Archive for month: April, 2020

A challenge for every show, regardless of market size, is getting phone calls early in the program. We all have smaller audiences then and listeners are less inclined to call a show and participate in any game or phone topic you might have.  What could help is focusing the phones on a specific type of listeners.  Two Men and a Mom, WRAL-FM, Raleigh know that, while most of the audience is getting up and ready for work or school (when in session) at that early hour, they are not inclined to call.  But an audience on the road and more ripe to participate in a radio show is truckers.  So they direct this occasional phone topic at them, asking truckers to call to tell them what they’re hauling.  It’s a simple way to generate some content early in the show on the phones – the win comes in the conversation, then the payoff of finding out what’s in their truck and where they’re bringing it.

One quick way to get phones is to ask the audience to help you solve a dilemma.  That’s reflected in this week’s Free Idea.  The TJ Show, AMP 103.3, Boston gets this, too.  Loren from the show enjoyed a delicious cupcake given to her by a listener.  This wasn’t your ordinary, average cupcake.  It was a cupcake a cut above anything else she’d every had.  One thing this show does quite well is find these quirky content items and, instead of them just being one on-air break where they talk about it, they make it something much bigger.  Like Loren giving out all the details, then asking listeners to help find the person who made the cupcake so they could have more, even moving this to talk with that person once they figure out who it is.  This is a narrative in real time, across a period of the show, with the payoff of the conversation.  Setup-details-payoff (beginning-middle-end), which is the perfect structure for all breaks.  Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David understood the power of taking something small and turning it into unique content.  This show does, too.

Doing things in real time is always powerful.  Beloved local weatherman Scott Haney went missing from his TV station in Hartford, CT.  Scott’s the guy you have in your market who’s known and beloved by all.  Christine and Salt, 96.5 TIC-FM, Hartford know Scott, too.  He’s been on their show and helped them with content many times.  Calling Scott offline, they found out that Scott and his doctors feared he was infected with the coronavirus.  Scott was doing the weather from his home, so viewers knew what was going on with him, too (the power of character development and vulnerability – the audience caring about you is amazing).  Scott consented, once the results came in, to reveal them to Christine and Salt’s audience, as well.  A powerful moment and payoff to a narrative that resonated with them.  Hear the reveal below – then find stories happening in real time for your show and bring the audience in, too.