There is no such thing as a podcast name or radio show name generator – pop your topic in – get a cool name out. That would be an absolute dream! In reality it requires thought, creativity and the knowledge of knowing where you’re going.
Podcast Name Ideas
The first key is to make sure that the podcast name means something – gives your potential listener a glimpse into what your show is about.
Good vs. Bad Podcast Show Names
The World of Table Hockey is a good name for a podcast that talks about table hockey. It tells you exactly what is going to be spoken about in the podcast. The initial ideas for this podcast name included The World Table Hockey Association and even though it is a podcast by the association it is not about the association. Another idea was to initial the podcast TWTHA which, from a listener point of view, would be terrible to understand.
Juicing Radio is an example of a great podcast name as it’s easy to understand that you’ll hear about juicing and health in this podcast vs an initial suggestions like the Running on Juice Podcast which could apply to topics like running or even cars!
The Clean Comedy Podcast says exactly what you’ll get in the podcast in the show name. It is a clean comedy podcast by our friend Daniel J. Lewis which was previously known as The Ramen Noodle (which is an example of a name that leaves the podcast topic to your imagination).
If you name your podcast obviously you may also benefit from ranking well in search engines for those keywords. This will help your podcast to be discovered by people searching for your niche topic.
Changing the name of your podcast in the future is a no go zone for your branding according to Izabela. If you realise now the name is not a good one you can make it slightly better by selecting a great tag line.
Radio Station Names
A good example is our local radio station Isle of Wight Radio. It is completely obvious that this is a local radio station for our island. Radio station naming allows for more abstract names. Think of brands such as Heart, Kiss, Mercury FM, Sea FM, The Edge and more. It’s tough to know what music a radio station plays from the name alone. Izabela suggests perhaps a more obvious name like Electro Jungle for fans of electronic music.
Radio Station Call Letters
I mention to Izabela that radio station call letters such as KABC and WNBC are a legal requirement in the US. Izabela says that they mean nothing to the listener – why on earth would radio stations use call letters?! Maybe you have an opinion on that? Let us know in the comments.
Radio Station Imaging
Make sure the name is then reflected in your sound. If for example you are called Electro Jungle – your imaging could be a mixture of electronic music and jungle sounds. The logo could have a jungle theme with fancy, exotic writing. Which just points out the importance of thinking about the big picture when it comes to radio station or radio show names!
Things To Think About When Naming
Here’s Izabela’s radio and podcast name suggestion cheat sheet.
- Who are your listeners and why would you like them to tune in?
- Try to find a unique name that will reflect the your ethos, culture and values. Something that I will immediately know what I am to expect. Be focused on your niche/area of expertiese. You will never please all.
- When you select the name run it past some family and friends. Ask them to tell you what is the first thing they think of when hearing it.
- Make the name easy to remember.
- Check if anyone else is using the same name.
- See if the dot com is available along with at least the Facebook and Twitter names too – you must be consistent on all accounts here.
- Think of overall branding strategy – what do you want to be known for?
How To Check If Your Name Idea Is Taken
Go to Google and type in the name idea you have but make sure you enclose it in quotation marks. Like this, “Music Radio Creative”. If you get some matching results you’ll need to have a rethink as you surely don’t want the same name as another person or organization is already using.
You should also check if the domain name is available. Go to a domain registrar like GoDaddy and type your idea in to the search and find out if the dot com domain is available.
Keep Your Name Consistent Online
Get the domain name for your podcast, radio show or station and make sure to keep your social media vanity URLs the same too. This helps to keep your online and offline brand consistent.
What If My Name Is In Use?
What would you do if you discovered your podcast or radio show name or slogan is already in use or that someone else has started using it? Let us know in the comments to this episode!
Love the pod Guys I think the station name we have is just what you have been talking about we are called Ridge Radio (Community Station) because we are serving the 21 towns and villages of Tandridge.
Great info as always
Cheers
Thanks Bob and that is such a great radio station name. I love clever, local names and Ridge Radio is just that 😉
sure i will do
I agree with Isabella, who needs Call Letters! But, it can be used as a great way to remember the station. For example: we are GGEC Radio. GGEC stands for Go Get ‘Em Crew. We go and get our listeners to have fun with us, playing a variety of music.
Thanks for listening and commenting. Those call letters are pretty cool!
Thanks King! I love the way your station has done something creative to make them sound less boring 🙂
FTC or CRTC (or related) depending on USA or Canada. each radio transmitter needs to broadcast their station ID on regular bases. Some sing it, a station comes on and says “we are but our friends call us “.
Armature Radio (Ham radio) operators repeaters/towers send out the beep/bop morse code on a regular basis for station ID as required by law.
What If My Name Is In Use?
Which happened! Though it was a different subject all together, I chose to add a variation to it. Launch Pod became Launch Pod Radio. But, recently I have a new issue that I am working on, someone has done the same to me. Only, there subject is similar in nature! Now I have a potential conflict as I have been marketing this for more than a year. Raises the question of (TM) Trademarking! (0; JC
Thanks for the comment Jeremy. It certainly does raise the question of what can you do to protect your name? Great discussion for a future episode. Thanks 🙂
hi guys love the podcast and thank you for the menchenn! i musn’t of realised that station had that slogan untill i listened to there jingles so what would you like me to do change the slogan
also mike i have got thee new microphone and hedset and mic stand but not sure how the mic fits on to the stand
any tips and tricks you have i would appreciate them
thanks
liam
You’re welcome Liam!
Drop me an email with your setup and let’s see if I can help in any way. Thanks.
hi mike
i have sorted it and i havrercorded the demo so ill send it to you
thanks
liam
Radio Station Call Letters: I think Morse Code is kewl but I don’t want to understand it to listen to my radio station. I’m not a fan of call letters (signs) in the civilian world. I did all that in the military. If the radio station didn’t add a noun or verb before the call letter (number or sign), I couldn’t tell you what station I was listening too.
With the new wave of podcasting and high tech vehicles, perhaps radio stations will move away from that way of cataloging. My widgets have a search screen where I start typing in a name and magic happens – I get to where I want to go – quickly. It starts with a noun, verb or adjective
Naming & Google Tips – I didn’t know about the quotation marks for searches. I’ll use that for work. Thanks.
I’ve seen a few podcasters drop the “s” in their title. The edit was slight and barely noticeable. When local businesses change their name, the first thing I think of “it’s under new ownership – so something didn’t work before.” I would only change the name of a business (podcast) if I was going into a completely new direction, legally and financially directed to do so, or to serve my customers better.
Izabela’s question from Liam – notwithstanding potential legal issues some approaches could be
1. Stick with it and Go Strong: Make the name & tag line (slogan) so popular it “wins” the race
2. Massage it: Improve your current slogan but keep it short and follow all communications with that slogan taking lead
3. New Ownership: If you can’t be #1 and its hurting business then go to 2 or re-launch. Like stated above, it’s a must to let the audience know what is going on. Build anticipation and give out delicious hors d’oeuvres to the open house
Though it’s an old (1995) article, I think Seth Godin’s one on: “The New Rules of Naming” is still relevant. As to legal issues, since this is the “World Wide Web,” I have no idea if legal issues are directed by the country or the domain Following the money probably dictates that ruling. Since I’ve heard this issue brought up a few times in other podcasts, I did a random look see and these two resources offer some insights:
Lawyers dot com on “Domain Name Hijacking” (article & video)
Creative Commons Wiki “Podcasting Legal Guide – Rules for the Revolution”
As always, super content & entertaining show ~ I’m sure you or YODA will address this one again
Many thanks for your comments and agreeing with me on call letters! That’s 2:0 now btw Mike 🙂
Also thank you for answering Liam’s question – I am sure he will be grateful to read it too. Some great info there.
So I’m trying to start my own online radio station, but I have no ideas whatsoever on what to call it!! Someone help?! I was wanting it to be something to do with space and stars and stuff like that… and ideas??
I can tell u . how u can start
Am still confused unable to choose a good name… hmmm
I’m creating a sports podcast. I will have guests including coaches, professional and college sports coverage, giving tips for amateur sports enthusiasts and other sports commentary. Any ideas on potential names? I wrote a weekly column for a newspaper a few years back and the name of it was “The Sportsgrind” but didn’t know if this was a good name or not. Any feedback would be awesome.
Thanks,
Jeff
If anyone want to make a online radio station . you can contact with me . you can broadcasting from your home and your android phone .
Email : abushaid.sheik@gmail.com
Can someone could help me to think a better radio station? Please for my school requirement..
Thank you…