for the electricity and DSL each month.  If the DSL and rent at the
transmitter site can be bartered through underwriting then electricity 
might be
our only cost (less than $50 per month).  That is assuming that production is
free.

I didn't know what "direction" we were going to take as far as the programming
goes, but I envision it to be a bit of everything.  The Brick House is a
community center and we have to serve our varied community.  WFPK, as an
example, has made "360 degrees of music" their motto.  They stick to their
motto.  In the course of a 24/7 week they play just about everything but
classical music and talk shows (their sister stations are classical and talk
formats).  I was thinking that we would kind of be the same but I 
haven't heard
anything formal about what the format might be.  That might be a good 
topic for
discussion.

I'll "sign off" for now.  ;-)

Paul Nevitt



Quoting Jennifer Oladipo <jenniferola at wildmail.com>:

> Hello all,
>
> I joined largely because I'm interested in programming. From what 
> I've gathered so far, much of the talk has been technical. I just 
> wondered who else intends to have anything to do with programming, or 
> if anyone has already taken the lead on that.
>
> Jennifer
>
>
> More than 300,000 seals could be killed in Canada this year - most of
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