For even more inspiration, check out these breaks from my clients—and get a taste for what I bring to the proverbial table with my talent coaching.
Want me to show your team how to strategically develop kick-ass content that turns listeners into raving fans?
WNOU Kal Stiffs a Server
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.
WPGC Alicia Keys Calls a Record Store
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!
WZLX September Sex
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.
WQYK What Did Bob Buckhorn Have for Breakfast
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.
KMVQ: Who Ruined Your Wedding
The very best, most entertaining phone topics satisfy two criteria. First they must originate from an experience a member of the show has. That’s the justification to do it (verses it being perceived as a generic, prep service topic). The second is that what you ask for must be stories. Inside stories, there’s rich detail and twist and turns that will keep listeners hooked because the show has something to mine for gold. A member of Fernando and Greg, NOW 99.7, San Francisco, went to a wedding which was ruined by an invited guest. Here are the fun phones they did around it.