The College Radio Network was founded in 1990 to provide much needed programming and services to college radio stations in the U.S. and to provide national advertisers with an economical means to reach the educated 18-22 demographic nationally.
College radio stations have long been viewed as unorganized and unprofessional, and yet, they are the training grounds for this country's future broadcasters. There is a definite desire to learn, but there has been very limited attention given to these stations from professional organizations. To add to that, every four years there's a complete change in staff, and quite often, very little experience is passed down to the younger students. In other words, the wheel is constantly being re-invented.
CRN provides college stations with a constant flow of information whether it's from services such as the monthly CRN Newsletter. The newsletter features regular columns that discuss station operational issues such as programming, promotions, engineering, management, and sales. Stations are always encouraged to write in with their own questions and answers.
CRN also provides a range of weekly, hour long programs at no charge to affiliates. The lineup of programs include College Talk, a call-in talk show that discusses topics of interest to college students, Station X, a new music/alternative show that features interviews and entertaining skits, National College Band Review, a music show dedicated to promoting up and coming college bands, New York Overtones, a jazz show with interviews of prominent jazz artists and performers, and Sports Roundup, a talk show for collegiate and professional sports enthusiasts.
These programs are paid for by national advertisers desiring to reach the 18-22 demographic. The College Radio Network uses the internet and college stations to reach the college audience. Since most of these stations are programmed by students for students, there is a natural appeal to the college age listener. It's important to know your audience. College radio provides a service that cannot be supplied by regular commercial radio. Therefore there is no reason for these stations to spend thousands of dollars a year on a rating service to tell them what they already know and what will always be: Their station relates to the students better than any other. This is why it's important to use college radio to reach college students.
The end result is a benefit to all parties. College stations are better able to serve their audiences and improve their operations through education, and advertisers are able to reach a group of consumers that are otherwise costly and difficult to reach.
