What shows can I make for my online radio?

Preparing Shows for your Radio

The purpose of this blog is to help readers understand how they can start their online radio from scratch. I have been trying to answer many basic questions in regards to this. If there is something which you feel I have not explained, reach out to me via comments and I will certainly do so.

Recently, one thought came to my mind - it is possible that you have a theme to start a radio, but you are still unsure. You are not certain how you will produce enough content for your radio. What shows can you have? What kind of competitions you can utilize to boost your radio, which also matches your radio theme? How you can design your radio programs using social media? All these are valid questions (and also tips to start).

What kind of programs can I have on my radio (generally)?

Talk Shows 

Based on theme. you can invite guests on your radio and have detailed discussions, while making sure you don't put audience to sleep.

News/Recent Happenings

World, Local, Music, Sports etc. Whatever is the main theme of your radio station, you can deliver news on that. If it is sports, then provide latest update on it. If you like to talk about fashion, there is enough on that everyday. If you are talking about world news, this should be the most important show of your radio).

Public Opinion

Base a show on public opinion

This is an easy but very useful technique. Utilizing social media to pick up content and then discussing. An example of this would be: after a sports game, you could go online and read what people are saying on Twitter. You could share people's opinions and add your own two cents. If you are talking world politics, there is enough politicians that tweet. There are many vocal people on social media; if you pick the right content, you could produce wonderful programs each time.

Talk to your audience

Now a days this has gotten really easy. There is phone calls, WhatsApp calls, Tweets, Direct Messages etc. All these way you can allow your listeners to contact you directly and ask questions. This will make for an engaging program. For this type of show (just like any other), you have to decide on a topic ahead of time. You can publicize it using social media (or announcing it on your radio). This way people can send in their questions even before you go live.

Talk to your audience

Game Shows

You could think of a gameshow based on the theme of you radio station. For sports, it could be related to making predictions about a game. You could create an interesting quiz show for the audience.

Biography/History

This one is again open to all themes. You could provide biographies and life histories of celebrities, politicians, athletes and other well known figures. Most of the information is already available online. A quick research would bring enough information which you can share with your listeners. I have seen several popular shows that talk about history. This is such a subject that it always catches the attention of the audience.

Scenarios to get you started on your online Radio

Occasionally I will try to post along these lines also to provide help.  For example if you wish start an online radio on Soccer - what kind of talk shows can you produce? What type of news can you share? How you can invite guests on your radio to benefit from their input? So on and so forth. Pretty much all sports radios can use the same template (and of course think of your own ideas; my goal is to help you get started). If you wish to start a radio with focus on political talk shows, then what type of shows can you host there? If you were to play news, would it be a copyrights issue?

The suggestions I have provided above should be sufficient to get you started.

Conclusion

I hope this has been helpful in getting you started on your radio. I would also suggest to have a team if you are starting a radio. Starting a radio by your self is not a long term plan.