DSNHits - is internet the future of radio?

Enda Caldwell is best known in the UK for his time as a presenter with Atlantic 252 where he was the last person ever on-air, and at Radio Luxembourg during its tests for their DRM service for the UK. Nowadays he is running his own company, working on international radio software sales for a world leading firm, being a voiceover, working in radio presentation and production, programming and music programming consultancy, talent coaching and much, much more... including doing a daily radio show from his studio in Ireland for US CHR Channel DSN Hits.

Media UK: Enda, for those of us not connected to you on Google+ what exactly is DSN Hits?

Enda: DSN Hits is an app-based music service that operates the same as a regular terrestrial "station" but we are hugely aware that our website and social media are the new "transmitters" so to speak. DSN Hits is every bit the honest-to-goodness US CHR service in every sense of the word, but we also manage to include hits from all over the world, and are very aware at all times of what types of music are trending with our global demographic and wider audience outside the local market of Canton, Ohio.

I'm keen to understand where you see DNS Hits going?

I see DSN Hits expanding into at least an 8-service stream cluster. There has already been talk of more new and innovative app–based services. DSN West, our new country station, has just picked up over 30,000 unique listeners in its first month on air alone, with relatively little or no huge promotion budget and without a full “live” or as-live line-up.

I do think that eventually its parent company may become strong enough to take over a terrestrial station, and integrating it into the business. I see us partnering in major cities and in other continents to increase overall revenues because we have the techniques, skills and ambition to make it work globally.

Is it earning any money?

It isn't profitable just yet, but we've managed to grow our audience by 10% to 15% each month we've been in operation.  The biggest hurdle is finding qualified sales people willing to hit the streets and get advertisers to ink.

So, are you earning any money personally?

No! I do this because I love it and it's giving me the exposure in a market that, for all its shortfalls and faults and failings is STILL a hugely exciting one – the USA – I’ve a LOT more freedom in what I can say and play and have my "own head" a lot more than if I was "workin' for the man" in some station here in Ireland especially!

In my career so far, I would say "I didn't make a lot of money, but I've had a LOT of fun". I do radio because I love it. This business keeps sucking me right back in every time I say "Right! That’s it! I’m changing my identity and moving to Timbuktu to get away from radio and all to do with it..." – that's the moment a great new gig comes right up. That’s exactly how it happened for me with some of the best gigs I have ever been offered, like Atlantic 252 and Radio Luxembourg. So I would say to others, when you have reached rock-bottom “The Only Way Is Up”.

Just how many listeners you have got and how you can tell that they are listening?

Last month our stations - DSN Hits, DSN Rock and DSN West had 178,061 listeners. That information is provided by our performance license provider and TuneIn's Amplifier web interface. They are listening: I've had more instantaneous reactions and uptakes for things I've done like on air giveaways than I've had on some terrestrial stations. I've been in radio 22 years now and I can tell that people are tuned in – it’s just something you can tell from reaction to on-air comments and social media postings I make on the station's Facebook and other social media outlets.

Do advertisers actually want to be on a worldwide station?

All of our current advertisers are from the Northeast Ohio area.  We market as a hyper local station that features some international content.  Agencies are wary of international listeners, as they must tell their regional and national clients a certain percentage of ad dollars are being spent overseas.  It's difficult to sell internationally.

So, how do you afford the music licensing fees?

Our music licensing fees vary based upon number of listeners, total aggregate time listened, expense, and revenue.  Overall, 20-25% of gross goes out the door in performance licenses monthly. If you hear our top of hour "Legal ID" on DSN Hits we credit our performance license provider at streamlicensing LLC.

Is internet radio the medium of the future?

Before Chris Cary passed away in 2008, he foretold everything that is going on now in terms of radio/streaming as a medium, and he was ready to take Nova in that new direction in addition to some old platforms but to use both platforms to inter-promote each other. He said to me that "it all will eventually become app and subscription or data-based."

Without a doubt, this is the medium of the future.  As radio audiences fragment, digitally streaming services like ours are showing marked growth monthly. Radio needs to take the strengths of everything it is best known for in its instantaneousness as a medium, and now upgrade itself as a platform above social media rather than being subservient to it.

Do exactly what DSN Hits and thousands of other small to medium sized app-only based services are proving daily with huge audiences using just the website as its transmission method. If someone cuts the power to your big mast right there on the top of that mountain what have you got left? Ask yourself that question if you are in terrestrial AM or FM radio right now.

How unique or compelling is your online stream quality, content, podcasts, audience interaction and other features about your station that make it stand out against the competition?

What are your thoughts about the next generation of radio presenters?

There are more people than ever before wanting to get a start in the business, get back into it, or get to the next level. Where are the new stars though? I see and hear many demos but as one PD told me "out there, you will find the talent base is pretty low". How is it that 25 years ago people were prepared to watch, listen, learn, rehearse, make demo after painstaking demo tape go through all that rejection and yet they never gave up. I think it still happens but it's rarer now to see that happening. Because something might look easy that does not mean it necessarily is easy.

I’d like to hear more people showing that they can display the basics of standard presentation and then building upon that approach rather than going in and trying to rock the earth with little or no real broadcasting experience.

Years ago you were picked for having a great voice, delivery or some other actual radio skill. Nowadays, it’s all too common for someone to walk into a top gig because they were on TV, are a social media animal or are "more down with the kids" - regardless of what their voice is like or whether they can actually perform a basic live break.

I hope we soon are to see a renaissance in actual real radio jobs for real radio people from the real talent pool out there who are probably reading this now and nodding.

What are you doing social media-wise?

I'm all over social media all the time! My friends outside the station who are connected to my Facebook have commented how I'm never off the thing and how I’m always promoting our Listen Live link for DSN Hits via the tunein.com app each time. It may drive some people crazy but I was told some years ago by a very wise man at RTL Group in Radio Luxembourg that viral marketing is the way forward.

With Twitter, I've made the point of tweeting as many of the artists I'm playing as possible from my own twitter @radioenda, and The DSN Hits twitter @dsnhits, always letting them know when we are playing their new tunes – this has a dual effect with their managers and fans getting us new followers like you wouldn't believe as a result of this process.

With the DSN Hits Facebook page I post new and unique content always ensuring without fail in every single post that I make includes our listen live link, plus doing things like short "to camera" vlogs live from Ireland a few hours before the show begins to get people tuning in well ahead of time. Driving it forward as interviews with the stars come up and happen or any on location special broadcasts video is now fixed as an integral, important and unique part of the entire package of what I do. Listening habits are changing and how audiences relate to us as broadcasters is changing and becoming ever more interactive in every way.