I read and post here every day, and, this may sound a bit outlandish, but I would like to gauge the interest of the posters here in pooling resources and starting our OWN sportsradio station here in chicago.

I have thought about this for a long time, and I can probably amass at least $1M of advertising/investor funds from my business network.

I am not intimidated by entrpeneurial ventures and I have enough friends in the legal business to process the paperwork.

Al we need is investors. I would probably look for minimum contributions of $5,000 in exchange for partial ownership.

The venture would probably involve certain steps such as registering as a security (to solicit investors), incorporating as a business, shopping for a frequency, obtaining an FCC and/or municipal broadcasting license, selling ad time, hiring talent or scouting new talent, etc.

*** Please feel free to BRUTALIZE this idea with any and all criticisms or items I may be overlooking.

Sounds like a good idea. I think it would be easy to get listners and advertising would also be easy. I mean we could get the the people who post to be on the air like cooler or doug evergreen park or even anusface.

Nice thought, but if I'm gonna piss away 5 large, it had better include hot babes, booze, a a Tony Montana-sized pile of yaho.

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"Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public." ~ H.L. Mencken

I'm in. But I want to be the afternoon host. I think you'll have a problem because everyone here will want to be on the air. Only so many shifts are available. We can get the old 820 frequency.

Great suggestions. This idea is still in the infant stage, so everything is variable.

First had this idea about a year and a half ago - just brought it up amongst a few small businessmen friends who are sports junkies.

It all stemmed from another idea a friend and I had about creating an avenue for uncensored commentating of sports games (i.e. "F%$#, he just missed the shot, Bill!" - - - "No shit, Chip, that was indeed a shitty-ass shot"), but we figured we would never get the license to broadcast from anyone (no kidding), so, from that novel idea, we started talking of starting our OWN gig. (keep in mind, corporate and other idea-stealers, that this publication may possibly serve as a "poor-man's patent", so it would behoove you to contact me if you were ever to use the stupid idea outlined above)

As far as the investment amount, $5k would just be a ground floor investment (for the casual investor). Larger portions will probably be needed, though, because I might like to try, at least at the earliest stages, to stay under 75 shareholders to maintain S-corp (pass through taxation) status, but like I said, who knows? If more people are interested, maybe it would be okay to go the conventional C-corp route and undergo double-level taxation.

Biggest problems/variables are probably licensing (could take a while) and then leasing a frequency - which may be expensive or troublesome because the conglomerate companies probably own most of the good ones.

I like your angle with the financing. I have a dear friend that is a shareholder in a mid-size bank, so that probably would not be a problem to the bank's board if we formulate a good, solid business plan, but like I said, the idea needs all the help it can get, so you may be able to help there if we do this.

Please, I invite someone try to DESTROY this idea by finding holes and pitfalls - it would help greatly with the business plan and save a lot of time if it could be proven fruitless.

Thanks, and keep it coming. Ideas only blossom when they are cultivated properly.

Why not just broadcast over the net? Screw the FCC, screw getting a license. What am I leaving out here? It sounds too easy, so something must be missing...

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"There's an old saying in Tennessee—I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee—that says, fool me once, shame on—shame on you. Fool me—you can't get fooled again."

Ladies and gentleman, get this man a cigar!

Great idea. Time and money-saver. See how aloof I was not to even fathom that? Awesome.

That was what I was going to say as well. It would take a VERY small amount of investment to get this going on the net. If the product was actually good you could explore expanding it but it would probably be better to keep it in the minor leagues first.

As far as investors...I am picturing the scene from Fast Times At Ridgemont High where Spicoli and his friends go into the fast food store and try to pool together their money....I got uno nickle-a.

Well, that is great news, and allows this to be a lot less complicated, investments less, etc.

Ok, now, gents, any procedureand/or requirements for setting-up online? Of course, my lazy ass could probably locate some other broadcasters on the net and pick their brains, but I know I will not be able to do that during normal business hours.

Can anybody save the time and offer some kernels of guidance?

Keep in mind, gang, I am not blowing smoke up your asses, if this idea is feasible I will get anybody who is interested involved to a degree tantamount to their investment amount.

And we will NOT be hiring "Names" for talent (at least not at the beginning stages).

can i be a board op?

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wishin u luv peace andddddddddddddddddddddddddd soul

I'm going to give you a little ripping first on that 75-shareholder notion. Get a refresher on the old college Business Entities course, will ya. There are other options out there if you are dead set on "pass-throughs," although I can make a case where you actually would be overall better off with "double" taxed entity. See, I can't envision you being showered with dividends of any significance in the first few years the biz exists, so stop worrying about taxes, at least, until you actually see a big fat bottomline. When that happens, you can easily liquidate by merging into a "pass-through" shell. Or, just start with an LLC, a two page form in IL.

At any rate, as the fellas pointed out, start small.

There are some dudes in this city who do team-based sports talk and submit it to the iTunes Podcasts. Check out: http://bearscast.com, http://bullscast.com, http://soxcast.com

I'd say start on this level, polish the product, see increase in the audience, maybe make some money from ads and sponsors. Then you can take over a small FM station and on and on.

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"It's not exactly a rocket surgery." D.J.

Great commentary, and I appreciate your analysis.

You are right that entity type is not the most important hurdle - yet intellectual curiosity sparks me to continue in this vein.

I am aware of the distinct probablility of a loss in the initial stages (and thus the improbablility of paying dividends right away). I am also aware that many growing entities elect to change corporate format at a later time. I just wanted to get the drop on that subject (so later changes could be minimized) if many, many people were to participate in ownership.

Now, with an LLC, which is also "pass-through", don't all of the members have to have an equal share/ownership %? This might make that entity-type inapplicable here. What other "pass-throughs" are you aware of besides LLCs and S-Corp? Other entity types like LP or LLP might be applicable to the present scenario, but, off the top of my head, investors in that schematic would not be able to vote or take any part in management, correct?

You are right, I should know all of this, I have learned it all before in-depth, but I am a bit rusty with my analysis of these alternate scenarios, and I am always interested in a "refresher" by an esteemed colleague.

Thanks, and please comment.

I have a funny feeling that this "I'm Serious" person is a 13 year old boy. LOL

My wife says the same thing when she sees me naked.

Ok, back to the subject at hand. . .

I would probably forget all the investors and simply set up your own studio. Then, do not hire talent. Let the talent pay for air time in much the same way the SCORE does with the Blackhawks. Make it a vanity enterprise and you may get a few goofs to help you break even.

I'm a high school senior and we broadcast all basketball games on line and ons of radio shows live on the air and it's really simple. I mean we use that just to get started and then it takes off from there.

Now I get why you like OG--he's your broadcasting partner.

Very funny, I walked right into that one.

Ahead of your time, Dolph.

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So question, did the guy who started this thread end up founding Webio?

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“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

It had to be Finfer.

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"I give you my word as a Biden"

i wanna host with beardown

would he be able to leave his chained hostages unattended? I suppose you could go Terry Boers route and just get him an isdn line

His posts reeked of Mahogany Table.

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Power is always in the hands of the masses of men. What oppresses the masses is their own ignorance, their own short-sighted selfishness.
- Henry George

Where do I send the $5,000?

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Maybe Mike North knows.

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2 months and no podcast

Perhaps you should unsubscribe Brick

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“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

Really 3 months because "Was the 1985 NBA Draft Rigged?" doesn't sound like it's anything original.

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