What is the best method for setting up my new station?

Hello all..
First off, let me say that I am a new to the world of internet radio broadcasting, but am no stranger to audio production, media, and technology. I'm an experienced audio engineer, media designer, post-production supervisor, and digital media specialist. That said, for the past several months, I have been developing a concept and plan for a mixed content radio show, in which I plan to take to the world of terrestrial radio in the bear future.
A local radio station is interested in giving my show a try, if I can go for a month or so independently online, to show that we can continue to produce consistent quality in programming.
So...long story short, here is my dillema..

I have experience with a lot of pro audio applications, but have never been involved with any internet radio broadcasts in the past. For the most part, I am familiar with the process, but I have yet to find a method to accomplish everything I plan to include with my show.

Here is what I am looking for:
-The ability to offer both Live Talk and play music from my library.
-Cue live sound effects during talk segments.
-Play audio clips during talk portion (news bytes, pre-recorded interviews, etc)
-Allow musical requests from listeners
-Receive and broadcast live telephone calls from listeners on air.
-Mix and broadcast multiple live microphones from my studio (for interviewing guests, live musical performances, co-hosts, etc)
-Ability to pre-record shows and broadcast them at scheduled times
**Id prefer a standalone computer application that would allow me to do all of this (For Mac OSX 10.6), which I would hope, could then send my final output to whichever server I choose, and broadcast.

-Now...when it comes to servers, Im hoping someone could also make a good suggestion that would fit what Im looking to do. Free servers are great, but I dont mind paying a little bit if its worth it.

-Also...Im not as worried about music licensing, because the majority of the music our station will be playing has been sent to us by independent artists looking for airplay.

So.....Im sorry for all of my "newbie" questions...but Im hoping some of you experienced veterans can throw me a life line and send me in the right direction. We have a great show planned, and I would love to find the right software and the right servers/sites to broadcast it!

Many thanks for all your help!
Cheers!

Automation

My recommendation for an automation system would be Sam Broadcaster. It is going to let you do pretty much everything that you listed. Along with a USB audio interface, you will be able to hook up a mixer directly to the computer and get to mix multiple microphones and other audio sources. You will be able to set up full 24 hour automation when needed, too. (*Edited by Support as we do not allow any links to our competitors). The only downside is Sam doesn't have a good instruction manual, it's more a learn as you go, be sure to check the tip of the day and even go through all of them because that saved my ass a couple times when I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong.

Hi NBattistone,

Firstly, welcome to the Internet Radio forums. 8)

With our radio servers you can stream live shows and also with our 'AutoDJ' feature you can have an automated playlist of your music library for when you are not streaming live. These playlists can then be scheduled to play your pre-recorded shows as and when required. The following 'Beginners Guide' may also be of some assistance to you in getting started with Internet Radio.

As mentioned by Aradioguy89 above, Sam Broadcaster is probably your best option for all of this and will provide the features that you require, with this you would not really require our additional 'AutoDJ' feature either. But unfortunately the big problem for you here is that it is Windows only. Now, you could get around this though by running Windows on your Mac by using "Boot Camp".

As also mentioned, you will definitely require a good audio interface, a mixing desk with plenty of inputs and decent microphones in order to broadcast talkshows and live musical performances, but as you are an experienced audio engineer we are sure that you are more than aware of this already. To set this up for incoming phonecalls is perhaps a little bit more tricky, but it can be done, we would however recommend perhaps considering / looking into Skype as an option for this.

In our servers control panels we provide code snippets for a "Song Request" widget that you can copy into your website that will email you any listeners song requests. In regards to licensing, we can only recommend that you have a read of the following FAQ: http://forum.internet-radio.com/faq/10-do-i-need-license.html

We hope this helps? Please feel free to just ask if you have any more questions or if there is anything more that we can assist you with at all, thank you.