Karson and Kennedy, MIX 104.1, Boston with Make Your Mess Your Message

I love shows that own their shit!  Some radio talent want to paint the most perfect picture of themselves.  What do listeners want to be around but flawed, human beings.  When you slip and fall, it’s always smart to run towards it for content, as it makes you mortal to them and, like it would happen in real life, draws fans closer.  Take Karson and Kennedy, MIX 104.1, Boston.  Karson had promised in December to attend a local Christmas tree lighting.  As the ceremony started, the organizers called to find out where he was.  He wasn’t even close as he’d forgotten to put it in his calendar.  What did he do on the next show?  Brought them on to apologize.  He owned it, took his beating, his teammates made fun of him, and the organizers let him off the hook.  And the audience loved him even more for all of it.  As the title above suggests, if you have a mess, make that your message.

Chris and Dina, WMAS-FM, Springfield, MA with Are We Rick Rolling

Rick Astley is having a birthday and, because Rick Rolling is a thing, Chris and Dina, WMAS-FM, Springfield, MA created content from it.  You’d never know how many artists actually sound like Rick Astley.  They grabbed the hooks of several songs.  Some of them Rick and some not.  The listener had to correctly guess if they were being Rick Rolled when they heard the hook.  I love several things about this idea:  it’s music and hit-oriented and there’s never a downside to do something musically.  The audience is playing along because this is vicarious.  And who’s not singing as the hooks are playing because all the songs are familiar.  Familiarity is really critical when people wake up so you can help acclimate them into the day.  All around a simple and effective idea.

Thunder and PT, 102.9 The Wolf, Minneapolis with Farmalee for Parmalee

Laura Ries wrote a great book on how to name things called Battlecry.  It’s a short but very instructional on how to name products.  It’s worth your time if looking to name a new benchmark or even a one-and-done game.  Often, when stuck, I’ll use RhymeZone to see what words in the English language rhyme with a primary word around what I’m doing.  Taking both of these to heart are Thunder and PT, 102.9, Minneapolis.  The team recently had Parmalee tickets to give out.  They came up with a clever name called Farmalee for Parmalee (rhyming is one of the techniques discussed in Laura’s book).  They substituted a farm animal for a word in a hit song by the country group.  Listeners had to identify the missing word to win.

Chris and Dina, WMAS-FM, Springfield, MA with The Stolen Car

Sometimes listeners bring stories filled with drama.  What makes the best stories memorable are details of tension that advance them to conclusion.  Watch any great TV show or movie and this is the technique script writers use to hook us quickly and keep us on the edge of our seats so we stay until the end.  Chris and Dina, WMAS-FM, Springfield, MA had one such experience in their Feel Good feature when a caller told them that he solved the case of a stolen car in the neighborhood by accessing the cameras outside his house.  When he found out a neighbor’s car was taken outside his home, he looked at the footage to help the cops nab the culprit.  What we’re given is a compelling story of high drama and humanity of one person helping another.  This is memorable content.

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.

Kira and Logan, WOKQ, Portsmouth, NH with The Tribe

Every show has an issue with phones.  Listeners aren’t calling to participate in phone topics or games like they used to.  The reason is obvious:  they can interact with their favorite shows in other ways (texting, social media) and they’re simply too busy to phone in.  When we talk about using listeners to help a break sparkle, there are other ways to do this past opening the phones.  Kira and Logan, WOKQ, Portsmouth, NH have assembled The Tribe.  These are the opinionated and fun co-workers in their building.  They’ve figured out all the ways they will need other voices to elevate a content break early in the week.  Then assemble The Tribe in a studio and ask them to participate.  Here’s an example of them doing this.  Airing something like this actually makes the phones ring more.  It’s a simple way to make content more than just the team talking with one another so those not calling in are entertained.