Promoting Radio in Tough Times: Insights from KVRX Station Manager and PR Major Michael McAfee

By Michael McAfee, senior, public relations

I can’t think of a scarier time to manage a radio station. 

The explosion of online music -- from digital downloads to user-generated stations like Pandora -- has made traditional distribution like radio less relevant.  Realizing that people don’t need you to introduce them to new music, many radio are experiencing an identity crisis and looking for new ways to survive.

At KVRX, the student-run radio station for The University of Texas at Austin, where I am station manager, we know radio still matters and welcome the challenge of proving its relevance.

I’ve been the station manager at KVRX since June 2010.  During this time, we’ve done things that the station would never have conceived of just a few years ago. For instance, KVRX has begun hosting a monthly concert series at the United States Art Authority that brings in Austin's top indie rock, folk, electronic, hip-hop and even bluegrass. 

KVRX has always hosted concerts for the campus and Austin communities.  But they were usually done to promote the station during South by Southwest or to celebrate a new "Local Live" CD compilation.  The guiding philosophy behind our new concert series is to reposition KVRX as something more than a broadcast tower. And because money from underwriting and PSAs is diminishing, these concerts are an inventive new revenue stream.

We have also tried to make the station an all-encompassing sponsor of "left-of-the-dial" music, concerts, community-programming topics and Austin events.  Through our patronage of up-and-coming bands, we’ve brought KVRX into the community and put faces to deejay names, letting our audience know that we’re more than just disembodied tastemakers. 

Our community programming department has been extensively retrained to focus more on local issues that our audience will find important.  Whether the show is about campus news, video games, science or sports, the discussion frequently has an Austin bent to it.

It is not easy to reposition an entire organization, and I’m not presumptuous enough to say we’ve succeeded.  But I can say that our promotions department has done a great job of guiding the station through a re-branding, a difficult website launch and a reduction in the overall promotions budget. We've also been excellent at using social media to generate interest in our USAA concerts and regular programming, while seeking partnerships with local businesses to promote our events and theirs.

The hands-on experience KVRX has given to our staff (myself included) has been an invaluable opportunity to make our mark in the new media landscape before we finish school.

While KVRX has been aggressively pushing itself in the Austin market, we've also been able to promote ourselves on a national level, thanks to the presence of ACL and South by Southwest.  These festivals give us a chance to show others that we have a pulse on the Austin music scene and that what we do is relevant to a national audience. 

For South by Southwest this year, we have three shows, including a three-stage “KVRXplosion” showcase, featuring over 30 local, regional and national bands.  We've also partnered with KXSC of Los Angeles for a day show and looked to non-traditional spaces in the coolest parts of Austin to generate as much buzz as possible.

I hope that all of this work will yield results during our pledge drive season.  We’ve tried to show our audience how committed we are to filling their entertainment needs and how appreciative we are of their listenership.  Pledge drive funds are another revenue source that has been decreasing in recent years, but with the economy rebounding, with our frequency sounding better than ever, and with our renewed focus on providing relevant and compelling content, I’m confident that our listeners will reciprocate and show us how much they care.

Managing a student radio station that depends heavily on listener support and allocations from the university -- especially when budget cuts are a perpetual topic of discussion -- has been a very hectic and oftentimes stressful job.  But I can’t imagine many other organizations on campus that instill such a sense of purpose in all of their staff members.  The real world experience we get in promotion, production and management at KVRX is priceless. 

I know that when my tenure is over in May, I’ll feel a sudden sense of emptiness and I can only hope that everything we’ve done this year has guaranteed KVRX will be around for years to come.