On 30 Mar 2006 09:43:54 -0800, "DrJoe" wrote:

Questions for the group:

1. What are the potential financial rewards for owning and operating a
short wave radio transmitter/tower?

Absolute dollars, pretty good. ROI, pretty bad. For starters, you're
looking at high 6 to 7 figure investment just in plant. Then there
are enough regulations to get you in trouble than you can handle
without a DC law firm - which is why there are so many large law firms
in DC that do nothing but broadcast work.

What do you know about running a broadcast station? Are you licensed
or do you have to pay someone who has one? Can you run a board, do
production, remotes? Or will you have to pay people who can?

That's on the technical side, and technical employees are cheap. You
want listeners, you need recognizable talent - and they don't work for
minimum wage.

Unions, anyone? Oh, if you play music, there's AFTRA.

And you'd better have a good maintenance budget, an unlimited supply
of funds to replace equipment that goes bad or terrific luck. When
something burns out, you can't go off the air for a few days until you
can get a new part - you'd better have the spares on hand, and have
someone who can swap them out in minutes - 24/7/365. Yes, that means
that you pay standby (around 50%) to an engineer, just to be available
if you call him.

Getting a bit discouraged yet? I haven't gotten through with even 25%
of the negatives. The positives are like what you tell the kid
shooting hoops on the corner - IF you make it to the pros, and IF you
don't shoot your knees, and IF you last a few years, and IF you're
really smart, you just might make some decent money.

Then SuperHurricane comes along and you're a million and a half in the
hole.

2. How does an owner go about establishing a revenue stream from
potential purchasers of air time.

Advertising. Since it's done mainly by contacts, if you don't have
any, you don't have any. And you can't buy 10 years of having been in
the business, building a network, without spending 10 years doing it.

3. Who would the primary customer base be?

Anyone who wants to advertise to your listener base.

Comments or suggestions?

Raise sheep - you'll make more money, sleep better and live longer. Or
build a campground. A few thousand bucks, most of it underground and
safe, and you're in business.