Survival Package for Radio Stations

Do not be an (exclusively) music station

Yes, there are music focused stations that will still enjoy a few more years of strong audience numbers. However, in general, these are adult format stations occupying niches in large metropolitan areas. Examples include GFM and Alpha FM.

The music played on your station is also played in millions of other places. It is a volatile product with no real owner. The real differentiator lies in something only your station can provide: opinion, analysis, and a genuine connection with the listener.

It is still expensive to maintain a station dedicated exclusively to sports and news, especially when it involves a radio outlet with its own local team. Producing journalistic content requires qualified professionals, constant reporting, and daily operational infrastructure, which significantly increases costs.

On the other hand, this local structure can also prevent a common problem: low audience levels resulting from simple affiliation with a national network that often delivers content disconnected from local reality. When a station has its own voice, commentators identified with the region, and coverage of local issues, it creates relevance and a real bond with the audience, something no national network can fully replicate.

Have commentary based newscasts

The difficulty of finding capable commentators is one of the biggest challenges of this strategy, but it is essential. In this format, the host can take the station’s audience numbers either to the sky or to the ground.

Programs that merely read press releases are doomed. Programs that adopt a completely “neutral” stance, unable to analyze events case by case, are often less useful than simply reading news portals with summaries of the latest headlines.

I see no problem with having up to six hours per day of this type of programming.

Avoid an anti market editorial stance in commentary based newscasts. Inevitably, the predominant profile of the audience for news, debate, and commentary programs is male, often exceeding 80 percent of listeners. And you know what the predominant profile of that audience tends to be, I do not even need to mention it.

Let me simply say that if your editorial line constantly advocates higher taxes and expanding public spending, this audience will likely reject your station. Moreover, while losing them, you will probably not gain the opposite audience either, which generally has little interest in topics considered “boring,” such as economics.

Local football

Have a sports team and cover local football. This is content that does not directly compete with your station on platforms like Spotify and likely not even on YouTube.

In music programming, there is the “troublemaker” called Spotify, where the listener can choose exactly the song they want to hear, with a level of control that is difficult to compete with.

From this perspective, there are examples of stations whose audiences remain strong and largely immune to Spotify.

Examples

Belo Horizonte

Rádio Itatiaia (95.7 FM)

Perhaps the most emblematic case of success in local journalism and sports radio in Brazil.

The station dominates audience ratings in several time slots thanks to strong local content and intense coverage of Minas Gerais football clubs.

Likely the greatest success story of local radio in Brazil.

• Intense journalism from early morning

• Permanent sports debate

• Obsessive coverage of Atlético and Cruzeiro

• Large reporting team

Result: frequently leads overall audience ratings in Belo Horizonte.

Porto Alegre

Rádio Gaúcha (93.7 FM)

A consolidated all-news radio model with strong sports coverage, belonging to the Grupo RBS.

Classic regional all-news model with strong sports coverage.

• Political debate programs

• Full coverage of Grêmio and Internacional

• Strong journalistic credibility

  
  

Rio de Janeiro

Rádio Tupi (96.5 FM)

Without relying on a network, it maintains one of the largest audiences in the country.

• Popular format + opinion + football

• Narrators and commentators strongly identified with the audience

Recife

Rádio Jornal (90.3 FM)

A major regional audience with news, debate, and Pernambuco football coverage.

Extremely strong in the state of Pernambuco.

• Heavy journalistic programming

• Regional political debate

• Intense coverage of Sport, Santa Cruz, and Náutico

Being radio means going beyond FM

Being radio is more than being heard on the dial. Being radio also means being heard on the internet. And (no)having excellent online audio quality is not expensive; it is an obligation.

Being radio also means having image online

A YouTube channel should be a living component of the station. Being radio means maintaining uninterrupted contact with listeners, who today communicate through WhatsApp, Instagram, and other platforms. All of this must be converted into audience assets.

Being radio also means being present on the streets: the station must physically exist in the urban environment, have visual presence, and look like an outdoor brand.

Have a stage on YouTube, X, and Instagram

The station’s identity should feed these platforms. They must be seen as functional extensions that generate audience for the station.

Also maintain an efficient system for producing clips and distributing content.

The internet is an audience engine. Fighting it is unwise and a gift to competitors.

Monetize your YouTube channel as well.

You will have preference in the car

Your main ecosystem is the car, where radio is still the first option for most people. Make sure your signal coverage reaches the streets and highways of your market effectively.

Music programming has become a complement

Music programming has increasingly become the station’s breathing space. It allows the schedule to be organized and prepares the station’s differentiating activities: programs, journalism, and active communication.

It is the recharge time that allows the newsroom and presenters to prepare.

Increasingly, this will be the core that sustains the station’s financial health. And yes, even in smaller cities this trend is likely to occur.

Be careful when pricing radio extensions

Do not overload your social media and digital platforms with advertisers if the pricing is not properly structured.

These environments are financial sources necessary for the station’s survival. They are no longer an extra, they are an essential part of the business.

Coverage

Coverage represents a large part of the station’s image.

Failures in this area, especially in regions where competitors are entering, can directly affect the station’s reputation.

Sound quality

It is no longer expensive to achieve incredible sound on FM. There are several solutions that make this entirely feasible.

Lack of technical knowledge can lead to unnecessarily high costs and even on-air disasters.

Brand aesthetics

It is useless to have excellent audio if the station’s aesthetics appear amateurish.

Generic jingles, poor production quality, incorrect use of sound elements, and unprepared voice work damage the station’s image and with it, the value of the brand.

Standardize

Standardize studio performance, program execution, and bureaucratic routines.

Standardization is the enemy of chaos.

This also includes financial organization. There are several obligations with federal regulatory agencies that must be fulfilled, and lack of method in this area can create serious problems for the station.

News AM station, leader by a wide margin, with a strong pro market audience base

The long running phenomenon program "Alguien Tiene que Decirlo", broadcast by Radio Mitre (AM 790) and hosted by Eduardo Feinmann, achieves impressive figures, with more than 40 percent audience share (proportional share of listeners among all radio stations).

The average share of Mitre itself is around 36 percent, according to data reported even by competing media outlets such as La Nación.

This gives the station a wide advantage over the second place station in the overall ranking, La 100 (FM 99.9), which records 21.79 percent share.

Among AM stations, Mitre has more than double the audience of the runner up, Radio 10, which sits at around 16 percent share.

The Engine of Programming

Feinmann’s program clearly surpasses its competitors in the same time slot. Described as “far ahead” of the competition, Alguien Tiene que Decirlo is one of the biggest audience phenomena in Argentine radio. Radio Mitre is the most listened-to station in the country, and Feinmann’s show is its flagship program, especially in the morning slot, the most competitive period on the radio dial.

Its strength comes from a direct approach focused on political and current affairs topics that retain a broad and engaged audience. Eduardo Feinmann is a central figure in Argentine journalism, which amplifies the impact of his positions. Radio Mitre also stands out on social media, with more than 2.1 million followers on Facebook, and its 100-year tradition further reinforces its authority.

The Profile of Eduardo Feinmann

Feinmann does not hide, on the contrary he highlights, the characteristics that shape his style and bring him closer to an audience that is predominantly male and pro market. In his public statements and in the editorial lines of the program, he defines himself as:

A defender of free trade, which places him in opposition to the protectionism historically strong in Argentina.

A fierce critic of Kirchnerism, using harsh and unfiltered language, including profanity, something far more common and accepted in Argentine media than in Brazil.

A supporter of reducing the role of the state, advocating privatizations, lower taxes, and greater economic freedom.

In the Argentine context, expressing an ideological view is not seen as a loss of journalistic neutrality but as a sign of intellectual honesty with the audience. Ideology, it should be noted, is not the same as partisanship. A journalist may consistently condemn a party with which he once aligned if that party betrays his principles.

Feinmann is also a critic of the leniency of the justice system, especially regarding crimes that receive mild punishments.

Feinmann and Javier Milei

During the rise of Javier Milei to the presidency, Feinmann has largely supported his proposals, although he does not refrain from criticism, especially regarding episodes of aggressiveness by the president toward journalists. The ideological alignment between the two is natural, but Feinmann shows independence by pointing out flaws when necessary.

Uncomfortable (but honest) Questions

Is the program Alguien Tiene que Decirlo right wing?

Yes. The political profile of the program is clear. Its agenda revolves around pro market views, anti state interventionism, privatizations, lower taxes, economic freedom, and a tougher stance on crime.

Is Radio Mitre right wing?

Mitre belongs to the influential Grupo Clarín, traditionally identified with pro market positions. This editorial line was reinforced by the various attempts at state control over the media by populist governments. In the Argentine context, a free media environment favorable to private initiative is also a matter of survival.

Between a pro market program and a pro state one, which has the higher audience?

The numbers in Buenos Aires speak for themselves. Alguien Tiene que Decirlo leads with a 41.3 percent share (May 2023), while its main ideological opposition, Radio 10, has around 16 percent. The difference is striking.

Is this phenomenon exclusive to Argentina?

Definitely not. The high audience of right leaning journalistic programs with a predominantly male audience is not unique to Argentina. I observed the same pattern in Natal in the state of Rio Grande do Norte while analyzing YouTube audiences. The pattern repeats itself: more neutral or left leaning programs attract fewer views, while those aligned with the right gain prominence.

In the United States, the classic example is Fox News, the ratings leader since 2017. According to a Gallup survey (2013), 94 percent of its viewers identify or tend to identify as Republicans. The contrast with channels such as CNN, MSNBC, and ABC is evident.

The paradox is that journalism tends to lean more to the left, with a strong female presence, yet the male audience, in its majority, is right leaning and consumes debate, opinion, and political analysis content more intensely.

Does journalism attract one gender more than the other? One political side more than the other?

Journalism, according to various studies, tends to present a left leaning bias in much of the free world, including Brazil, the United States, and Europe. This pattern can be observed in newsrooms and in the coverage of political and social issues. Curiously, although women have a significant and notable presence in journalism, the female audience on average shows less interest in political debate programs, especially those with a more confrontational tone. This observation, based on empirical findings, can be verified by analyzing media consumption behavior among people around us or through audience data.

For example, over the course of a year I followed the metrics of a journalistic debate program broadcast on YouTube in Natal and saw that male users accounted for an average of 83 percent of the audience. This proportion does not seem to be an isolated case, as the predominance of men is frequently observed in similar programs across different regions of Brazil in live chats. One possible explanation lies in topic affinity. Debates with harsher and more confrontational tones, often centered on politics, economics, or security, seem to attract more male viewers. By contrast, lighter formats with softer approaches or themes related to culture, well being, or society tend to engage more female audiences, without implying a lack of interest in the world or a lower analytical capacity.

Another relevant point is the difference in political inclination between genders. Data suggest that men on average tend to identify more with right wing ideas, while women show a greater inclination toward the left. This divergence may influence preferences for journalistic content and even the balance of power in electoral disputes, where ideological polarization becomes more evident.

This dynamic is not exclusive to Brazil. Audience analyses in other countries reveal similar patterns, with men predominating in more intense political debate spaces. To confirm these trends, one only needs to follow live broadcasts of journalistic programs in different Brazilian states and observe the proportion of male and female names in the comments or interactions. Although these observations are not definitive, they point to a segmentation of interests that deserves further investigation, considering factors such as format, tone, and the themes addressed by the programs.

AM Radio in Argentina

It is important to highlight that Mitre is an AM station, a band that in Brazil was largely emptied by the strength of FM and the loss of commercial relevance. In Argentina, however, AM stations remain alive, especially due to their strong focus on political analysis, economics, and critical journalism.(Mitre 790 website and streaming: https://radiomitre.cienradios.com/)

The Key to Its Audience

Mitre’s differentiating factor lies in its strong presence of analysts rather than just journalists and in the use of intelligent humor that permeates dense and complex discussions. It is essentially a talk oriented radio station. Almost all of its programming is based on analyzing events rather than merely describing them journalistically.

The focus is on Mitre’s exclusive content and on well grounded opinions from personalities with solid careers and the authority to formulate them, often offering forecasts that tend to approximate reality and reinforce credibility.

It is also impossible to dismiss a certain philosophical alignment with the majority of listeners as a point of synchronization and audience loyalty.