Anna and Raven, Star 99.9, Bridgeport, CT with the Biden-Trump Debate Bets

With politics now ramping up as a potential Hot List topic, you can consider using it as a foundation for content for the show.  The threading of this needle needs to be precise so it’s not commentary or you advocating for a candidate (so it isn’t polarizing).  Plus, it’s important to maintain the goal – entertaining the audience.  With the Trump-Biden debate a few weeks ago, Anna and Raven, Star 99.9, Bridgeport, CT took on the challenge of crafting unique content around the topic without touching that third rail.  In a brainstorm, we realized that people like to bet and there were probably weird bets happening that night on the debate, too.  Here’s an interview with a betting parlor owner on just that angle.  It wasn’t about politics, but was about something attached to the debate that created the relevance.

George, Mo, and Eric, 100.3 The Bull, Houston with Mo Knows Country

Something very easily missed (and sometimes dismissed) is you integrating your show into the radio station’s music brand.  Some shows rarely even mention the music.  I’ve always thought that that’s a bad move.  So a challenge with this week’s audio.  What can you do to improve on that? When you do, you send important signals to the audience that you’re a part of a larger product than just your show.  It could be as simple as mentioning the artists and titles of songs you play.  Or it could be doing content centered around the music.  George, Mo, and Eric, 100.3 The Bull, Houston have a daily feature called Mo Knows Country.  It’s like the trivia feature many shows play, but the questions bring the show into the music brand of the station.  A very smart move.

Karson and Kennedy, MIX 104.1, Boston with What Are You Doing This Weekend?

Sometimes, we make radio much harder than it should be.  I always preach to shows that something that aids your win is when you are more interested on the audience than you want them to be on you.  Focusing on your fan’s lives or their stories (after you share yours) is storytelling that other listeners are engaged by.  Case-in-point is what Karson and Kennedy, MIX 104.1, Boston do each Friday.  They ask the audience what they’re doing this weekend (a question we all ask our co-workers and friends on Fridays).  Through some phone screening, the best ones are aired and a few people, doing really interesting things, are brought back on Monday to hear how it went.  Don’t make this so hard – Friday shows can be gimmes if you focus on your fans.

Chris and the Crew, WPST, Trenton, NJ with the Carrot Snap Controversy

The moral of this story is that silly and frivolous wins.  In a world of seemingly always weighty topics, the sillier you are, the more the topic is retained sometimes.  Enter Chris and the Crew, WPST, Trenton, NJ.  Have you ever been to a grocery store and broken off part of a package of things because you didn’t need all of it?  Some stores let you do that.  Here’s the dumbest.  A person who can’t afford a full carrot in the produce aisle, so they break it in half.  Is that okay to do?  Chris, Gianna, and Joe chat about it with wildly opposing opinions (good) and then ask the audience to chime in (very good).  Here’s the set-up break along with phone calls.

Christine and Salt, WTIC-FM, Hartford with Christine’s Dental Visit

How personally deep can you go with listeners?  What are you willing to share to move the audience to care about you?  When we care about something, we think more deeply about it and want to be around it.  On Christine and Salt, WTIC-FM, Hartford, the audience has been part of a conversation about Christine’s cancer over the years.  Christine has been deep and open about her medical challenges and struggles and draws strength from those listeners rooting for her.  Her cancer is back.  It was found by her dental hygienist during a regular oral cleaning.  In this segment, she visited her hygienist to share the news and recorded all of it so we felt like we were in the dentist’s lobby as it was discussed.  This is immensely personal and powerful on so many levels.  Would you be open to doing this?

Foxx and Annie, CBS-FM, New York City with Wishing Myself a Happy Birthday

The more intimate and personable vibe your show has, the greater chance you have connecting with the audience and moving them to a primary goal – feeling like they know you.  Such is one of our objectives with Foxx and Annie, CBS-FM, New York City.  The show is relatively new, having taken over when the iconic Scott Shannon retired several months ago.  I normally hate the reading of birthdays on-air.  I think it’s irrelevant content no one else cares about.  But this one was different.  It’s a listener calling to wish himself a happy birthday.  In the process, it’s quite apparent he knows and loves the show.  Plus he’s fun and reveals himself, heightening that intimacy, which is an image transferred to the show.

AD and Chris, KSHE, St. Louis with the Stray Rescue Recap

Get involved in life, and find stories for your show.  In the process, show your humanity to connect with the audience.  Such is the case with AD and Chris, KSHE, St. Louis.  AD was out of town with his wife two weeks ago.  While out on a walk from their Airbnb, they found a dog on the highway disheveled, thin, and scared.  Our cause on this show is pets.  AD took to the dog and brought him back to their rental.  He and his wife cleaned up the dog and brought him back to St. Louis and turned him over to one of the many animal shelters we partner with to do our Pet Projects.  This on-going narrative has been content for the show.  Here’s a conversation he had with the shelter to get an update on their efforts to find a forever home for the dog.  Human and real.  You leave with an absolute sense of what AD’s all about as a person.  Show that to your audience and you’ll win.

Karson and Kennedy, MIX 104.1, Boston with The Big Trial

With the Trump trial headed to a verdict, I suggested in last week’s Monday Morning Free Idea to engage listeners who’ve been on juries to find out what that was like.  You can tackle the Trump trial without ever talking about the ex-president so you don’t trigger the audience.  Karson and Kennedy, MIX 104.1, Boston took that challenge and asked listeners who’ve been on juries to tell them about their experience.  This is terrific story telling as everyone with an experience has a different one to share.  This highlights you don’t always have to be fun, but you must always be relevant and engaging.  Here’s a listener telling them about the trial where she judged someone’s fate.  This is “lean in” radio.

Chris and Dina, WMAS-FM, Springfield, MA with Mother’s Day Mayhem

Without friction, you don’t get any explosion!  That’s another way of saying if you don’t have conflict or tension, your story is less valuable to the audience, maybe even worthless.  When looking at the stories to tell on-air, ask if there’s a tension of opposing forces.  Mix those and then watch what happens.  As evidenced by Chris and Dina, WMAS-FM, Springfield, MA.  Back before Mother’s Day, they heard from a stay-at-home mom who wasn’t going to get a gift from her husband.  That’s moderate tension, as they wished her well.  On the next break, they heard from her husband who said she always complained and that he felt her being able to stay-at-home with the kids was a gift all itself.  Explosion.  How do you think the audience reacted?  Yup, that’s what happened.

Foxx and Annie, WCBS-FM, New York City with The 6:40 Feel Good

I’ve featured on this page examples of the positive news and content features done by many shows.  Research has proven over the years that this feature resonates with the audience because the world can be such a negative place.  I’ve always encouraged you to feature the good news from listeners instead of just finding good stories that you tell them.  What works is letting listeners talk about their favorite topic – themselves!  Foxx and Annie, WCBS-FM, New York City had a perfect example of this feature the other day in the 6:40 Feel Good when a listener called to boast about how she learned how to fix her washing machine from YouTube.  Listen to this break and hear the listener’s pride!