While the TV show “Last Comic Standing” is long gone from NBC’s line-up, there’s no reason you can’t take a week in the fall book and still do a parody. How about “Last Preacher Standing”? Preachers are not know for their senses of humor. Find a few and have a weeklong competition to find your market’s funniest preacher!
Karson and Kennedy, MIX 104.1, Boston, did something different after their long July Fourth holiday. They each kept an audio diary of things they did throughout the weekend. The goal was to air a mish-mash of audio, all of it reflective of what listeners were doing, too. Here’s their compilation break, aired on their first show back, which is also character building.
A tactical move that works to move listeners from one quarter hour to the next (or compels them to wonder what they missed if they had to leave the show) is to craft a narrative arc that entertains and intrigues, pushing people to the next break. In this arc, as done by John and Tammy, KSON, San Diego, Tammy had a surprise the rest of the show did not know. In the three breaks below, you’ll hear how it was designed. In break one, Tammy offered up three potential secrets, asking the show and listeners to guess, based on knowing her. In break two, she reveals the actual secret (and yes, it is character building). In the final break, you get audience reaction to the reveal. This was perfectly executed to hook listeners.
Ty Loves, New York, 92.3 NOW, New York City, has come up with an interesting way to use Vine to entertain its database of fans in a feature called “The Vine at Nine”. They solicit listeners asking what cast member they want to see do a silly Vine video that day. Vine videos only last seven seconds. The cast member then does the video and at 9:00 that morning, and the link is posted and shared on all the show’s social media sites. This works because it’s silly, it’s quick, and it’s another gross impression with their audience to keep them engaged in the program.
Breaks and benchmarks need to be strategic. They need to define a cast member and/or affirm a central image important to building loyalty. At Drex and Maney, KISS 95.1, Charlotte, we just added “Who’s Who at 6:42” as a regular benchmark. The caller is given a one-sentence story about something that happened to a cast member. The listener must guess who it happened to (there’s your character development). If they guess correctly they win. A silly production value affirms the image we’re after (fun).
One of the things most hated about the internet is how crafty sites have become at forcing you to watch a 30-second ad before the video clip you really want to see. Talking about this on a recent conference call, The J Show, B96, Chicago noted how much they loved how YouTube handles this by letting you skip the ad after just five seconds. They then wondered if a business could actually grab someone’s attention in five seconds. So they challenged Chicago business owners and workers to call the show to do that. If they didn’t say something which grabbed them or was provocative about their business in five seconds, they got buzzed out in a feature called “Skip That Ad”. It’s a local and fun break.
Many shows use their first break to do a laundry list of what’s coming on the program that day. These end up being worthless breaks because most listeners won’t ever come back (they really won’t). What they’re looking for is the same thing they want from any and every break; relatable content that’s entertaining. So here’s an idea, specifically for Monday shows, that will cover those needs. It’s called “Whose Weekend?” You guys throw out an interesting thing that happened to a cast member (“this person broke their ankle after falling from a ladder while changing a light bulb in the kitchen”). The audience then guesses who it is, that cast member tells the story, then you’ve used the break to strategically define a cast member and entertain.