Audio

John and Tammy at KSON, San Diego, reflecting on kids going back to school last month, decided to test the honesty of teachers by playing “Plead the Fifth Grade”.  They got a fifth grade teacher on and then asked a series of questions escalating in their level of discomfort, to see how honest he’d be with them and the audience.  The teacher got one shot to “plead the fifth” and not answer the question.

The very best content comes from the hosts’ real life experiences.  Producer Kal on Kyle and Rachel, Radio NOW, Indianapolis, stiffed a waitress on her tip after ordering chicken fingers and not liking her attitude.  The morning team called him out and put Kal in the most uncomfortable spot when they “found” the waitress and had her talk to Kal on the show about why he did it.

Great interviews make people laugh.  This one does.  Karson & Kennedy at MIX 104.1, Boston do three terrific things in this interview with Gilbert Gottfried:  they get him to bring listeners inside on what it’s like to be the Aflac duck, they ask his opinion on the Tiger Woods situation, and they get him to be funny around his marriage.  Three simple, relevant things to create something that make people laugh.

Karson & Kennedy on MIX 104.1, Boston, developed their fun version of Seinfeld’s “The Marriage Ref”.  Their’s is called “The Dating Ump” and it’s very simple.  They get on a female listener who’s just had a first date with a guy.  They listen to her story about how the guy conducted himself, giving out “strikes” if he missteps during the date.  Once he gets three strikes, they suggest he’s lost his chance for a second date with her.  They then open the phones asking listeners for their advice.

Nothing is better than when a morning show does something fun and innovative that fits its brand image that the competitor wouldn’t think of doing.  Alicia Keys is making the rounds to promote her new CD.  Pablo and Free on WPGC, Washington not only did the standard Q&A, they had Alicia call a record store as a customer looking for a song she didn’t know the name of or the artist and that all she could do is sing the hook, which she does.  Of course, it’s her song!  The effort here is spectacular and created a break listeners walked away talking about!

A major shift we made on Karlson and McKenzie, WZLX, Boston’s very successful morning show a while back was to go more personal with the audience.  This is why we have relatives of the cast members on all the time.  Kevin Karlson’s in-laws celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, which is why he went around their party with a recorder asking people coming to celebrate how many times in September they had had sex.  It’s uncomfortable, unpredictable, and very funny.

Each morning at 7:30, we play “Big Fat Liar” with the cast of Gene and Julie on KVIL, Dallas. This is a character building break, where we get to know the talent. Each tells a one sentence story about themselves, only one person is lying.  The listener who correctly guesses who’s lying wins.  Here’s one which shows the chemistry of the team.  You always walk having had fun and having learned something about each member of the cast.  It’s edited down from what aired, but you’ll get the sense of how it’s played and how these guys create laughter with it.

Instead of doing a standard Q&A on interviews, Cledus, Dave, and Veronica at WQYK, Tampa do something different and fun.  They let listeners guess what the interviewee had for breakfast, then make that a part of their conversation.  This part humanizes the person being interviewed and is silly and fun, thus drawing listeners in to the interview because it’s different.  Here’s an interview they did using this approach with one of their local mayors.