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Tips forAuthor:Syndicating A Radio Program  Mark O’Conner (host of Ear Candy and Nocturnes) 

You have a passion for radio programming. Countless hours of preparation and  sweat equity have gone into thinking about your show and what you want it to be. It's  a passion project.    With all of that effort, wouldn't it be great if you could double, or even triple your  audience? Or dream big - you increase your reach 10 or even 20 fold.     Guess what? It's completely doable. There are DJ's at LocalFM who have done just  that, and went on to earn national recognition and even winning the NCRA award for  Best in Syndicated Programming as recently as 2017!     Bring it on, you say. How do I do it?    Well, it's easy. LocalFM is a proud member of the National Campus and Community  Radio Association (NCRA). The NCRA has created a website called the Radio  Exchange.​ ​http://previous.ncra.ca/​ . All you have to do is put your show on the  Radio Exchange and see if Program Managers at other member stations download it  and air it on their stations.    The mechanics of how to put your show on the Radio Exchange are pretty  straightforward. The basics are to take your show from the radio logs on our  computer, put in on a USB stick, create an account at Radio Exchange, and then  upload the program. Those are the essential steps.    Of course there a bunch of smaller ones, but we have a volunteer DJ who is willing to  slowly walk you through all the steps. Just contact Mark O'Connor at  [email protected] and arrange a mutually convenient time for him to guide you  through their website and the creation of a password and user ID and the uploading  of one of your programs. And uploading your program is something you can do from  the comfort of your home (or coffee shop) as long as you have internet access.    At this point you will have one of your shows available to anybody who'd care to  listen to it or download it. That said, there are a number of things you can do to  improve your odds.   

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1. ​Consistency​ - Program Managers love weekly programs they can slot into their  schedule and they love it when a new program is available every week. Obviously,  producing 52 episodes a year is not something most DJs would ever do, but being as  consistent as possible really helps. New shows as often as possible, uploaded  around the same time each week.    2. ​Length​ - Stations need room for IDs, ads, promos, etc. Usually somewhere  between 57 and 58 minutes is a good length and allows them to do the other things  they need to do. So make your program around that length.    3. ​Quality​ ​- Our radio logs aren't precise. It isn't enough to download the show. You  need to trim the beginning so it starts at the beginning, and trim the end so it doesn't  bleed over into another show. You should also edit your program so it has a good  volume.    Those are three key tips, but there are some next level, more subtle stuff you can do.    4. ​Timelessness​ - one way to mitigate against always having to have a fresh  program is to take as much care as possible not to have any time references in your  broadcast, or to edit them out afterward if you do. For instance, you wouldn't  announce the date of your program, or reference current events, or talk about a  musical selection as a new release. Care in this regard allows you to designate that  your program is timeless. Chances are when stations start to pick up your program  that you already have uploaded a number of them. If your shows are timeless, it  allows a Program Manager to download an earlier episode for those weeks you don't  have a new episode.    5.​ ​Communication​ - each time a Program Manager downloads a show you can see  it on your Download Log. That log provides an email address, and usually enough  info for you to figure out what station is involved. That email address provides you  with a communication link. A short email thanking them for your interest in your  program opens up a channel of communication that is valuable.    Usually I make a point of letting them know how many episodes I expect to produce  and point out that the show is timeless so if there is a week I don't make a new  episode they can simply download one from the pile before they started carrying  my show. You usually also learn when your program airs in that location.   

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6.​ ​Promos​ ​- Congratulations! Stations are picking up your show like it's the next big  thing (cause it is!) Now what you want is to deepen that relationship and find ways to  keep your show there.     Here's one idea I use to keep a station once I get a station: You make promos for your  show on LocalFM. You've got other stations carrying your show now, so when you  make a promo, make a version for this other station and send it to them. It doesn't  mean you have to rerecord the entire promos. You just record the various station  names and then paste and replace them in the spot where you say Local107.3FM.  Easy peasy. This requires a little bit of knowledge how to use Audition but is easy to  demonstrate if you need help.    Stations are usually very happy to get custom made promos for your show on their  station. It's something almost no one does - and it helps you retain a station by  creating a more personal relationship and by having created content just for them.    7. ​Specialty Programming​ - Many of you have built in advantages you haven't  even thought about. Each Campus and Community Radio Station across the country  (100 plus now) broadcast under a CRTC license which has specific requirements  described in the “​Standard conditions of licence for campus and community radio  stations” which you can read for yourself here   http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2012/2012-304.htm     Knowing these requirement can help you understand how your program may be far  more valuable than my run of the mill music program. For instance, it's a  requirement that 15% of such a station's broadcast time must be spoken word. That  means talk shows can really help meet that threshhold, and therefore make your  show potentially more attractive.     Similarly, specialty music would also be at a premium as no less than 5% of our  broadcast time must be devoted to specialty music category 3. What is category 3  you might ask - here’s the link to the music categories  http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2010/2010-819.htm    So classical music, opera, jazz, worldbeat, international, and experimental music  programs would all be category 3. If you have a program that fits the bill there is a  very good chance there is a need for this type of programming elsewhere, and  increases your odds of being picked up by other stations. You're in a sweet spot. 

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  8.​ Others​ - There are lots of other things that can make a show attractive, too  numerous to mention. Some of them might be a standard introduction or ending is  nice. Maybe even a musical intro, which is a one time effort that you then use on  every show.    And on the Radio Exchange site you need at least one image for your show, so a  good image is one that's both attractive to the idea and communicates some sense of  what your show is about.    From time to time you might want to acknowledge the listeners of your partner radio  stations. You don't have to mention other stations by name - just acknowledging that  your show is being heard elsewhere and you appreciate their support.    Some DJs have shows that have special features or have particular segments and use  cool stuff like text to speech software so they can have other voices say things to  introduce special segments or features. That's pretty fancy smancy stuff, and not at  all necessary, but it is stuff that's actually accessible to you.    Conclusion    Congratulations of the national syndication of your show. Kasey Casem move on  over!    Soon you will have your own novel ideas. Please share them with the rest of us so  that all of our programmers can benefit from your innovations and insights!