The Rural Voice, 1994-05, Page 44Driscoll, owner of 32 stations, state-
wide, was astounded to leam that no
agricultural radio network existed in
Ontario. Quebec has a radio network
with more than 20 stations on it. And
there are two radio networks out
west, one which runs on 20 or more
stations.
That's where the light came on
for Guy. The problem was he
wanted to concentrate on his
new job at CFCO. At that point, he
put the network on hold.
"You gotta crawl
before you
can walk,"
explains Guy.
"So (I thought) before I
really do anything on
this (the network), I
better get my feet on the
ground, just doing the
farm program on
CFCO."
Four years and
volumes of research
later, Guy is sitting in
the middle of one of the
last frontiers in radio
networking.
themselves trying to sign him.
"It was even a fight trying to get a
two -and -a -half -minute program!" he
relates. Some wanted 90 seconds,
including the accompanying
commercial. But Guy didn't flinch.
After all, a 60 -second feature
amounts to the market report alone.
He even concedes that some of his
times on other stations are Tess than
desirable. Still, it's a foot in the door
and without the stations, there is no
street from CFCO. Thursdays, it's
the Livestock Commentary and
Fridays brings the Horticultural
Commentary. The special report on
Fridays comes from Jim Romahn,
farm columnist for the Kitchener -
Waterloo Record. Romahn was
thrilled when the formation of the
AgRadio Network was announced.
And he's been one of Foodland
Forum's biggest supporters, joining
farm groups and leaders, praising
Guy for his hard
work.
As for
advertisers,
they're in a
different world
altogether. Some,
like the large farm
corporations, simply
hear the word "net-
work"
and sign
on the
dotted
line.
Others hear the same
word and auto-
matically assume
"It's phenomenal that one of these
types of networks has not been done
in Ontario when you look at the
diversification in Ontario, and dollars
and the numbers of producers," he
says.
The response to Foodland Forum
has been excellent. His sales
representatives in Hamilton are
selling the program so well, the sales
manager at CHML has suggested
Guy open talks with the programmers
about increasing their time. With
other stations, however, that time is
the hardest sell.
Every day, Guy produces and
sends out 10 shows via
satellite to his three
other stations. On
Fridays, he prepares 11
shows. All are fed to
Seltech Satellite service
in Toronto, where
they're picked up by the
other stations in the
network.
Part of the reason for his success
thus far, comes from his working
with the best in the business as part of
his daily features. Mondays, his
AGRANEWS update includes the
Corn Market Commentary. On
Tuesdays, Guy discusses weather and
its effect on agriculture both near and
far with Thad Chupaleo. Chupaleo is
the Chief Futures Meteorologist for
Merill, Lynch in New York. A
licensed futures trader, Chupaleo is
but one of four people in North
America with his qualifications. He
doesn't trade, but he watches the
Guy owns the stations. Many others
find it easier to think of the network
in terms of syndicated programming.
Then there's the topic of money.
What discussion on farming and
radio would be complete without
touching on how difficult it can be to
make money.
Guy's costs are fixed, which
means to air his programs he must, in
effect, buy ad time from the stations.
That cost is passed on, through the
price of that time to the customer. He
can't "cut" deals for people or give
discounts for high volume buys.
Only when he's sure his costs are
covered will he drop
The farmer -broadcaster's show
features commentary by a
meteorologist -futures trader
network. Each show is three minutes
in length; two and a half minutes for
the AGRANEWS update together
with the market reports plus a 30 -
second commercial to help pay for
the program. But Guy admits some
programmers didn't fall over
40 THE RURAL VOICE
markets very closely. And he's an
accredited meteorologist, making him
an invaluable source of information.
On Wednesdays, there's the
Ontario Soybean Commentary: not
too difficult a report to prepare since
the Soybean Board is just down the
his price, and even
then, very little.
Which relates to
something Bob
Driscoll, Michigan
Farm Network
superman, preaches
about making money
on network radio, "Concentrate on
your programs, concentrate on your
barter spots. make your money
there," echoes Guy. "Bob told me
two years ago, he said, 'More stations
does not mean more money.' "
That means that for now, Guy