Archive for month: June, 2017

No one break will rocket any show to number one.   Growth is an incremental game of earning and affirming images that get you there.  Be fun, be different, be topical, be real and you’ll gain images that get you to stronger and stronger Nielsen numbers.  Here’s a break that does that. Mark and Neanderpaul, KSLX, Phoenix know that Adam West passing away is a relevant topic for their adult male audience.  Here’s how they seize the moment with this perishable topic (the topic will not be relevant the next week).  They gathered a list of iconic villains from the show and then made up a few.  They asked a listener to guess which ones were real and which were fake at a station event, which is great spice.  They then asked the same questions to a caller in the break, and pit the caller against the listener from the night before.  Humor comes in the made up villains names and the listeners’ reactions to them.  It’s completely vicarious, very much in the moment, had an intent to make those tuning in laugh, and earned those images noted above for growth.

There is no better way to connect with the audience then by telling a story.  Stories define us, entertain us, have elements which make them memorable, prove one’s authenticity, and are how we navigate relationships.  What is a great song, but a story?  What is an excellent TV show, but a story?  Bud and Broadway, New Country 92.3, St. Louis do self-deprecating quite well.  Jerry Broadway is always mocking the odd members of his family, including a subset he comically refers to as the “White Trash Division”.  He shares all their exploits, with their funny details, as the innocent bystander, shocked (but not shocked!) at what he’s witnessing.  This humorous vulnerability bonds him very efficiently to the audience because the story proves how real he is.  The audience is so disarmed, they so see themselves in this story, and they’re so entertained that Jerry stands out as a personality.