Attracting Subscribers to Subscriber radio

[Brian May]

Hi all, as those who read my previous posting will know, I am involved with
a ststion here in Melbourne which gains all it's finances from the general
public. Our methods so far are:

1: Annual subscription (hardest to maintain)
2: Benefit gigs
3: Sponsorship of programs
4: Donations

We've tried many ways of mainitaining & increasing the suscriber base, but
are not getting very far. People turn off when they hear constant whining
by the station on air about subscription, so a more tactful/hyped/structured
method is required.

We've tried 'bribes' - where you subscribe to a 'show' & go in to a draw for
prizes attatched to that show. This only seemed to attract the more mercenary
type of listener.

We've tried monthly prize draws for all subscribers also. No marked increase.

(One partial success was achieved during a drive week where we attracted back
some old listeners by using the above method)

The main problem we think is that all the above were tried on an 'ad hoc' basis.
We are looking to adopt the 'american way' (for want of a better phrase) by
having 3 or 4 subscriber drives a year (with prizes for the period) on *set*
dates. Has anyone had experience of the relative success of this method contrasted
to any other way of attracting and keeping subscribers? We need them to keep
paying the rent on our studios!

Anyone tried mailshots to ex-subscribers?
==================================================================================
Aside all this, the station heirarchy doesn't help, being completely independent,
but decentralised and *disorganized*.

Any ideas on keeping the station volunteers interested/committed will also be
welcome. Eg we have 170 announcers, and only 20 turned up to the last monthly
meeting. Their main motivation seems to be self-gratification of their egos.
(all workers on the station are volunteers)

Thanks in advance,

brian
--
|Brian May, DIT, CSIRO, | Open Communications Program |
|55 Barry st, Carlton, | (TEL) +61 3 347 8644 (g3FAX) +61 3 347 8987 |
|VIC 3054, Australia | ACSNET:br...@ditmela.mel.dit.csiro.au |

[Mark Linimon]

In article <1990Jul5.2...@mel.dit.csiro.au> br...@mel.dit.csiro.au (Brian May) writes:
>Our methods so far are:
>
>1: Annual subscription (hardest to maintain)
>2: Benefit gigs
>3: Sponsorship of programs
>4: Donations

You have forgotten #5. Threaten. The most recent example I can think of,
on KNON/Dallas, was during one particular program where the DJ threatened
to play the record William Shatner recorded _unless_ 5 people called in
with pledges.

Clearly this type of approach should only be used in dire emergencies :-)

Seriously, in my experience, nothing works consistently. "Quiet drives"
tend to get good participation for the first 2-3 drives and then it
tapers back off to baseline. And after the first 10 Whine Drives (TM),
everyone tunes out.

Keep plugging away at it. Good luck!
--
Mark Linimon / Lonesome Dove Computing Services / Southlake, Texas
{mic, texbell}!nominil!linimon || "I said, welcome,
lin...@nominil.lonestar.org || to the real world, kid"