How Do You Syndicate A Radio Show?

I have an weekly oldies show that is both entertaining and informative at the local college station. I believe it is worthy of syndication, but I wouldnt want 'corporates' in 'monkey suits' (my daughter loves that phrase) dictating what goes on the air or how it is run.

How does one syndicate a radio show?How Do You Syndicate A Radio Show?
Good luck - follow your dreams and expect a lot of "no's" until you get that one yes!



Radio syndication

Radio syndication generally works the same way as in television, except that radio stations usually are not organized into strict affiliate-only networks. Radio networks generally are only distributors of programming, and individual stations (though often owned by large conglomerates) decide which shows to carry from a wide variety of networks and independent providers. As a result, radio networks like Westwood One or Premiere Radio Networks, despite their influence in broadcasting, are not as recognized among the general public as television networks like CBS or ABC. Some examples of widely-syndicated commercial music programs include weekly countdowns like Rick Dees' Weekly Top 40, the American Top 40, the Canadian Hit 30 Countdown, and the nightly program, Delilah, heard on many U.S. stations.



Syndication is particularly popular in talk radio. While syndicated music shows (with the exception of some evening and overnight shows such as Delilah mentioned above) tend to air once a week and mostly recorded, most popular talk radio programs are syndicated daily and live. Also, with a relative dearth in 24-hour talk radio networks, most radio stations are free to assemble their own lineup of talk show hosts as they so choose. Examples of syndicated talk programs are Premiere Radio Networks' Rush Limbaugh Show, Talk Radio Network's The Savage Nation, and Citadel Media' Imus in the Morning. Talk syndication tends to be more prevalent because voice tracking, a practice used by many music stations to have disc jockeys host multiple supposedly local shows at once, is not feasible with talk radio.



National Public Radio, Public Radio International, and American Public Media all sell programming to local public radio member stations in the U.S., in contrast to true public radio networks like Canada's CBC, which owns all of its stations. Two independently-produced, non-commercial syndicated programs, heard on hundreds of community radio and indie radio stations, are Alternative Radio and Pacifica's Democracy Now!.



Some radio programs are also offered on a barter system usually at no charge to the radio station. The system is used for live programming or preproduced programs and include a mixture of ad time sold by the program producer as well as time set aside for the radio station to sell.





[edit] History

Before radio networks matured in the United States, some early radio shows were reproduced on transcription disks and mailed to individual stations. An example of syndication using this method was RadiOzark Enterprises, Inc. based in Springfield, Missouri, co-owned with KWTO-AM. The Assembly of God, with national headquarters in Springfield, sponsored a half-hour program on the station called Sermons in Song. RadiOzark began transcribing the show for other stations in the 1940s, and eventually 200 stations carried the program. The company later produced country music programs starring among others, Smiley Burnette, George Morgan, Bill Ring and Tennessee Ernie Ford (260 15-minute episodes of The Tennessee Ernie Show were distributed), and more than 1,200 U.S. and Canadian stations aired the programs.[1]



Many syndicated radio programs were distributed through the US mail or other delivery service, although the medium changed as technology developed, going from transcription disks to phonograph records, tape recordings, cassette tapes and eventually CDs. Many smaller weekend programs still use this method to this day, though with the rise of the Internet, many stations have since opted to distribute programs via CD-quality MP3s through FTP downloads.



It was not until the advent of satellite communications in the 1980s that live syndication became popular (though it could be transmitted through network lines, it was not particularly common). Shortly after satellite networks such as RKO, Transtar and SMN began, the Fairness Doctrine was repealed, which is credited with helping Rush Limbaugh become the first national talk radio superstar. As the 1990s went on, Dr. Laura and Howard Stern began their national shows, rising to become national icons.



After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, syndicated talk radio saw a notably rapid rise in popularity, as networks rushed hosts such as Laura Ingraham, Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck into syndication around this time.How Do You Syndicate A Radio Show?
I just wrote an entire "how-to" book on syndicating your radio show. You can preview the book for free at www.rdub.com



Good luck!

Report Abuse

How Do You Syndicate A Radio Show?
One becomes very successful in a market, then starts hammering the syndicators for a listen. Unlikely. Odds aren't good, especially for college level, but not impossible.



Expect much corporate monkey suiting. Start below



Good luck.

-a guy named duh