how are radio stations started up?

[samal50]

I read of news before that some station was bought by the main big corporation that owns most of the radio stations (Clear Channel?) so I'm thinking a person HAD to own that station first and not a corporation. How did this person start up the station? Don't you have to have a satellite to broadcast and a whole bunch of permits and license, etc. This station I'm talking about is quite big and didn't follow the format of what "popular" radio should be playing up until it was bought by the main big corporation, owner of most radio stations (Clear Channel?). Isn't it around 60% or more of today's radio stations are owned by them and that's why almost every station have the same format throughout the country? I ask this question because I drove by an industrial area of where I live and came across a company that builds satellites. If they build it then that means someone is in line to buy them. Just curious if a satellite is needed to broadcast. I've also been to a secluded looking house that has a huge satellite in the yard. The people that live there look like they are in the religion/preaching business (yes there should be such a thing! lol) and are broadcasting from their huge house/compound. I think they make their money from phone call donations, etc.

[daddymack]

Owning a terrestrial radio station requires a number of licenses, and a lot of hardware.

The costs used to be somewhat reasonable, say fifty or sixty years ago, but those days are long gone.

Holding on to a license is a terrifying series of processes that are not for the faint of heart either, as you need to show the FCC that you are serving your local public's needs, and your license can be challenged by a competitor or local constituencies.

 

Terrestrial radio has several different 'grades', if you will based on transmission power, 100kw being what used to be called 'clear channel'. Satellites are not required, transmission tower antennas are.

Don't confuse a dish with a satellite. Satellites are in geosynchronous orbit at ~2200 miles over the planet; dishes are everywhere....

There are transmission /uplink dishes and receiving/downlink dishes. Downlink dishes are like the ones you see from DishNet/Direct/etc...years ago, when you saw those huge dishes in people's yards, they were able to get a feed from every transponder in their LOS (line of sight)...that was the infancy...now there are so many transponders, and with the advent of the digital systems, those humongous receivers are, well, dinosaurs for the most part.

 

The internet has made it possible to essentially broadcast without a license; however, to use a satellite transponder costs some fairly serious $...