Kick-Ass Audio Breaks

How do you meld two topics together that fuse character development with pop culture?  Ask Karen Carson in the Morning with Johnny Minge and Intern Anthony, WNEW-FM, New York.  Intern Anthony was to get married.  We told the audience one of his high school friends dropped out of the reception because of Covid so there were two seats available at Table 8 with his cousins.  The show decided to invite Aaron Rogers, who’s now playing for the NY Jets.  To get listeners involved, they told them Anthony put a question in the invitation only Aaron would know and asked them to guess it.  They said if Aaron didn’t accept, from those who guessed the right question (fish or meat?), one would take his place if his fiance said yes.  Here’s a break of guesses and Anthony’s fiance saying no!

This week it’s all about character development.  You’re in radio and can’t bring your kid to school on her first day in third grade.  What to do?  You could talk about it and listeners will relate to your struggles.  Or, you can put your humanity on full display by calling your kid.  On George, Mo, and Erik, KILT-FM, Houston, Erik has never taken his young daughter to school because he’s always been on-the-air.  So they got Charlie on so Erik could talk with her as she heads off for day one.  None of this content is revolutionary.  But it is strategic.  At the end of the break, what do you learn about how Erik is as a father?  Listen to the very human interaction between them (and later when his wife comes on the show).  You peek into their relationship and get a true sense of who Erik is as a person, dad, and husband.  His humanity is on full display.  There’s your big win in character development.  It’s all about connection.