Managing Media Outlets

Managing Media Outlets

           Media outlets are the different publication stations or programs that aim to provide the public with news and stories about the community or people from around the world. These stories are published through different channels or outlets, including; Radio, The Internet, TV, Newspaper as well as magazines (“Types of Media Outlets,” 2013). This paper will provide a detailed discussion about a student’s online radio, explaining what it takes to manage an actual media outlet. The media outlet referred to in this paper is a Wire Grass Student Radio station found in Pike County.

Managing WiregGrassStudentRadio.com. 

The wiregrass student radio is an online radio station run by students from Troy University. This online radio broadcasts every weekday from noon till midnight at the central time. Every radio station or TV station requires constant money to accommodate the necessary expenses needed within the company. This includes being able to manage to pay the employee’s salary, funding radio programs, and licenses, etc. Such money mostly comes from advertisements for different products or companies. For this reason, the Wire Grass Student Radio has set a budget of up to USD 200, which is set to accommodate for every expense of the company. Being in the business market puts the station in a competitive space with other commercial stations within Pike County.

The following are some of the ways through which Wire Grass Student Radio can do to attract more audiences for their radio shows (Cunsolo, 2017).

Know your audience. First of all, this is an online show run by university students. For this reason, the high chances are that the highest audience population is that of high school and university students. Having this information in mind enables the radio to produce content that is worth listening to this targeted audience. This way, there will be an increased number in terms of listeners who will genuinely enjoy the content provided.

Create Social media accounts for the radio station. The world today revolves around Social media. For this reason, social media has become a hub where every business gets to engage more with their consumers directly. Through social media, this student online radio station will get to attract more listeners and also get direct feedback on what the consumers would love to experience in the station.

Introduce blog posts related to the radio shows. Some people nowadays prefer reading to listening. Therefore, having a website where different appearances can be showcased in the form of blogs will help to attract a wide range of audiences and also satisfy each of their needs.

Practice cross-promotion. This is a new way to attract more audience to the radio station. For example, this being an online student station, the best idea is to partner with an established local station and collaborate in various projects which are of similar interests to the audiences on both sides. This way, more people will get to learn about the station, and those interested will join the group of an audience which already exists.

About Commercials

Commercials are the only way through which any media outlet can manage to be financially stable. However, it requires a lot of hard work and patience to find one or two companies who believe in the station and trust that through the station, their products will gain popularity hence increasing the company’s profit. For this reason, the media outlet ought to have a well-established and trusted audience, which will enable them to get the job done. In case a commercial is unsuccessful, the company withdraws from the station and heads on to another station to work with. This shows that this in a competitive industry and maybe almost difficult for a station such as the wiregrass. However, with proper marketing, any advert made on any product is bound to succeed, and this will create a trusted and more extended partnership between the radio station and the company. Commercials pay differently depending on a variety of things. They include (Vakratsas & Ambler, 2009);

• The number of campaigns or adverts to be made.
• The time in which the advert is being aired. The pricing of the commercial may differ depending on the time in which the adverts should be aired. Price may be higher if the advert is to be aired during prime time hours, and vice versa will occur.
• The type of advert.
• The number of seconds or minutes which each advertisement should run.

These are some of the factors which are considered while getting to know the price of the commercial and how much a company would spend for a commercial as well as how much the radio station should make through these commercials. The stations need to be well equipped to accommodate a high number of partnerships from different companies; this way, the station will make much money from the commercials and will manage to fund any expense at the station.

With a budget of USD 200, an online station such as the Wiregrass student radio can easily manage to acquire and comfortably fund the entire station’s expenses. This is because there is less required to support the maintenance of the station, as well as the employees involved. This is unlike the commercial radio station, which requires much funding since the number of employees is much higher, and the expenses are more compared to the online station. The advantage of such a student online radio is that the targeted audience is that of a much larger community compared to other stations.

Solutions to promoting the wiregrass student radio.

There are two different ways through which the wiregrass radio can be promoted to fit in the competitive market of other commercial stations in Pike County. These ways include (Cunsolo, 2017);

Creating proper marketing strategies. To meet in the commercial business, the student online radio should change their approach to business by incorporating some tips on how other local stations are run. This will help them get much recognition from growing companies, which will lead to better profits for the station.

Changing the airing time from noon to midnight to morning to noon. Most people are more active during the morning hours. This is the best time to broadcast in case you want a business to grow. It may be difficult for a show to get a proper audience from noon to midnight since most people are probably tired and have no time to tune in. Therefore, changing the time would help attract more corporate audiences who will be, in turn, good for the business.

References

Cunsolo, M. (2017). 20 Ways to Promote Your Radio Station | Radio.co. Retrieved 29 February 2020, from https://radio.co/blog/20-ways-promote-your-radio-station

Types of Media Outlets. (2013). Retrieved 29 February 2020, from             https://prezi.com/lgvafyks3bn9/types-of-media-outlets/

Vakratsas, D., & Ambler, T. (2009). How Advertising Works: What Do We Really Know? Journal of Marketing, 63(1), 26-43. doi:10.2307/125199