Sunday, September 30, 2012

A New Dawn is Starting to Shine, A New Perspective is Taking flight.

MOOD: Uplifted:


Well they may be another stroke of hope coming up. 

I had a long conversation with a radio consultancy firm a few days ago, and after the conversation I honestly felt the wait fall off my shoulders, the costs for operating a radio station are much less then I expected.  This was mainly in the area of electricity usage of a transmitter.  Considering the power 2PR FM needs to broadcast at, I was honestly surprised.

My preference of broadcasting in Sydney was originally based on the potential revenue of the station verses the out-going running costs.  Initially I thought these overheads were massive, such as in the millions of dollars - this is even excluding the cost of a commercial license. I thought the electricity use of the transmitter and other devices of the station would run into about $100,000 a month.  I honestly had no idea how much power a city wide FM transmitter uses, and for some reason this information is difficult to find on the internet.   When speaking to the consultants, I was relieved to know that my calculations were completely wrong.  The ongoing costs of a transmitter were only a fraction to what I anticipated, considering that the base load will be around 20kw.   

Having said that, they will still be hefty expenses to establishing a radio station, such as the land to place a transmitter on, the purchase of a transmitter, and of course the purchasing of office space for studios.  

With the running costs much lower then expected, the station can operate with a smaller revenue base.  This opens the door to looking into regional markets with smaller audience sizes, thus getting away from the "spectrum full" situation in Sydney.    Though this is not what we planned, looking into other avenues may be the root to getting us a foot into the industry.

Now stop for a moment, I hear you say, "he's on a disability support pension, what the hell is he talking about.  If they were weeks when he couldn't afford a loaf of bread, why in hell does he want to start a radio station?".  

Yep, that's right.  Though I have a basic studio set up in the spare room of my unit, where I'm operating 2prfm.com from, my only income is a disability support pension which is mostly consumed by rent, food, and utility costs.  Though I could never afford any of this, I would at least like to present this information as part of a business plan, should we go down that route.   As our license options are running thin on the ground, we have to open up other avenues to pursue.  

As many who read this blog know, I've done everything over the years to get a job, and have never been able to find one.  Despite this reality, what I lack in money I make up in effort for wanting to contribute back to society.  They are those who live on housing subsidy and a pension and would rather spend their days watching Youtube and TV.  Unlike these freeloaders, I would like to do something great and interesting; something that breaks the monotony of being on indefinite welfare. 

Considering that Australia is a first world country, with an affluent mineral resource based economy, it is still hard to believe that many with a disability are treated like second rate citizens; such as being paid $1.70 an hour in sheltered workshops.  Yes, these places of exploitation still exist, they are now called business service centres.  This came to light from an ABC PM radio report from Friday 8th April 2011 as noted below for your listening.  It is these very issues that 2PR FM would bring to light everyday, not just once or twice a year as is the case with the ABC.    This is why I'm so determined to bring 2PR FM to a terrestrial model.

No comments:

Post a Comment