The expansion of small scale DAB can be a temptation for community radio stations. After all, a bigger marketplace means potential growth for listenership and commercial partnerships.
BUT – let’s just think about this for a while.
I often see new SSDAB multiplexes launch with stations from nearby locations quick to jump on board. If you are running a purely commercial operation, or a community radio station that is not primarily for a geographic community, then this may well make sense for the reasons given above.
However, community radio commonly focuses on a specific area – that’s its USP – so it’s important to be really clear about why you want to expand.
Not achieving goals
If it’s because you don’t seem to be getting enough listener engagement, volunteers, commercial partnerships, etc. then you almost certainly should not expand into another area. That’s because all you will do is have the same problems over a larger area and with higher costs. You need to fix what’s wrong locally before you can even consider expanding.
One of the podcast guests you’ll hear soon runs a station for a population of less than 5,000. It was originally two stations and it made absolute sense from an operational point of view to combine them, given that one station was essentially already a relay of the other, more sustainable station.
Consider why you are finding it hard to achieve your goals.
Is it that the programming isn’t right for the potential audience? Does the station appear attractive to commercial partners/sponsors/advertisers? Are you looking for volunteers in the right place and giving them a compelling reason to get involved?
Station is doing well
While a station that is struggling may believe that expanding into a new market will help them, successful stations may also consider branching out.
There is one scenario in which this makes sense (as long as the cost does not outweigh the benefit) and that is where you are confident that there is significant travel by your listeners to the new location.
Take, for example, a station in a small town where there is little local employment and a large share of people commute to a larger town served by a different DAB multiplex. In this case, enabling your loyal listeners to hear you throughout their journey may well be worthwhile.
But, if the expansion is because you are doing well where you are and want to build on that by adding a new area, this could be a costly mistake.
Community radio that thrives does so because it is super-serving its target audience. If you expand geographically, can you honestly do so without watering down the product? Do listeners in Town A really want to start hearing content about Town B?
Maybe this isn’t an issue. Some stations already focus on their own town while also featuring those nearby. But most have a stronger relevance in their ‘home town’ so even if that audience won’t notice a difference from the expansion, those in your new target market will probably not have the same connection.
If you have the potential to do split content then this may be a way to make it work.
Media that is beating a tough market these days tends to be highly focused on a community or niche, so expansion comes with risk. Anything that weakens a successful operation, or stretches a struggling one, is likely to be a bad move that could wreck what you already have.
