Rick Rioux is president of Central Maine Internet Broadcasting and started WQRY106.com out of his Lisbon home six years ago. The internet-only radio station is growing talent (from eight people at the start to now 20) and claims the spot of Maine’s biggest internet-only radio station.

The station will be broadcasting live from the Moxie Festival this weekend.

1. Business advice from today that you’d give yourself back in 2010 if you had the chance?

I think I would tell myself to be more patient and be more active on social media. Social media really drives a lot of our listenership. People discover us from all around the world using many different applications, but once they find us and like us we can keep them by pushing our schedules and special events through social media. For example, we have a loyal listener in France and he regularly posts on our Facebook page. His friends no doubt see his activity and may check us out, helping to grow our listener base.

2. What’s an average day like?

There is a lot of email I usually sort through. For the most part, it is updating the programming of the station. There are music lists I need to generate for the on-air talent and I constantly have to adjust the programming due to shift changes and special events. I also need to research and record my weekly countdown show. Then there are sales calls to make and then scheduling the commercials we have. There are reports that need to be generated which we send to our royalty management company, too.

3. You launched playing classics from the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s and moved to the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s. Which decade, based on feedback, has the most rabid fans?

We constantly survey our listeners. One thing we heard consistently was that they wanted less of the ’60s and more of the ’90s. The ’70s seemed to be the most popular decade. Our listeners really prefer that decade the most and the requests or positive feedback we regularly get are mostly for the ’70s. We haven’t given up playing songs from the ’60s, however. Our “Super Solid Gold Sunday Night” show with Bob Perry has a mix of music from the ’50s and ’60s and we also have “Psychedelic ’60s” show with Kay Marshall every Sunday as well.

4. What is a policy or issue you’re following this summer at either the state or national level, and what impact could it have on your business?

We were hit hard with increasing royalties fees just as the rest of our fellow webcasters this past year. There was some legislation in Congress to curb these fees but nothing came of it. It really has put a strain on our budget, which is basically very little. All of our talent is volunteer. We sell advertising to cover royalty, streaming and equipment costs. Some streaming stations had to shut down due to the increase in fees. It’s based on listenership. The more listeners you have, the more you pay. There is an internet station in San Francisco which has a lot of listeners and they were threatened with having to shut down because of the increase in fees.

5. Where do you want to see the station in five years?

I would like to see us competing with terrestrial radio stations and being on an even ground with them. Local radio that broadcasts in the traditional way is still the easiest to access, but that is changing. Vehicles are becoming Wi-Fi enabled which means streaming stations will be easier. Listeners will have the world at the tips of your fingers in your vehicle just like they do now with their smartphones and computers. I’d like to keep the local touch (weather, news, local features, etc.) however.

6. If you received a $1 million grant tomorrow, no strings attached, what would you invest it in?

I would either build or purchase a building for the radio station, upgrade our equipment and add new software to our system. I think I’d also pursue getting a local transmitting frequency for the area to broadcast in the traditional format, too.

It would be cool to treat all my volunteers to a trip to a tropical island for a huge weekend party where we could broadcast live from and let loose. All except for Kevin Daniels, my station manager. He likes it cold, so I’d have to send him to Alaska or someplace similar . . .

Six Questions for the CEO is a monthly feature on the faces and names that keep business interesting. Contact staff writer Kathryn Skelton at kskelton@sunjournal.com.

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