Archive for category: Planet Reynolds

What’s it like to listen to 7-8 hours of morning radio each day?  Well, you’ll need to sit with me each morning to find out.  Each show gets one hour of listening so I can get a sense of what they’re up to.

The goal for any show and any talent is to conquer content and create connection.  One of the most satisfying aspects of coaching is when I hear talent do that effortlessly.

Many of these shows are mine, some aren’t.  That’s where this list comes in.  There are certain small things shows do that, at the end of the day, have a minimal impact on their perceptions and ratings.  But enough to catch my ear and become a pet peeve.  I released volume one which you can find here.

It’s time for a fresh ten we’ll call volume two:

1. Reading texts and Facebook posts instead of curating listener phone calls. I know that’s how many listeners interact with shows now, but we still must craft breaks that sparkle with more than chatter. Hearing other listeners voices do that.
2. Teasing what prizes you have to win. There’s very limited appeal to that tease.  Promoting your content will impact 100% of your audience. They come for content.  Not to win something.
3. Changing something about your show because you got a few complaints online. Those four people might be wrong.
4. The phrase “everyone loves it”.  Unless you’ve surveyed 100% of your fans, that could be wrong, too.  Not to discount that those people do love “it” but that doesn’t mean everyone does.  Everyone is not five people.  Another vote for being strategic.
5. Things like tweaking your processing or getting new jingles or sweepers and believing they will change the perceptions of your show and the ratings will go up. Not that you shouldn’t update your presentation, but doing it doesn’t have the impact some think it does.
6. Shows that think they should move their benchmarks around so lots of people hear them. That’s a solid mistake to make.  You can’t groom an appointment at a certain time and then take that bowl of ice cream away from those who make that feature part of their daily routine.
7. Use of first-person words (I, me, mine). I have this to give out; I’m going to do this next; Call me now.  It should be:  We have this to give out.  Call us now.  We’re going to do this next.  Your story or opinion is first person.  All else is collective.  Don’t send the signal to your teammates that it’s your show.  What we do is ours.
8. Shows that air guests (callers or interviews) and then dominate the conversation. Once the guest or caller comes on, they should be the center-of-the-universe.
9. Talent who rarely say the name of the show or station on the back side of the break. You just did a great content.  Remind the audience who did it, so you get the credit!
10. Shows that forget there are tons of people checking them out for the first time every morning. Do resets so they feel a part of the family as a first-time listener.  I recently listened to a show for the first time that had two guys as the co-hosts.  Their names are very similar.  I left a few hours later not knowing who was who.  Not good.  The anchors on Eyewitness News in your market have been there for decades.  They still reset their newscast coming out of commercials.  You’d be shocked at the number of tenured shows that forget this.

I know you’ll be excited to hear I have enough for future collections.  Have one?  Let me know here.

The BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front):  The new year brings an appropriate moment to re-affirm your content strategy and clean up your show for a better listener experience that results in higher ratings.

Why It Matters:  We are not in the radio business anymore.  We are in the experience business.  Years ago, Best Buy was awful to enter.  Salespeople hovered because they were on commission.  The stores were dingy and old.  They were on the road to becoming the next Circuit City.  Then, they got smart.  They redesigned the stores to be brighter, installed interactive areas, and took the salespeople (who all knew we’d just go to Amazon to buy whatever we were looking for) off commission so they were there to genuinely help.  They improved their in-store experience so we enjoyed going there.  We need to do the same.

Ever open that catch-all drawer in your kitchen looking for the menu to the Chinese restaurant only to wade through zillions of paperclips, pens and rubber bands, scissors and coupons, and 14 other menus?  The start of a new year is a great time to clean it out, so things are streamlined and what’s left matters and stands out.

If you are a Brand Manager or leader of a show, here’s Part 1 of things to work on.  I’ll do half now and the balance in the next Planet Reynolds.

What You’re All About:

• Everyone might have a different sense of your content strategy. With time we lose focus of things like this.  Affirm it so everyone is on the same page.
• Do a short listener profile so you know your target audience, discussing, too, how their values match yours.
• Understand why the audience comes to you. What are they looking for when they turn you on?  How are you at delivering that?

Review Character Development:

• What are the attributes of each person on the show – the major connection points they offer to develop loyalty with a like-minded group of listeners?
• How are the cast members different from one another? Especially if you have two people of the same gender, how do you help them create separate personas?
• How do you generate story-based personal content to drive who you are? How can that be elevated to get more so you become a personality-driven show?

Playing the Hits:

Content must be strategically chosen. Where will you find that?  Planet Reynolds readers know I believe four areas are best:

• • Pop Culture (because pop = popular = familiar).
  • What’s up locally if you are a live and local show?
  • The appropriate parts of your life so the audience can connect with you.
  • Music-based content so you are part of the larger station brand and not siloed.
    

Benchmarks and Icons:

• Review your benchmarks and features. If your benchmarks have been on for a while, should you update their presentation, so they have a fresh coat of paint?
• What new features can you add to the show in 2025, so your fans are always getting a fresh, innovative product?
• What’s iconic about your brand? If a focus group were done on your show, what 1-2 items would come up unaided by typical listeners in the room?  How do you help make that happen?
• How do you make your show’s signature feature even bigger? That’s not about the prize you attach to it (if a game) but how do you increase its exposure so more people know about it?

The 15-Second Game:

Let’s play a fun game to wrap up Part 1.  Grab ten random breaks from last week’s shows and listen to only the first 15-seconds of each, then stop the audio.  Is enough done in those 15 seconds that would compel listeners to stay for another fifteen seconds?  In other words, are you doing content by then or forcing the audience to wade through paperclips, pens, and tons of menus?  If the morass of up-front promotion and process chatter stands in the way of getting to actual content (the reason the listeners come), clean it up.

That’s enough for now.

Part 2 comes next where we’ll cover promotion of your show, its imaging, show prep, your digital efforts, and a street campaign.

I do this because I want radio to be an epic, unique choice for listeners.  If you have questions on the above, feel free to reach out here.  Doesn’t matter to me if I work with you or not because I believe in radio.

Just before the holiday break, on a morning when I had some extra time, I decided to check out some shows I’ve been hearing about.  One placed, in a prominent content slot, celebrity birthdays.  Not that I think this could work anywhere, I felt it was time, as we conclude the year, for a list of pet peeves – the things I hear some shows do that I believe ding them.

Great personality radio is about Conquering Content and Creating Connection.  Check out our first installment of Steve’s Pet Peeves (Volume 1).  These are the little things I hear some shows do that I think are minor mistakes that, when added up, could impact their perceptions (and yes, if you’re wondering, there will be other installments!).

The things some shows do that bug me:

1. Taking the first break of the show and telling the audience what’s coming up on the show that day (doing a rundown of that day’s content). It’s 6:05.  I’m not coming back because you have tickets to give out at 7:20 or are doing that phone topic at 7:50 or have an email from a listener with relationships drama at 8:15.  I’m here now, connect with and entertain me now.
2. Lists and surveys and National Theme Days. There are lower forms of content, but this is prep service-driven lazy radio.
3. Birthdays and This Date in History. Now, that’s the lowest form of content.  My goal in radio is to rid every show still doing this, who believe the audience cares.  They don’t.  We can be better.
4. Talent who answer the phones on-the-air, “Hi, who’s this?” You don’t answer your phone that way when you pick up, right?  It sounds immensely impersonal.  Get their name and then introduce them to the audience.  It’s much more warm and human.
5. Tie breakers in trivia games. All that does it make the break longer without making it more entertaining.
6. “What station just made you a winner?”  You know who asks questions like that?  DJs do.  You’re a real person, not a DJ.
7. Happy Hump Day. See #6.
8. Social media posts where talent show how wonderful their life is. The perfect meal, the excellent seat at the game, the most wonderful vacation, a first-class seat, your new 65″ flat panel TV.  Your listeners aren’t leading that kind of life, so doing this is a disconnect.
9. Talking about any TV show is always perilous (most of your audience doesn’t watch that show you’re talking about). But doing it and not running any audio so I have context to your comments puts listeners not watching that show you’re so excited about at a disadvantage.
10. Breaks where someone makes a simple mistake (like slipping up on a word or accidentally saying it’s 9:13 when it’s really 7:13) and then that mistake becoming the next sixty seconds of the break. Listeners aren’t hanging on your mistake so just move on and get to the real content.

If you do one or two of the above, not fixing them won’t make your ratings go down.  Fixing them won’t make the ratings go up.  But in our quest for excellence, every second counts with the audience.

You got a pet peeve for a future installment?  Email it to me here.

A couple of weeks ago, former Coach Tim Walz asked me to sit next to him at a high school football game in my hometown of Raleigh – he bought me popcorn.  JD Vance stopped over last week to see if I owned any cats.  Kamala’s coming by on Thursday for coffee (I hear she likes a splash of hazelnut).  Trump wants me to stop by the Applebee’s on Hillsborough Street next week to look at some discounted watches.

I live in one of the seven purple states that will decide who the next president will be.  They are here All.  The.  Time.  Asking for my vote.  It’s powerful to be a purple person!

Retail politics (showing up and asking for the vote) is something we’ve gotten away from in radio.  It’s now a powerful differentiator for shows and stations that truly are live and local.  Having actual eye contact, shaking the hands of fans and asking those who aren’t to try out your show.

If you’re a talent who desperately wants to win even more, create space with your competitor with a year-long commitment to meeting fans and would-be listeners in your market.

Here’s what I’d love you to consider:  develop a 2025 campaign to do just that.  Maybe call it One Hundred Thousand High Fives or Fifty Thousand Fist Bumps.  Or come up with your own name.  Then bring it to sales to find a title sponsor so they can make some money (you’ll be more valuable to the cluster if you do).  Then commit to do it twice a month.

Do you need to actually fist bump 50,000 people?  Nope.  But craft in-person appearances to meet as many people as you can.  Your competitor won’t and it will be a difference-maker for you.

Hint:  don’t ask them to come to you.  The “I’ll be at Jiffy Lube this Saturday from 9-11” won’t work.  Ain’t no one going out of their way just to meet you.  Instead, where are people you can go to?  Set up outside an arena before a big game or concert.  Find the busiest intersection with foot traffic and go there at lunch for a half hour.

I know we ask a lot of you as talent.  And I also know what you’re thinking.  You won’t be paid for this. But meeting as many people as you can (wherever they are) and asking them to give you a shot works.  That makes you more powerful as a talent because of the higher ratings and revenue opportunity you created.  Those will be your wins.

I’m not sure who’ll get North Carolina’s 16 electoral votes.  But whoever does, it’ll be because they were here a lot paying attention to us purple people.

You do that, too, and watch what happens.

Apple has new devices for sale.  Even though they’re one of the world’s most recognizable brands, they’ll still market the hell out of them.

This week, let’s tackle marketing your morning show.  No, I’m not gonna suggest you buy a TV campaign and billboards (even though they could probably use them).  You don’t have the resources, and I know that.  So, I’ll save the space.

But let’s engage on how you use your station to promote your premiere talent and their shows.  Namely, promos.

I love when brand managers decide to run promos.  The question I always ask is:  what are you going to promote?  What’s our marketing message?  I tend to get back a mish mash of everything:

“Let’s promote their next day’s content.”  Or “we’ll talk about the prizes they have to give out.”  Or “we should do some character development outside the daypart, so the audience knows who’s on the show.”  I get several other suggestions.  None with a strategic theme that helps the show win.

I’ve learned much over the years about show promos.  My thinking on this has evolved more than anything else associated with its success.  Let me wade through all the options.  Most of them are promo no no’s.  I’ll land on the one I think is most viable.

1. Let’s promote the plot of the show. This is a “promo no” because this is too esoteric for the audience to get.  It’s just words to those hearing it.  They must consume the plot in action to feel it.  Think:  if you saw a promo that Seinfeld was “the show about nothing” you’d scratch your head.  But watch it and you get it.
2. Let’s promote our characters. This is a “promo no”, even with clips.  It’s so hard to feel someone in the short time allotted to promos.  How can I get what you’re all about in a 20 second clip from the show?  I really need to hear the story or break in real time to get a sense of who you are.
3. Let’s have the station voice tell the audience how fun and real the show is. This is a “promo no”.  I worry all the audience hears is hype and hyperbole.
4. Let’s tell the audience the content they’ll do tomorrow. This is a “promo no” because free flowing content breaks are not appointment listening.  One minute after you’ve told them, thousands of other messages bombard their brain and they’ve forgotten what you said.  And anyway, it’s not likely I’m coming back tomorrow because you’re doing a phone topic at 7:30 or will read that letter about the relationships drama at 8:15.  If you’re really, really, really doing something unique and special tomorrow, this doesn’t apply – promote that!
5. Let’s promote the prizes you can win tomorrow. This is a “promo definitely no”.  That promo talks to only contest players, which is about 2% of your audience.  We need to worry about earning images with the other 98% and that’s about content.
6. Let’s run clips of the show to reinforce images. Hmmm…I’ll take it.  Any promo that proves via clips how fun things are, how real the talent is, how relevant the content is, or how unique/different the show is will work.
7. Let’s promote the show’s signature feature – the guaranteed moment everyone loves and is entertained by. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.  We have a winner!  Every show needs to be known for something.  If your signature feature works then promote the hell out of it every hour.  Burn it in further.  Make sure 100% of your cume knows of this fun daily benchmark.  The more who know, the better your images, the more tune-ins.

Promos can play to one’s head (“we’re going to do this thing tomorrow at this time”) or one’s heart (I have an emotional reaction).  Play to their hearts with promos.  Make them feel something so it resonates:  I don’t like the brand of car I drive.  I love it.  My laptop doesn’t just get the job done.  I love my MacBook Pro.  Go for that.

Human beings are not logical creatures.  We are emotional beings.  Emotional attachment forms relationships. Continue to build your one thing and make me feel it.  I promise it’ll work.

Number seven is the smartest route because every positive image earned from a signature feature transfers to the show.  If the feature is fun and relevant, so is your talent.

Good things come to people who focus.  If we do a combo of the above, none of it will stick (and much of it is non-strategic).  But if we put all the klieg lights on one thing (your big thing), then it stands its best chance of cutting through, being remembered, and having a positive impact for you and the show.