Why My iPhone Bores Me in August, But Excites Me in September

I’m reminded each September why I go from being blasé about my iPhone to loving it again. Apple knows we bore easily so they update the software every September when they introduce new devices. And voila, the phone in my pocket does all new things which makes me play with it more.

What’s to learn from this for your talent?

I often ask personalities the same question: what new features or things have you added to your program so your audience doesn’t get bored, and you create an opportunity across the street? We’re in the relationships business, developing a bond with listeners to breed loyalty. One of the most efficient ways to lose that relationship is to never do anything new. Think of your significant other. If you never brought anything new to that relationship, the other person might lose interest. It’s that ethos we need our talent to bring their shows.

New features and ideas are not getting rid of the benchmarks or features that work. It’s using the same core content choices (pop culture, local stuff, stories in your life that define your character) and doing something never done before so your fans stay fascinated, and you remain “can’t miss”.

My iPhone does the same things I’ve always expected, but each September it does new stuff that reengages me and makes me love it all over again. For your show, it’s all about the treatment of the highly familiar content you’re already doing.

Let’s learn from Apple. Take an inventory of what your show does. The things that make listeners loyal because they come for you and your content. Review what works and fits and what might not. Then develop new ideas and, in your brainstorming, figure what could be fresh, so they don’t stray. Remember, the nightly talk shows hosts are always doing new stuff, so fans keep tuning in. That’s gotta be us, too.

Don’t be so predictable listeners get bored with what you’re doing.

Everything evolves. Staying still isn’t an option if you wanna stay relevant and in growth mode. In the face of all that competition for attention, that’s the move that’s epic.

Out For Blood

With Halloween a month away, let’s make the community better with Out For Blood.  Find out the the one-day record for blood donations at your local Red Cross.  Then aim to beat it in one day the week of Halloween, claiming you’re Out For Blood.  Bonus points if someone from the show dresses as Dracula and you transport them in a casket and ambulance to the Red Cross location to donate the first pint.

 

Sarah and Jessie, MIX 96.5, Houston with Positively Pepper

Good news features work.  In a world of drama and negativity, doing a feature that is the opposite is a really good idea.  It accrues an image that is very important.  Almost everyone does this.  Positioning it is important so you own in.  “Good News” is a bland and boring name.  In Houston, Sarah Pepper and Jessie Watt, MIX 96.5, Houston just added a feature called Positively Pepper.  Naming a feature after a cast member defines that cast member.  If done right, it resonates with the audience.  Our core emphasis for this feature, besides defining Sarah, is to make sure the audience shares their good news so we can tell them how much we’re rooting for them.  It ends with Sarah’s daughter, Parker, offering an affirmation.  This is another unique thing about the feature so it’s all ours.

Karen Carson with Johnny Minge and Intern Anthony, WNEW-FM, New York City with Will Aaron Rogers Come To My Wedding.

How do you meld two topics together that fuse character development with pop culture?  Ask Karen Carson in the Morning with Johnny Minge and Intern Anthony, WNEW-FM, New York.  Intern Anthony was to get married.  We told the audience one of his high school friends dropped out of the reception because of Covid so there were two seats available at Table 8 with his cousins.  The show decided to invite Aaron Rogers, who’s now playing for the NY Jets.  To get listeners involved, they told them Anthony put a question in the invitation only Aaron would know and asked them to guess it.  They said if Aaron didn’t accept, from those who guessed the right question (fish or meat?), one would take his place if his fiance said yes.  Here’s a break of guesses and Anthony’s fiance saying no!

Billy the Weather Kid

With schools back in session, why not find a cute kid who comes on each morning to tell other kids the weather for the day and how to dress for school?  I don’t have to point out that you name the feature after them and not call them Billy, right?  🙄

The Luke Combover

Do you have country music star Luke Combs coming to your market and have tickets to give out?  Do the Luke Combover.  Edit several short clips of Luke Combs hits back-to-back.  First listener to guess every song in the Combover wins.  This lovely bit of cleverness was shared by Brian, Chrissy, and Matty at WGNA, Albany.

Mark and NeanderPaul, KSLX, Phoenix Dogs in Strollers

See what listeners don’t.  Jerry Seinfeld made a career creating comedy from the small things he saw in life and then made us laugh around it.  Did the gal on your first date move around everything in her salad on the plate before she picked up some of it with her fork?  That’s observational humor.  From observational humor, we get real life content, which helps you connect with the audience and prove you’re just like them.  Which leads to Mark and NeanderPaul, KSLX, Phoenix.  These guys excelled at seeing small stuff and making it big content when they were on the radio station.  In this week’s segment, they go off on dogs in strollers, which leads to Mark telling a story about seeing at a restaurant a different kind of animal, also in a stroller.