Disrupt Radio will return after brief disruption, boss claims
Disrupt Radio will be back on air live from next month, according to founder Benjamin Roberts.
This comes after a tumultuous few months for the radio start-up; a “significant investment” fell through in early August, and staffers have been unpaid for three months.
The station was removed from the DAB+ format in August, and the station hasn’t produced any new, or live content since then. But Roberts tells The Australian that Disrupt is set to mount a “comeback”.
Roberts said the station hoped to return to live broadcasting next month, and negotiations for new funding were continuing.
“In summary, we’re still working with our lead adviser and shareholders on both investment capital and our pivot,” he said.
“The majority of our staff and suppliers have been really wonderful.
“We are just getting on with it.”
The radio station launched in June 2023, with Bob Geldof as a breakfast host and early investor, and noted broadcasters Libbi Gorr and Jules Lund helming live shows.
By July 2024, a cash raising attempt drew just $24,500 of a lofty $1 million target.
“Disrupt was due to have a significant investment in early August,” Roberts said last month.
“That didn’t happen, due to circumstances outside of our control, and so we were forced to move a lot of things around, which included live on-air programming, payment cycles for staff in mid-August, and responding to changes in broadcast distribution and live content.”
This came a month after Roberts told the paper, that “anybody that has launched a new radio station before knows that some of them go for five years without making money, so it’s all about getting the product right first”.
The last ratings book before they were booted off air showed a small audience share for Disrupt – with a DAB+ audience of just 4,000 listeners in Sydney, with 1,000 in Melbourne – and even less in Brisbane
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I liked the concept of it and did listen and do hope it returns.
In my opinion they did not let people know they existed, too many repeated sound bites, little advertising from suppliers and they needed more ‘helpful’ advice for how to become a startup. They also needed to widen their concept of a startup. For example what to watch out for when buying a franchise etc.
What a waste of time and money. No one listened. That was the station’s number one problem!
It’s important that this kind of media survives. Lots of interesting content and lots of job creation in an industry only barely hanging on. Honestly don’t care about ad agencies. They’re big and ugly enough to open and close when they win and lose business. The more new media we have, the better.