[grc] programming advice

[Paul Hertz]

Paul Riismandel of Radio Survivor has two recent blog posts with
programming advice, which touch upon this issue and a number of other
related issues.

http://www.radiosurvivor.com/2016/11/28/trapped-grid-community-radio-risks-irrelevance/

http://www.radiosurvivor.com/2016/11/30/public-access-vs-public-service-addressing-biggest-hidden-tension-community-radio/

On Tue, Dec 6, 2016 at 12:38 AM, taproot--- via grc <grc at maillist.peak.org>
wrote:

> While on the subject of programming advice, consider having a specific
> term for each program, say two or three years, with an end point subject
> to being renewed by the station upon review. No programmer, set of
> programmers or particular segment of your audience should come to feel
> they 'own' a particular time slot.
>
> I think this is very important, and the stations that don't get this right
> can let themselves into a whole lot of trouble with power struggles and
> turf wars. Stations spend a fair bit of effort thinking about creating
> programs, recruiting programmers and attracting listeners, but sometimes
> they have not worked out very well how to end programs and replace them to
> keep their air sched constantly fresh and evolving.
>
> If programmers have their own 'show-for-life' they may not care about the
> station's larger mission or any other part of the listenership beyond
> their own. If the station is dominated by programmers that have their
> shows for decades because there is no process or will to remove or replace
> programming periodically they can form a proprietary clique that runs the
> station for their own mutual benefit, which can lead to the station's
> calcification and declining vibrancy and relevance. Somebody, whether
> program director, or program council, must be able to recover programming
> time from any programmer, or group of programmers, no matter how popular
> with their particular audience, to insure the interests of the station's
> mission and larger community of stakeholders are kept primary. Curt
>
> > When I talk to producers about "plugola" (which this is) I don't get
> buried too far into the weeds on regulation.   Because you'll end up
> trying to explain the exact line they cannot cross, and they'll try to
> push up to this line.    Which isn't what you want.
> >
> > Step back, remember that all noncommercial radio is educational (by
> definition), and ask the programmer if the goal is to educate the
> listener (through new music, or however) or promote their material? If
> education is indeed the goal, how could only playing their material
> possibly be a good educational experience for the listener?    As a
> teacher, would you only allow students to read books you wrote?
>
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