For even more inspiration, check out these breaks from my clients—and get a taste for what I bring to the proverbial table with my talent coaching.
Want me to show your team how to strategically develop kick-ass content that turns listeners into raving fans?
The Josie Dye Show, Indie 88, Toronto Patriots Fans Get Their Cable Cut
With the Super Bowl coming in less than two weeks, here’s a classic idea you can do. The Josie Dye Show with Matt and Carlin, Indie 88, Toronto, deftly took the topic of the Super Bowl a few years back when the Patriots were in the game and created some mischievous drama. They called people in the New England area, introducing themselves as representatives of their cable company in Boston, and telling them that there would be no TV service Sunday evening between the hours of 5:00-8:00pm, right when the Patriots are playing. This was a fantastic concept on paper, easy to comprehend by the audience tuning in, very well executed, and garnered some classic reactions by Patriots fans expecting to see their team win their sixth Super Bowl.
The Daly/Migs Show, 99.9 KISW, Seattle with Cover Songs
We’ve talked before about the kinds of content that work best for your audience. As a reminder, they are: pop culture (because pop = popular), local content (if you’re not syndicated), and stories about you that prove you are just like the audience. Let me add a fourth, which tends to be over-looked. And that’s music-based content that brands you as part of the station. Often, shows ignore the music and this kind of content, creating a potential silo that you are not part of the station (which is based on music). Here’s the Daly/Migs Show, 99.9 KISW, Seattle showing how easy it is. They found a list of popular cover songs as done by artists in the format, and some groups that are local. All around a very relevant break that folds the show into the station brand. One note: they aren’t even twenty seconds into the break and the real content has already started with a cover song hook being played. That part is fantastic.
Matt, Gabe, and Captain Ron, KKWF (The Wolf), Seattle, with Billy Bob Silliness
What’s the audience looking for when they come to you? Certainly a connection. They want to be around people (and shows) that are real, authentic, genuine, and friendly. But they’re also looking for humor. Silly, entertaining, relatable breaks. Often, that comes in the topic you choose and then what you do with that topic. Matt McAllister, Gabe, and Captain Ron, The Wolf, Seattle, were talking about Billy Bob Thornton’s new TV show “Landman”. It’s perilous to talk about the TV show as most people haven’t heard of it, much less watched it. Hear how they broaden the appeal of this content by just talking about Billy Bob. And then, talk with him. This works because it’s obviously fake and the entire team is in on the joke. Stupid silliness, resulting in laughter and an important image for the show.
Karen Carson in the Morning, WNEW-FM, New York with Doughnuts at the Gym
Marry opposites and you get comedy. Humor happens when you do that. What are lots of people doing now that the holidays and all that eating are over? Trying to lose weight by crowding area gyms. In a brainstorm about opposites last year at this time, Karen Carson in the Morning with Johnny Minge and Intern Anthony, WNEW-FM, New York decided it might be fun to camp out at a gym close by the station and offer those leaving a doughnut just to see what they’d do. Here’s a compilation of the absurdity when Johnny did that. Great on-air content in the moment, but an even better video for social media (see it here), which still lives in their feeds and was viewed thousands of times because we married opposites to create the fun.
The Daly/Migs Show, 99.9 KISW, Seattle with Fun With the Mall Santa
It’s not just the topic you choose that makes the break relatable and memorable. It’s what you do with the topic that accomplishes that. To help make breaks sticky, think about what you could do with your chosen topics that would give the audience a unique, fun experience no other show in town would. Enter the Daly/Migs Show, 99.9 KISW, Seattle. Anything Christmas works now because….well, you know why. But these guys? Well, they went to a Seattle mall to interview a mall Santa. Great topic, excellent execution. And to heighten things further, in another break for the show, they had the mall Santa play their signature trivia game Beat Migs. Glorious all the way around.