Six Steps to Successful Syndication

Step Two: Get On the Air, Anywhere

You have to start somewhere. It's just like planting a seed in order to grow something. Your show should be on at least ONE radio station, or ONE high quality Internet site, before you try syndicating it nationally.

Program directors who consider your syndicated show will naturally want to know if it has a track record. Their first question will be, "Where is the show heard? What station or stations already carry the show? Is it heard online?" If you answer, "We're not on anywhere. We were hoping to start with your station," the next sound you hear will be a loud click as the phone is hung up in your ear. So, how do you find that first station or high quality streaming website, and get your show on the air? You have three choices.

First, you can buy time on your first station. There's probably a local station that will happily sell you a daily or weekly time slot. Prices are usually negotiable. You can buy an hour of weekend air time in most medium and large markets for several hundred dollars. Top-rated stations rarely sell hours of airtime, so you will probably get on a lesser station. That's fine, because remember your goal is to simply get on the air, anywhere. Since you paid for the time, you own it. You can sell commercials in your show and pocket any profits.

Another option along these lines is to buy time on a pay-as-you-go radio network (such as Lifestyle radio network). You will be heard on whatever stations carry the network during your time slot, and you'll be "up on the bird" so future affiliates can easily get your show.

A third option is to put your show on a professional, high quality, streaming Internet Radio Network. Our company operates TalkZone.com, a quality 24/7 streaming and on-demand website for talk-based and spoken-word shows. TalkZone.com uses a shared-cost, shared-revenue model. This means that hosts share the cost of bandwidth, marketing, and operations, and they share in the ad revenue. This proven approach has worked well for our syndicated show hosts over the years. Other Internet radio networks use a similar business model.

But you'll want to avoid hosting an online radio show on a mass consumer website, on a vanity talk radio website, on a personal website, or on "cable radio". None of these approaches have credibility with radio executives. For example, vanity websites literally have amateur hosts "phoning in" their shows. Vanity sites may have a nice look, but the audio content is poor. Another example: "cable radio" promoters brag about all the households they reach, but ask yourself -- have you ever listened to a radio show over cable TV? Not many people do. The bottom line: these approaches just aren't considered professional to the radio industry.

Keep in mind that if you decide to buy your time, you won't have to pay forever. Your first station, or your first quality Internet show, is a stepping-stone to build a list of affiliate stations that carry your show at no charge. Once you get affiliates and ad revenue, you can cut loose from the paid situation. This approach also lets you polish your skills before rolling out to terrestrial stations across the country. Again, you need that first station, or that first quality Internet show, because other stations hesitate to pick up syndicated shows that aren't heard anywhere.

Another way to get on the air is to convince a radio station to give you a show. If you already have a show on a local station, you're ahead of the game! Just make sure the station agrees to let you syndicate your show, to avoid legal hassles.

If you're not in radio, you may still be able to get a station to give you air time. This mission requires a little time and commitment. Since radio is a people business, it helps to know someone. Try working your way in by offering to be a guest at the local station, and do in-studio interviews. While you're at the station, try to visit with the program director. Get to know the staff. Offer to fill in for the regular on-air people during vacation time. It never hurts to ask! Some of the biggest names in radio got started by persistently asking, and this strategy can work for you too.

If you want to syndicate a short feature vignette, the above strategies also apply. You can buy your time for a short feature on a station. Your local station may even agree to air your feature free of charge, if it's entertaining, informative, and saleable to advertisers. Quality Internet radio sites and satellite radio, may also accept your shortform show as "interstitial" programming (meaning, it runs in-between their longer shows).

We often are asked if one can launch broadcast syndication on the Internet. In the past, the answer was no, because few professional streaming sites existed. But Internet radio has evolved dramatically, and today there are high-quality professional Internet Radio Networks that command credibility with radio professionals. TalkZone.com is one such site. Our company manages this network with the highest standards of quality. TalkZone is backed by the latest server capability and technology, which allows it to reach a virtually unlimited number of listeners worldwide, at any time. Internet radio listening is also growing exponentially, with over 80 million Americans listening to Internet radio monthly (Bridge Ratings, 2007). If your show is talk-based, you may wish to explore TalkZone.com (while there, click on the "Become a Host" button for details).

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