WBCL, Public Radio Worldwide

As a part of our commitment to better serve our Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan radio listeners, the WBCL Radio Network originated a website in 1997.  The goal was to bring additional and consistent information to our listeners as a supplement to the air broadcast.  Beginning with informational web pages only for the first few months, we soon realized the need to add the streaming of our 24/7 radio programming.

The broadcast streaming caught on quickly, and we were pleased to learn that we were acquiring new listeners from around the world.  In fact, our audience grew so rapidly that our third party hosting company could not adequately provide streaming service to our many web visitors.  As a result of this rapid growth, we hired an employee and invested thousands of dollars in order to do our own streaming.

Our broadcast target audience has always been the adult listener, ages 35-54.  A visit to our website reveals that the target audience is the same for our website as it is for our broadcast audience.  Women 34-54 are the special target of the website, which includes numerous pages of added interest to them.  Our popular daily radio talk show, Mid-Morning, is accompanied by web pages which provide reviews and giveaways of favorite books, expert information on pertinent topics, recipes, a memo board for sharing hints and tips, etc.  In addition, there are special links to email questions during a live Mid-Morning broadcast or to email ideas and comments regarding Mid-Morning programs.

Providing early morning information to busy families is crucial to our listeners and is a high priority of the WBCL Radio Network.  School delays and closings (this is the Midwest!) are readily available as parents awaken each morning with the goal of getting kids off to school.   In addition, news headlines from our radio news department can be read quickly on the website, in order to learn, in a nutshell, what happened overnight.

With numerous contests, community outreach projects, concerts, and events taking place, many of our 130 web pages are updated daily.  This saves valuable staff time as it lessens the dozens of daily phone calls from listeners who perhaps miss the airing of upcoming concert times and places or need details on one of WBCL’s community outreach projects.  Through the WBCL website, they can now find the information they need, 24/7, at their leisure.

As an added bonus, each of the live shift DJs has his/her own web page where listeners can find answers to air contests and lists of winners, as well as have the opportunity to win small and large prizes. 

The number of visits to our website grows monthly!  We hear from missionaries in numerous countries around the world who keep in touch with the Midwest, their original residence, through the website.  Families who have moved across the U.S. continue to listen via the web, just as they once listened to The WBCL Radio Network on their radios.

Our greatest challenge has been the costs involved in having and maintaining a website.  Substantial staff time is required to keep the site creative and fresh.  Additionally, there are the numerous royalty fees for streaming, which have caused some stations to cease streaming music.  In addition, it costs thousands annually to upgrade and maintain the streaming equipment.

Since our streaming website traffic has increased substantially, the cost of self-hosting became prohibitive.  We recently made the decision to return to a large third party hosting company, in an attempt to save thousands of dollars each year by using their network connection facilities.

We couldn’t be more pleased with the growth of our website; however, our greatest disappointment has been the inability to generate income from the site.  We had an outstanding plan for the use of banner ads, but with the current economy, it was difficult to sell them.  Businesses choose newspaper, television, and radio ads over websites.  We fit the national norm in this regard.

A successful venture for web income has been our MarketPlace listing.  Businesses can pay a small fee to have their name, address, and phone number appear on the MarketPlace page.  For a few additional dollars, we provide a link to their website where visitors can gain additional information about businesses listed on our MarketPlace.

Since we are supported by listeners, the website has become a popular place for donations during our annual Sharathon.  Each year the number of web visitors giving via the website increases dramatically.  Even those who listen from afar send their donations.  Last year, we had the privilege of entertaining a missionary family from Japan in our broadcast studios.  They shared on-air how important and wonderful it is for them to listen to WBCL while living in Japan.

Being named Best Radio Website in the 2003 WebAward Competition was a wonderful tribute to our entire staff.  It was both a delightful surprise and a cherished accomplishment.  The beautiful WebAward trophy, along with news, community service, production, and other web awards, is displayed in a curio cabinet in our front foyer, to be enjoyed by staff and visitors alike.

The article was written by Char Binkley, executive director of The WBCL Radio Network.