To start a station or not?

I've been thinking over the weekend about whether to start a net station or not. It's been something I've never really wanted to do, but I've been thinking about it and the proposition is becoming more attractive.

But not because of the station so much as the bolt-ons that I believe I could add which would make it more of an all-round project where some of the extras could make it a money earning enterprise.

The station would of course be the hub of things, but it would take a lot of extra work to make it viable.

I already have some things that could be adapted in order to make them fit into my plans and so it's certainly something that I think could fly, and eventually even down to paying presenters for shows (Which would be a novelty!).

However it has to start from the station itself. To hit the ground running it is going to need great shows, first and foremost. Now I've taken a big step back and looked at other stations and have decided that I don't want a specific type station - we already have more soul stations than enough. An oldies station could fit the bill, but I think that in order to succeed you have to take a look at conventional radio programming and how a day is built show-wise.

Also important is the demographic of the listeners you're looking to attract. The 'What's in it for me?' factor - well, that's what I call it anyway - the 'me' being the listener.

After all, if they're already listening to radio, I need to find out what is going to drag them from where they're listening already.

I understand that being a net station does to a certain extent leave you dangling a bit as a lot of listening is done in cars, so having an app that can make the station accessible to a smart phone will be important.

I also feel that getting the daytime programming right is so important. And that's an area that has to be addressed straight away.

One things for sure, if I decide to go ahead with it, there's gonna be a lot of research done, and some great presenters found before we go live. There's certainly no chance of me looking to put a new station on air this side of the New Year.

I've already fleshed out how I would want the schedule to look - and it certainly wouldn't  be a case of filling the schedule with anything just to get it filled up. I have an idea of how I'd want the day to flow and  so it's a case that I'd need to find the right show to fill the right slot.

One thing's for sure I have no intention of doing this if I'm not committed to doing it properly and making it a success.

Plenty to think about...