|
 By
definition, you only get one crack at a first night and your
first night is remarkably important.
In
a few hours, you need to define both your station's personality
and your raison d'etre in a way that impresses all you mean to
do instantly on the viewing public.
You
need to introduce them to your symbol or ident so they can
become familiar with it and what it will stand for - it will be
on air for a long time and the viewers must recognise it
immediately.
If
you are approaching your contract from any specific direction,
this needs to be enforced immediately, too. Are you
planning to provide a regional , cosmopolitan or general
service? Is your station to be young and dynamic or older
and mature? Is the programming tailored to what the
audience wants to see or what you feel they should want to see?
All
of this needs to be decided months - if not years - in advance
and all of it is subject to change on that first night.
Only when the symbol goes up on screen for the first time is it
seen in thousands - or millions - of homes. Only then do
you know whether it works. Only when your senior announcer
is first seen do you know whether he will become part of the
hundreds of families watching his every move.
Only
when your first programme has finished do you know whether
people truly like what you plan to offer. And if you
already have opposition in your area from an alternate service,
this is the night they will pull out the big guns and try to
make you fail. This is the night you learn what
competition will really be like.
This
is really a night with a thousand eyes. And all of them
are staring at you. |
