Spring is here which means that lots of listeners will be doing spring cleaning. You should, too. Cull through your crap at home and bring those items in you don’t know what to do with. Describe an item to the audience and open those phones for listeners to say whether you should Take It (back to the house to keep) or Toss It (in the trash).
Easter chocolate is the lowest form of chocolate around. Go grab an Easter bunny chocolate, a Hershey’s bar, and some Godiva. Invite some co-workers into the station kitchen and do a blind-folded taste test to see if they can choose which is which. You’ll have a great video for social media and, if the people are fun (and they should be if you choose the fun people), terrific audio to use on-air to get listeners to go watch it.
We’re about to the turn the corner and prom season will be here. High school kids will be awkwardly asking for dates and going to the yearly school tradition. Unique character development would be if each person on the show finds the prom date of another cast member and gets them on the program. Learn about the cast member from their high school prom date!
Easter isn’t too far off. The Celebrity Peep is a fun, interactive bit you can do that will engage and intrigue listeners. Find a local celebrity everyone knows. Fill their mouth with peeps. Then have them read something. Play it for the audience. The first listener to guess the “celebrity peep” wins.
Variety is the spice of life! You should always have a ton of fun ideas that can be used on the show to keep the program fresh. Name That Accent is where you invite listeners with accents to call (or better – tape them ahead of time). Each person reads the directions on how to use a common household product and callers have to say where that person is from.
For St. Patrick’s Day, find someone with an Irish accent and have them be your live booth announcer that morning. They’ll talk the show into spots and back to content. They can read sponsorships and do your teases.
With St. Patrick’s Day not far off, do a topical parody of a classic radio bit where two people act out the scene of a movie with listeners guessing the movie. Find two people with Irish brogues, pitch up their voices, and call it Leprechaun Theater.
What does each of us do when someone gives us their home address? We head to Zillow to see what it’s worth! There’s content there! Have listeners call with the address of their childhood home. Head to Zillow and tell them what it’s worth today!
Phone topics are either very broad (everyone can relate and has a similar story) or they are very narrow (few have stories, but those you get will be great). There’s never a downside to adding to the arsenal of ideas you can use when there isn’t much else going on. Who Did You Sue invites listeners who’ve sued someone to call and tell you that story.
If you can get your hands on a couple of spa packages, do Spice Up Your Spouse for Valentine’s Day. Let female listeners call to complain about how their partner has given up on the holiday when it comes to gifts. Choose one and give each a spa package to spice things up.