This unit can be modified for various age groups and should include the following points to encourage a media literacy discussion.
- Radio is a commercial medium supported almost entirely by advertising.
- In the 1960s, the US congress banned the practice of "Payola" - pay for play - in radio. Payola is illegal but still takes place today at the corporate level. In 2005, New York's Attorney General charged the four major recording companies with paying promoters to play their songs.
- The US Telecommunications Act of 1996 removed the limit on the number of stations that could be owned by one company. Before this time, a single company could only own four FM and four AM stations in the same market area. Today, Clearchannel owns over 1200 stations meaning the bulk of radio news and programming comes from one source.
This is an exercise that should be used in conjunction with a unit of study involving the history and evolution of radio broadcasting.
Break the students up into groups of four or five and explain the scenario.
Scenario: Your school has purchased radio broadcasting equipment and been granted a low-power FM license from the FCC. Your signal will be heard not only at your school but also in several towns/areas around the school. Before you launch your new station, you need to plan your format and pitch it to administration for approval.
Each group must come up with a detailed plan for formatting the station. When they are finished, have each group "pitch" their format to the rest of the class (The Administrators).
Administrators: take notes as each group presents their station format, vote on the proposal you like best and explain why in a short paragraph. You may not choose your own station.
Consider the following for your new station :
- What will your call letters be? * (remember - the first letter must be: "W" abc for east and "K" abc for west)
- What is your logo/slogan? Ex- "WFVR - The Fever" "More music less commercials" etc.
- What will your station format be? (Rock, Rap, News/Talk, etc.)
- Who is your primary target audience? - Demographics and Psychographics (Be specific!)
- Your secondary target audience?
- What is your positioning statement? (Who is your competition and what do you have that they don't?)
- What are the program elements on your station? (Types of shows and the air times) Ex- 6am-9am "Drive time" show w/morning team - traffic reports -weather etc.
- What is your promotion plan? How will you let the area know that your station is coming on the air and get them to tune in?
- Will you have a website as well? If so, what will be available on this website?
