BUYING TIME ON A LOCAL STATION

A serious option to consider in lieu of starting a new station is to purchase time on an existing station. While many radio broadcasters adhere to rigid program formats, all of them sell commercial time, and buying time on a station can be relatively inexpensive. At all commercial stations, the more time you purchase, the cheaper the cost becomes.

Buying time gives you complete control of the content, and while you may be limited on when the program will air, you will know the exact broadcast schedule for promotion and outreach. It also can provide the benefits of enabling you to produce a program to advance your cause, without the ongoing demands and costs of supporting a full-time broadcast operation. If you want, you can look for a sponsor or underwriter to help you cover the costs of producing and airing the show. There are some stations that specialize in programming to ethnic or other small audiences, and it is possible to buy large blocks of time on these stations at relatively low cost.