Can you find a bunch of local musicians (or a band) and bring them in at some point this week to perform a few Christmas songs? Bill them as the Trans (Your State) Orchestra? The Trans Siberian Orchestra seems to be everywhere each Christmas and this might be a fun play on that.
I’m a fan of trivia games that allow the audience in cars, driving to work, to play along. I’ve featured many on these pages over the years. This one works not just because it accomplishes that but because its name is memorable and the trivia questions are cut from today’s headlines so it helps the show be contemporary. I also preach let’s be about now. Every trivia game must have its genre of trivia and this is about current events. Zog and Ivy Unleashed, Power 96, Miami play Trends with Benefits twice each morning to accrue those images and help define Ivy as the one on the show who’s tapped into whatever is going on in the world and in the market.
This is one of my favorite breaks ever as done by Karlson and McKenzie, WZLX, Boston. We were looking to find an edgy way to connect with the audience. The show, when on, had attitude and swagger and we wanted to channel that sense of humor into a holiday idea that would be much different than the standard fare phone topics most shows do around this time of year. Enter Scared Straight Santa. Everyone knows of the “scared straight” concept where prisoners scare kids into towing the line so they don’t end up in jail. We used that to keep misbehaving children in line for their parents or else Santa won’t show up. The first break was a call from a parent who told us how their kid was misbehaving. The next break (the one below) is when Pete McKenzie called back as Santa and challenged the kid to promise to be good. This hits all important images you should have: it’s fun, it’s real, it’s innovative, and it’s relatable.
If there’s one thing most people can’t do its properly gift wrap a present. Which is why you’ll assemble folks for The Great Gift Wrap Challenge. Bring in those people at the mall who professionally gift wrap presents to judge a competition amongst the most fun people at the station. See who wraps it best. You’ll have a great video for social media and audio for your show to entice people to go see it.