Archive for month: August, 2017

Much of the content you do is correlated to where your relationship is with the audience. Younger shows do more character development so the audience can get to know you faster than older shows (who are probably better defined).  At The Josie Dye Show, Indie 88, Toronto, we want the cast better known to the audience as they’re a traditional Stage One program (the audience knows very little about them).  One morning, Josie wondered where she was conceived.  So to create a moment listeners would lean in to, she called her always-entertaining mother to ask.  On other breaks, she had the rest of the cast do the same and then they did a few listeners with their parents in a recurring one-week idea.  This was never dirty, but rose to the level of “can’t miss” because it was vulnerable and quite revealing.  Here’s the break where Josie talks to her mom.

Kim Jong Un is in the news.  Looks like he wants to nuke Guam and the rest of the United States. For any show, getting North Korea’s leader for an interview is a total coup.  WDRV, Chicago’s Sherman and Tingle worked it hard and Un called their show to talk about the state of things.  Well actually, it’s his translator.  Looks like Kim knows lots about how bad Chicago traffic is, wants to annihilate the awful freeways around town, uses the station app to listen to his favorite classic rock, and has deep affection for the station midday talent, the iconic Bob Stroud.  Great shows do perishable content.  Breaks with topics cut from today’s headlines and done in a sticky, unique, memorable way, always work.  This show will continue to win because what they do on the show today would feel very dated if done next week.  That’s good.  Enjoy Kim Jong Un and his translator on The Drive’s morning show.

The stickiest stuff you can do on your show is tell a story about yourself.  Especially one with tension and drama.  We connect by telling stories to each other.  Stories define us and allow those listening to see themselves in you.  Stylz and Roman, US 99, Chicago, tell great, relatable stories about themselves.  Doug Stylz is an adult male (over 40, married, with a kid).  Getting a tattoo should be no problem, right?  Not to his conservative parents, who’ve always frowned on it.  Listen as Doug becomes a kid again as he breaks the news to his parents (his father walks out of the house in disgust).  Then a second break the day after where Justin, Doug’s on-air partner, calls his parents to smooth things over.  This is very real, very relatable, and very much fun as the listeners identify with Doug’s dilemma and drama.  This is the kind of storytelling and content that listeners define talent through and hold on to for a long time.  Both breaks are below.