Tony and Kris, WIVK, Knoxville That’s All I Need to Know About You
Tony and Kris, WIVK, Knoxville do a daily feature called That’s All I Need to Know About You. Each of us make daily, private judgments about people when we see them do something we think is stupid. The guys are great observationalists and this plays off that strength. Considering that real life is a treasure trove of terrific content, they offer up some inane thing they saw someone do and then tag on the hook line, “that’s all I need to know about you.” The show then flips and asks the audience to call in with theirs, highlighting more content from listeners’ everyday lives. This makes the program more relatable and more fun because listeners can go off on the inanity around them with others tuning in nodding yes and laughing along, heightening our relatable and authenticity images.

Sometimes, little things become big things. Consider the mystery faced by Sarah and Jessie, MIX 96.5, Houston back in December. Someone sent Sarah Pepper a self-help book from Amazon. The only problem? No one copped to it. There wasn’t any receipt or note with the delivery acknowledging who sent it. Small things can become big things. And those big things can become defining things! Sarah and Jessie set off to find out who sent the book and who thinks Sarah Pepper needs some help! A question I often ask in a prep session to talent is: what do you wonder about this? Wonderment is a great place to start to come up with something creative. They wondered if Sarah Frazier, Audacy’s market manager (and someone close personally to Sarah Pepper), sent it. Ms. Frazier is always money on the air. So they called her to ask. Resulting in this tiny thing (getting a book from an unknown person) into a bigger, stickier thing, considering how much fun the conversation was.
Just coming off two years of Covid, with so many people isolated from the world except for what they had on Zooms, there is a general sense of isolation and loneliness. Here’s where radio has shined. Our ability to connect with listeners is unparalleled. That’s why so many in the audience feel like they know us. You must have that for this break to happen. Kyle, Bryan, and Sarah, WRAL-FM, Raleigh have a vibe about their show where they root for people. That’s who they are in real life, which is why it so easily transfers on-air. This is a very simple phone topic that gets immensely human and personal. A listener is starting a diet because she’s tired of how she looks. The show becomes very supportive of her. That’s when she cries in front of them. Because she knows they’re rooting for her. Do you have that kind of relationship with your audience?