Re: NorthEast Radio Watch 3/5: We Will Never Make Fun of Boston Weather Again...

["Douglas J. Broda" <dougbroda@mindspring.com>]

I love philosophical debates. :) And this one has several intertwined.

What is/are the purpose(s) of the station? To serve the college community?
To serve a greater community? To train its staff vis-a-vis real world radio
jobs? To have fun?

Unless the station's got deep ties with an academic program in
broadcasting, that's not so simple a call.

And even if you decide what the goal is, it's not easy to define how it's
met. (Is "serving the college community" met by playing the music a
majority likes? By providing diverse programs for a diverse college
community? By trying to teach the community?)

Some college stations have those aims well-defined (officially or not);
others have no idea, or have incredibly broad statements of purpose.

Note: I'm not including stations that are operated by colleges, but exist
to expressly serve a greater community via NPR feeds and other public
radio. Those have a very clearly defined goal, and I've never thought of
them as "college stations."

- -- Doug Broda


At 09:58 PM 3/6/99 -0500, Rob Landry wrote:

>While I agree with you that advisors should not be choosing formats
>(assuming it's not the college that holds the license, but the student
>organization), I think a case can be made that ratings do matter inasmuch
>as they provide a way to demonstrate that the station's audience is being
>effectively reached.
>
>I've heard several radio professionals lament that college radio
>experience is of little value in the real world because at most college
>stations one doesn't learn how to attract and hold an audience. Diversity
>per se achieves little, in my opinion, if no one listens.
>

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