College Radio Stations Are In Need of More Respect

On New Year’s Eve, December 31, 2022, a tiny, but strongly independent college radio station out of Ann Arbor, Michigan would send four male sports broadcasters, who cover the University of Michigan Wolverines sporting events for a living, aired the biggest game from the airwaves of Arizona to their dormitories in Michigan, and running through online servers on their social media apps such as YouTube. For these young broadcasters, Adam B., Zach Linfield, Neal Sinha, and Kelin Flynn this would be the biggest game to cover in their young professional careers.

It took place in Glendale, Arizona, and as you might have guessed right now, it was the first match to decide who will advance in the 2022–23 NCAA College Football Playoffs, and Texas Christian University’s Horned Frogs, would be victorious in the final minutes of the game to snatch the soul out of the maize and blue. To be honest, the game was a back-and-forth affair, with missed calls and blown hits, but one thing felt strange about this game. As I was decked out in my scarlet and gray Ohio State sweatshirt and ‘90s Buckeyes ball cap, let me say that I was listening to Sean McDonough's ESPN broadcast, of course, but there was one more broadcast I turned on, and it was not ESPN, nor was it the ESPN2 special telecast of Robert Griffin III announcing that he will have a kid and needed to leave the set midway through the game, nor was it any of the professional Michigan and TCU radio broadcasts… I turned the volume down on my family room television and was listening to Michigan Student Radio’s WCBN 88.3 FM.

Let me tell you that a group of college students, around my age range of 18–21 years old, aired a live broadcast of one of the biggest championship matches in collegiate sports all over the globe, with millions glued to their televisions, placing bets on which college team will come out victorious, compete for a national championship in Los Angeles, and yet I found more enjoyment listening to a group of college freshman through seniors broadcasting from Arizona with a viewership count rising by the minute on their YouTube channel. It tailed up to be almost 230,000 people listening to their on-sync, interactive, and edge-on-your-seat commentary that was perfect even from start to finish.

The broadcast was better than any of the ESPN telecasts during the national championships, virtual or on television that night, and boy do they need to include student broadcasts as an idea to add to their annual subscription package. This could even be an ESPN+ option during the week of the bowl games or national championship games in all sports besides football.

The station airs not one, but all of its radio broadcasts through its YouTube page because according to an orientation YouTube video posted by WCBN Radio in 2022, none of the station’s content is hidden behind a paywall, which means, for those that don’t know, according to Shorthand dot com, “A paywall restricts access to online content to paying subscribers.”

WCBN FM is the model of how many student radio stations can even stay open today because if your school is going to run a student radio station, keep in mind that your content has to fit these qualities to keep functioning in this 21st Century, inflation costing America according to Kevin Watson, a radio professor at Vincennes University and owner of Blazer WVUB 91.1 FM in Vincennes, Indiana.

Keep your content free, engaging through social media apps, and keep alert to trends.

Below is what I mean by keeping your content free and engaging, while also opening the door to trends and new ideas. Introducing The Next Network, a popular TikTok sports creator that streams on Twitch, YouTube Shorts, and Instagram amongst other social media apps.

The Next Network, run by Josh Berman and Michael Mirskiy two high school students out of Baltimore, Maryland, is not a radio station, or a group of sports professionals, but I notice stations that I worked for such as WIUX or even Blazer WVUB use enough social media content to go viral and stream their sports, news, and other content for a demographic of ages 18-26 years old.

This is because, if you tailor to the Generation Z and Millenial Generation, you will get clicks, likes, and follows if you make yourself known with a 60-second video.

When The Next Network posted its first videos at the beginning of its TikTok journey, its content is engaging and kept me asking questions about the Denver Broncos quarterback trade or Tom Brady returning to the NFL.

The group also commentates games with a play-by-play announcer and a color commentator, virtually one hundred percent online, without having to sit in a press box and watch an athletic event. During Super Bowl 57, with the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs, Michael and Josh both wore blazers, suits, and ties as they broadcasted the biggest game of the year remotely, with a professional broadcast feel to the viral live stream.

If you run a station make your content make your viewers ask questions and with these new remote workspace options many companies have gone to since the pandemic

Another influencer that has gained popularity with professional, engaging content, and professional questioning content, is a content creator, a student at IU Bloomington, and a content creator for Barstool Sports IU, Jack Cote.

Cote's content is more modern and professionally created than The Next Network, but when he posts content on his TikTok page, he always makes you ask the question... why did he make this video?

Before the 2022-23 NCAA Football National Championship in Los Angeles, California with the TCU Horned Frogs and the Georgia Bulldogs, one TikTok creator, a fan of the University of Georgia football team, reposted Cote's video from a post on January 9 that the TCU Horned Frogs football team will upset Georgia in the national championship game. This turned the opposition away from the national championship game, and Georgia fans reacted swiftly to his comments. One user would clip his video as he said, "Screw you, what are ya thinking? Go Dawgs!"

Cote said in a TikTok video titled "Think the unthinkable," "If Georgia played TCU in a championship, ten times, Georgia wins that game nine out of 10 times. Not tonight." Then he explained, "TCU just shut everybody up after beating Michigan and if TCU goes into SoFi Stadium, and they beat Georgia, this will be the greatest story in college football."

In other videos, Cote was also criticized for saying that Stetson Bennett, Georgia's fifth-year quarterback, was "...too old," and "will not win a national championship due to his age."

Yes, these comments fumed Georgia fans, but he did something you should incorporate in your next radio broadcast. Get you, the college radio station viewers talking, especially on social media.

This will make your audience engaged, get them chatting, and always answer a question and allow your viewers to find the point to a line of infinity.

That can for your college radio stations, increase sales, and with social media, increase profit and opportunity because if the view makes sense, a station can go a long way.

2. Keep your content exciting and keep listeners listening to your content over and over again.

This can sometimes be easier said than done for some stations. Given how big or small your station is, and no matter if the station has a podcast channel through applications such as Anchor FM or Apple Music or not, keep listeners excited, engaged, and actively listening to a college radio station, keep your content not too over the top, but go over the top with creativity.

Go over the top in promotional opportunities, and go over the top in sales, marketing, community outreach, and the overall station as a whole.

When I was working at Blazer WVUB and WIUX the best promotional materials we ever used that were my favorites were when Blazer 91.1 FM held their yearly music performance in the event in August of the year 2021-22 school year, to kick the school year off our station ran an event called BlazerPalooza on the campus of Vincennes University. In my only semester that year at that university, I helped mostly with Christmas promotions and setting up the station at a charity event at the Vincennes Save A Lot store in September, but BlazerPalooza was my favorite promotional material I ever worked on because it was an experience setting up and tearing down musical sets inside of the Red Skelton Music Theatre. The home to many events, including on-campus tours, musical performances, and then at then for one-night-only rock shows performed by artists from all over the United States.

I saw how much a crowd of 500 or so people were engaged in watching and listening to free music, with performers, performing live on Blazer 91.1 FM's airwaves and for the crowd at Red Skelton Theatre.

Again, this was run by the Blazer 91.1 FM radio station. That says a lot. Blazer would even engage massively. By being the first person on the scene when a student at Vincennes University was arrested for climbing to the top of the Shake Learning Center Library roof and making a scene before the police came to arrest him. Shake Learning Center, for those that don't know, is the school's main library on campus.

This was huge because we were the first to report on the story, and that meant a lot to our community team, and we won a state journalism award for the effort of Blazer's community reach and breaking news stories.

Viewers get excited and texted to our social media pages about events such as fires and Veteran's Day community events in real-time, and we would never go off the air until the event was announced or the emergency was stopped.

Be on top of the coverage, and be the podcasts and radio show fresh to your community and your listeners because you don't know when the next big opportunity, or rock show you might get reported to report or host through the airwaves.

and 3. Like in business, to gain respect, you have to earn respect.

We have all heard that saying in one way or another. Whether that is in business, work, insurance, or even getting into employment, a radio station has to earn respect from the public, its people, and its community.

The man who gave me this advice, Kevin Watson, when he gave our class respect, we did one thing that has been used as an inspiration for me through college. This is an important lesson for business owners according to him. If you give him respect, we give him respect.

No questions asked.

How college radio stations get more respect is making things simple. Make your content free for the disadvantaged. Make your college content, relatable employee helpful, and make your content reliable to access and see what kind of podcasting or local community commercial, marketing, and sales reaches you can do.

Go over the top, especially if you are a college student between the ages of 18-26 years old. Be kind to your listeners, but also do something stations across your college town, city, or community can do.

Go far, go wide open on your ideas, and always, if you are a station manager for any AM/FM or online radio station across the world, be open to hearing, listening, and keeping engagement higher through listeners and viewers on social media alive. Listen to your viewers, the employees, and the listeners listening, posting, retweeting, and reposting your content.

This is because you don't know what major opportunities come next.

According to Arizona State University News, the ASU Sun Devils radio station, Blaze Radio, uses social media, marketing, and communications to the best of its advantage, so much so that during this year's Super Bowl Press Row in Glendale, Ariz. along with Fordham's student radio station WFUV where they interviewed CBS Sports announcer, Kevin Harlan.

Engagements will lead your company, your station, or your company to greater pastures. These tips hopefully can help you engage with your audiences, and keep your radio station alive both for your employees and the community.

A radio station is a vital part of a community's bondage, and hope, and is also an emergency outlet during times of need. One more tip, don't have "dead air," make your air open. Make the airwaves, your phone lines, and your social media accounts buzzing with activity to reports and stories to air. This is because you don't know what engagement opportunity in sports, entertainment, or community ideas a company would want to have when promoting your station to promote the next big event for your company.

If you do this, I guarantee you, your station will become the best radio station in America.