8 Tips on How to Start a Radio/TV Show with Little Amount

Have you ever thought that starting a Radio/TV show with little amount of money is impossible? Well, newsflash: it is not just possible but also happening. It’s quite true that the starting of a radio/TV show looks seemingly unrealistic but guess what? Welcome to a new era where the arrival of digital technology has altered the narrative of the media world.

Having a radio/TV show didn’t just start now, it has been for centuries, in fact, the first radio show came into existence in the year 1920 and the first TV show was aired in September 1928. This is a piece of information that so many people ran with and has made them renowned Radio/TV host. 

Having to know that they won’t be the first neither will they be the last to have a show has been a serious propeller for them, so trust me when I say having to start up your own show will necessarily not be a problem as many have gone ahead to make this easily possible.

Asides that, with the age of technology that we are in and with the pandemic that rocked the world, quite a number of talk show has gone virtual and that’s why we have the likes of Youtube, Zoom, Tiktok, Podcast and lots of media platform having the forefront, majority of which became prevalent during this covid period. 

Now think about it, do you still feel having a Radio/TV show with little amount of money in this time and age is impossible? At this point, I’m expecting a capital NO for an answer.

Alright, tag along as I drop few tips on how you can start up your own show with less than you expected;

8 TIPS TO START-UP A RADIO/TV SHOW WITH LITTLE AMOUNT OF MONEY

1. HAVE A FINANCIAL BUDGET

Heard of Financial Budget? It is what helps you to foresee the income and expenses of a business either on a long term or short term basis. Now, back to the media field, no one starts a thing without first counting the cost. Unless you want to crash before you ever reach the peak.

As an upcoming CEO of a media house, it is pertinent to have prior knowledge and documentation of the cost of production. This could include having a rough estimate; the cost of starting the radio/TV show for the purpose of putting proper plans in place and ensuring avoidance of unforeseen circumstances.

2. DO YOUR FINDINGS

While you are at working out your financial budget, you need to be an investigative and analytical researcher. Be a pro at nosing for news, seeking opportunities that could be leveraged on, and sourcing for a profitable relationship that can be built. And if you can't, you can always employ the service of those who would give you a professional result. See their contact at the last part of this article

For you to ever think of having a media house, you can’t help but be an online researcher or have one. They work hand in hand. In fact, the result of the research should birth you more ideas and concepts and a better opportunity at getting the right partnership and resources. 

Be up to date on the happenings surrounding what you want to do or start. If you don’t give yourself to research you will miss out on benefits. Asides from that, you need to know the integral things you need for your startup like your equipment facilities, the product best for the media house, the studio setting that will be suitable. 

Who knows maybe your online radio/TV show will thrive more? You can never tell till you are deep in online and offsite research.

3. HAVE A BUSINESS PLAN

No media house thrives without a plan. Having to create a structure for your show is as important as the media startup itself. Wondering how this relates to starting a show with little amount of money? Wait for it...

Without a business plan, the ways at which to attain the project, and the time frame; it will definitely be difficult for you to attain anything. Your business plan should contain your business concept, strategy, and implementation, your target audience, financial plan & projections, etc. 

If you are able to get this right, getting financial benefit from top organization when you need it will not be a challenge, in fact getting a bank loan or other kind of financing will be as easy for you as putting food in your mouth. You can contact +2347080225737 (Call/WhatsApp) for a professional business plan that would map out a projected strategy and plan for the desired success of your media idea.

4. NETWORKING 

They say your network influences your net worth. How true is that? 

As a media person, one of your greatest strengths is your networking ability. You can choose to do without many things but it definitely does not exclude having social skills which is the ability to relate with like-minded people to build long-term relationships for mutual benefit. 

What am I trying to say? No man is an island of knowledge, you will always need people to help you scale through the hurdles of starting your own radio/TV show and if there’s no support structure or system, the chances of doing anything great aside from having a show is definitely slim.

The ability to network is the ability to stay on top of the latest trends in the industry, be updated on the corporate/media market, meet prospective mentors (people who have gone ahead of you in the business), partners, clients and gain access to resources that can always help you remain at the top of your game. 

This tip alone is enough to help you cut down so many expenses if you are able to harness and leverage it wittily.

5. BE A MEDIA EXPERT 

Let me start this tip on this note, “know your niche”. You can’t be called to be everything even as a media person, the media system is a very wide place and varies when it comes to honing a specialty. 

To be a media expert, you first have to understand as a media person what best works for you, it’s good that we all know that this global village we live in as indeed gone global and digital and the place where history is currently been made is on the internet.

Now how can you channel using the internet into having your own show? Build your marketing skills. Let me be honest with you, in this age and time everyone is a marketer, you either market your business or market your brand. 

You might not be full-time into the business but it’s important that you know how that field works. Be able to leverage what works around you and what will be profitable for your own startup show. Be versatile, so many things have evolved, having a personal blog is at a high rate. I will talk more about this in the next tip, stay with me.

6. LEVERAGE ON SOCIAL MEDIA

For a decade, the use of internet has drastically grown and changed the way the media world operates. Presently, in achieving your aspiration to start up your own show you just have to know how to use the internet as leverage to further your project. 

I was saying something about online blogging in the previous tip, this is a way to create awareness about your brand and build for yourself a target audience.

You know one of the greatest benefits of social media is being able to connect and understand your target audience, their interest, focus, and triggers. You have the likes of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn to win over the hearts of thousands and millions of people. 

The ability to leverage on this lies the opportunity to create and build yourself a known brand name and proceed to be a media influencer. Doing this will also give you an idea of societal challenges and problems which in turn could serve as a plateau for you in creating and scripting your content.

7. KNOW YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE 

One of the things that have to be dealt with in your business plan is who is your target audience? The only way you can know your target audience is by understanding in-depth the concept of your show, in fact, your concept determines your target audience, it determines whether they are young or old. 

The first step to knowing your audience is understanding your show (what do you want to disseminate to the masses), by doing this you are able to define your audience. It does not stop there, after defining them, you go ahead to study them, you can do a survey in this regard. 

You need to understand what your audience wants, their focus, their triggers, and their connections. Doing this helps you create the right content that will benefit and meet your audience's needs.

8. GET SPONSORS 

If there’s one thing you need in the media field, is a person or organization that will vouch for you, partner with you, or support you in any way possible. There are ways in which you can get sponsors, one of which we have mentioned above which is networking; having the ability to build a lasting relationship for the sake of mutual benefit. 

Another way is by creating a business proposal that contains your business goals, objective, and what the organization that decides to sponsor you stands to gain from your media outfit. By doing this, getting the right organization or person to sponsor you, finance the project, and buy the time and slot you need for your radio/TV show will not be farfetched.

If you ever need any help with starting your media outlet of whatever form, you can contact +2347080225737 (Call/WhatsApp) and be sure to get the right help from scratch to the point of establishment. This includes the planning, strategy, and execution stage.

Conclusion

With all these tips highlighted, getting to start an Oprah Winfrey or a Steve Harvey kind of show will most certainly not be a problem if you are able to practically follow through each of the steps. With that been said, nothing good comes easy and the journey of a thousand miles starts with a step. Start something today and do not wait till tomorrow. The world we live in will never stop evolving so get ready to evolve as well.

Ibukunoluwa Oluwalade is a content writer, blogger, and media personnel. She works with Manicleworld as a content developer.