Hot List July 31, 2017

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Summer Vacations

The Mooch

Taylor Swift

North Korea

The Emoji Movie

Miss Teen USA Pageant

Princess Diana

Tesla

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Justin Bieber

A Boa Constrictor Is On My Face

Hacking Voting Machines

R. Kelly

Mayweather – McGregor Fight

Game of Thrones

E Cigarettes

Mariah Carey

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106.5 The Arch, Spencer Dates an Ex-Con

Relationships content might be the most universal you can do.  Everyone has relationships so it’s very relatable and connective.  At Spencer’s Neighborhood, 106.5 The Arch, St. Louis, Spencer was complaining about the number of first dates he’s had that never became second dates.  He wondered what he was doing wrong.  So his partners, Cassiday and Brando, ventured to find out by setting him up on a series of dates.  We know we needed a twist to hook the audience so we added two big elements to this idea.  The first was to wrap it up with an on-air “focus group” of the women Spencer had dates with for honest feedback.  We believed that act of vulnerability would humanize Spencer and vibe with the audience.  We also decided we needed a certain type of woman to capture the imagination of the audience.  In our brainstorm, we decided that one kind of woman who would be very open and unfiltered were women who’d been to prison.  So we “cast” for ex-cons, adding the edge that helped this relationships idea cut through.  Here’s a supportive break where the team asked a relationships expert how Spencer should handle himself on these dates.

The Weather, Whose Fault?

The next week you have unbelievable temperatures in your market, know someone is to blame.  But who?  Ask the audience to vote on social media which of your local TV meteorologists is responsible.  If they’re willing, have all the chief meteorologists on to convince the audience to NOT vote them (it’s not THEIR fault!).  Then at the end of the bad weather, reveal who the audience thinks is to blame.

Nice Girls Reading Naughty Jokes

The marrying of opposites sometimes creates great humor.  Go find a bunch of naughty jokes (dirty, but that can be told on-the-air) and ask a bunch of nice sounding girls to read them in a new feature called Nice Girls Reading Naughty Jokes.  Thanks to Mark and Neanderpaul, KSLX, Phoenix for this idea.

WRAL-FM, Raleigh Coach K Chooses His Team

We embarked on a community service project with Two Men and a Mom, MIX 101.5, Raleigh this past week.  One of their yearly causes is Backpack Buddies, where they ask the audience to donate things for backpacks for underprivileged kids going back to school.  Instead of the standard pitch, we decided to pit Team Men verses Team Mom to play off the name of the show. Part of that was to get local celebrities to call in and pledge to a team believing the guys would pledge to Team Men and the women would join Team Mom.  The show scored an interview with the iconic Coach K from Duke, which is in the market.  Here’s his interview.  The entire goal is to build support for the day we gather the items, creating a fun and friendly competition in the process to help define the cast.  You might be surprised at the team Coach K chose, showcasing his excellent sense of compassion and humor in the process.

Hot List July 24, 2017

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Summer Vacations

British Open

Shark Week

Pardon Power

Russia

Linkin Park

Sean Spicer

Game of Thrones

John Heard

OJ Simpson

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Michael Phelps

Princes William and Harry

Comic Con

Kevin Hart

Justin Bieber

Scotty McCreery

Lamar Odom

Taylor Swift

Jada Pinkett Smith

Prince George

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KHTH Taco Quest

Stacey K & JonahProduction values against quirky ideas make them stand out.  Stacey K and Jonah at HOT 101.7, Santa Rosa, CA embarked on Taco Quest 2016 after Jonah admitted to the room he did not like tacos.  Who doesn’t like tacos???  So, we went to find the market’s best tacos over the course of one week.  Listeners gave suggestions, they went for lunch buying tacos for those who showed up, all in an effort to convert Jonah into a taco lover.  There are a few things to point out in the structure of this short break:  the taco jingle they use close to the top of the break sets the table for the silly that follows.  Understanding that the audience responds to “visual cues”, they also include in the break a quick interview with the winner of the market’s best tacos as well as the audio they use just after, giving him the coveted ten tacos rating.  When designing a break, having other elements inside keeps its energy level high and offers the audience opportunities to get reinvigorated if the conversation starts to drag.  Breaks designed like this don’t feel as long as they are because of that.

OJ’s Parole Hearing

OJ Simpson is scheduled for his parole hearing on Thursday of this week.  Reportedly, ESPN swill carry it live.  Ever wonder what happens in a parole hearing?  Find someone who’s been in one (as a convict or not) and explore it.  It might be fascinating to listeners to hear the story.

Hot List July 17, 2017

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Summer Vacations

Beyonce’s Twins

Donald Trump, Jr.

Russia

Game of Thrones

Wimbledon

DMX

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OJ Simpson’s Parole Hearing

War for the Planet of the Apes

Aaron Carter

Emmy Nominations

Blac Chyna

British Open

Oprah Winfrey

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Power, 106, Los Angeles R U Down?

Every show need a signature feature.  Its defining moment.  The one thing it does that forces audience to turn the show on because it’s habitual.  You’re better off, as a strategy, if you do this feature more often.  Which is why The Cruz Show, Power 106, Los Angeles, does R U Down, its version of the highly rated prank call, every hour on the tens.  Shows tend to get very nervous airing a bit like this so often, but remember two important things:  PPM is about occasions and occasions are usually tied to creating appointments.  Also, listeners come to the show and stay for just a few minutes – so the tactic of doing a signature feature once an hour will rarely work against you if it’s that entertaining.  The other thing to consider is to figure out your most unique, highly entertaining benchmark, and worry about burning it in, instead of being worried about burning it out.   Build appointments in your show and you’ll tend to get more occasions – central to a winning recipe.