It’s not only a new year but a new decade too, and with such new beginnings comes the opportunity for new visions and new directions. RTR FM’s general manager, Graeme Watson, knows this all too well. That’s why this year sees an interesting change take place at Perth’s most beloved local community radio station.

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‘We have a new gay and lesbian focused program, which we’ve called All Things Queer, coming onto (the program scheduling),’ Watson told OUTinPerth recently.

‘We’re changing a lot of programs around on the first of February, so it’ll be on the Monday night at 10 o’clock, and at the moment we’re working with all the new team members for that program, putting together how it’s going to work, what it’s going to sound like, what its content’s going to be, which has been exciting because they’re all really young and energetic.

‘It kind of goes against the sort of belief in the gay community that younger people aren’t interested in particular issues, or aren’t interested in activism or having a voice. And they’re the complete opposite; they’re like “Oh, we’ve got all this stuff to talk about!”.’

Watson’s enthusiasm is palatable. It may be the only new show added to the overall station’s programming, but it’s an opportunity for a younger demographic of Perth’s gay and lesbian community to have a succinct voice.

‘It’s always a challenge because there’s tight deadlines of training people up and it’s always easy to come up with ideas for the first show, but you’re really coming up with ideas for the next 52 shows that are going throughout the whole year,’ explained Watson of the process behind developing the show.

‘It’s a little bit like being a cartoon character, where you’re putting the train track down in front of the train. It’s a bit like that, the sort of rush. There’s a lot of adrenaline at the moment.’

Watson’s new role is a world away from his previous career. A background in theatre and film, hospitality and management has seen him create big budget corporate films, help produce some of Perth’s freshest theatre… plus live on a ship for three years? Yes, Watson has done a lot, but nothing more challenging than run a radio station.

‘Everyone’s been incredibly supportive,’ Watson said of the assistance he’s experienced thus far. ‘Without the help of people like Dave Cutbush and music director Peter Barr I would have been completely lost because I don’t come from the world of radio.

‘I think they’ve been incredibly supportive and patient, because I’m like “What is all this stuff?”. But it is exciting and it takes a little while to find all the pieces of the puzzle, because you’re always missing one piece that everyone just assumes everybody knows, and I’m the one going “I don’t know!”

There’s also the looming challenge of digital radio to overcome, not an easy task for a community funded radio station to tackle.

‘Digital radio is upon us and community radio so far has been left out of the digital radio experience,’ Watson explained. ‘You can get commercial stations and the ABC but no community stations are on digital radio and we’ll be going digital probably in May; across Australia community stations will join the digital spectrum.

‘So we have this whole new level of technology. So that’s been really challenging; what goes on behind the scenes and what’s coming up next.’

What also proves a challenge is getting the younger generation to tune in. After all, they’re of the opinion that their iPods contain all the music they’ll ever need. Right?

‘We have a very strategic plan by a board that engaging a younger demographic is a real key point, so it is one of my major goals to get people to turn off their iPods and turn on their radios. There’s a big challenge, I think, for radio to present music that you don’t hear or stories you’re not hearing; to get the exclusive music, to get the rare music, because people presenting have amazing record collections.

‘There’s stuff they have deep down in dark corners of their collections which are never going to be on iTunes, you’re never going to buy in JB Hifi, so the only place you can hear that content is by switching on your radio. I think that’s one thing that brings audiences back to radio all the time.’

No doubt, Watson’s unabashed enthusiasm will surely be another.

Visit www.rtrfm.com.au to keep abreast of all things RTR FM, with the new program schedule being launched at the end of the month.

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