First you must decide which FM or AM radio market you are going to start your station in. Each large city in the United States is part of a distinct broadcast market and radio stations cannot broadcast outside of their geographic market. Researching what type of format a certain market is lacking is the first step to success. Formats can range from classical rock, hip hop, contemporary Christian, jazz, or top 40 for FM or a sports, news, foreign-language or religious format for AM. Once a format is established, an entity or corporation must be set up with the state's business office. Financing for the radio station must be secured, as construction and antenna purchases alone can be in the hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars.
Now you have your concept and your company, you must apply for a broadcast license through the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC license process will take many months, be filled with lots of paperwork and questions and will need the assistance of a lawyer to complete all the requirements. FM stations fall on the 92.1 to 107.9 MHz bandwidth. An FCC Form 301 and a petition for broadcast license must be filed with the FCC on the same day. The FCC has an allotment-finder program that helps find an open broadcast bandwidth. The FCC is responsible for granting FM broadcast licenses for commercial stations, non-commercial educational stations, low-power stations that only operate in a 3.5-mile radius and FM translator stations that rebroadcast FM stations to low-broadcast areas. In 2009 the FCC was not accepting applications for low-power stations.
AM stations broadcast on the 540 kHz to 1700 kHz frequency.
Once a license is granted, the radio station and transmitter antennas must be built. A suitable building with broadcast equipment must be purchased and renovated. Transmitter antennas installed in the building will broadcast to large antennas on mountaintops or on the roofs of tall buildings, shooting your signal across the entire broadcast area. This process takes hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars.
Once all construction is in place and your signals are up and running, it's time to hire staff to sell advertising, work on-air and behind the scenes at the station.
Advertising sales is the most important as this is what will support your station and in turn will make you money. The advertising sales department will contact local and national businesses and explain the new product and get them to produce radio spots, sometimes in your studio.
Stations still hire some local disc jockeys but some instead opt for more syndicated national programming or "voice-tracking" which allows for a person to record a three-hour show in less than 30 minutes, freeing them to do other duties at the station such as general manager or program director.
The marketing department will help to get your radio station's name out to the masses and also line up promotions and on-air giveaways.
Once all employees are in place, and you have run simulated tests on your signal, it's time to launch the radio station. A large party somewhere is a great place to get the word out. Now you have a radio station, and your message is getting out and the money is slowly rolling in.
Starting an Internet radio station that streams constantly or only certain times of the day is much easier. There is no license from the FCC. Choose a website such as Live365, SHOUTcast, or WebFM to be your broadcast host. Download the software, pay the monthly fee and you are on your way to internet radio ownership. You can acquire listeners by sending them a link to your station.
Content for the internet radio station can be tricky. If you only play your music or tracks created by your friends, then you are in the clear, but if you choose to play copyright music or content, you may be forced to pay royalty fees to the artists.
If you can generate enough audience, you can sell advertising on your Internet radio station and generate a profit. You can also sell banner advertising on your internet radio page and generate a profit from that, too.