George, Mo, and Erik, KILT-FM, Houston Charlie’s First Day at School

This week it’s all about character development.  You’re in radio and can’t bring your kid to school on her first day in third grade.  What to do?  You could talk about it and listeners will relate to your struggles.  Or, you can put your humanity on full display by calling your kid.  On George, Mo, and Erik, KILT-FM, Houston, Erik has never taken his young daughter to school because he’s always been on-the-air.  So they got Charlie on so Erik could talk with her as she heads off for day one.  None of this content is revolutionary.  But it is strategic.  At the end of the break, what do you learn about how Erik is as a father?  Listen to the very human interaction between them (and later when his wife comes on the show).  You peek into their relationship and get a true sense of who Erik is as a person, dad, and husband.  His humanity is on full display.  There’s your big win in character development.  It’s all about connection.

Logan and Sadie, WINK-FM, Ft. Myers, FL My All-Time Favorite Teacher

Our Monday Morning Free Idea this week is a simple one!  With school going back in session everywhere over the next few weeks, reminisce on your favorite teachers.  Who did you have while in school who had a lasting impact on how you turned out as an adult?  With all the negativity in the world, this one is so easy.  Grab that teacher, have them on, and tell them why they have stayed with you all these years.  It’s positive content that will resonate with your fans.  In the process, listeners will get to know you (great character development) and the teacher will tell fun stories about how you were as a student.  Then flip things and let listeners tell you similar stories from their past.  A great example of this comes from Logan and Sadie, WINK-FM, Ft. Myers, FL.

Hawkeye in the Morning, KSCS, Dallas Celebrates 35 Years

I’ve never been a big fan of talent sharing milestones on the air because I don’t think the audience cares.  The one I hear a lot is “today’s my birthday!”.  Think about how you react when a co-worker says that.  You usually space out because it’s not about you.  So I wonder why talent do that.  There are exceptions to that rule if you focus on the audience.  That’s when your milestone is huge (you might be a beloved talent) or if there is a true listener win.  Such is the case with my friend, Hawkeye in the Morning, KSCS, Dallas, who just celebrated being on the station for 35 years.  This is a milestone that works because he’s adored by the audience.  Knowing there should be a listener win, too, his team created a story line to celebrate him by making a statue of Hawkeye they wanted to put outside the building.  The problem is the building is owned by Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks.  Here’s your listener benefit:  they get Mark Cuban on to seek permission.  They also get Dallas Cowboys icon Troy Aikman to call the show, too.  Listen to both breaks as Hawkeye focuses on Cuban and Aikman who, in return, congratulate him.  This is smart, listener-focused radio.

 

Kira and Logan, WOKQ, Portsmouth, NH Let Me Tell My Story.

I’ve talked previously about breaks highlighting where shows heard great stories of something magical someone did and then recanting that person’s story on their show.  This might be good content for you to share with your fans what you read, but telling someone else’s story is a B-minus treatment of that content.  You will certainly be able to convey the facts well of that story, but it will miss any emotional impact because you didn’t live it.  That’s why, when you tell someone else’s story, it’s best to get them to tell it.  Then all you have to do is be inquisitive for them to give you the details.  This week’s example of great execution of this concept belongs to Kira and Logan, WOKQ, Portsmouth, NH where they talked to a local gal who saved someone’s life on the beach.  Listen and feel this because of how they did it.

Spencer’s Neighborhood, 106.5, The Arch, St. Louis First Five Notes

You will never lose when you tie your show back to the music brand of your radio station.  Some shows are silos – they never talk about the music or the artists.  I’ve always believed that that’s a mistake as you should acclimate yourself into the larger station brand.  In some respects, listeners choose your show because of you and the content you do.  In many ways, they choose your station because of the music you play, too.  Here’s a fun game called The First Five Notes played on Spencer’s Neighborhood, 106.5 The Arch, St. Louis several years ago.  The listener would choose from the cast who they wanted to play against.  Then another in the room would play the first five notes of a song on the station.  First to identify the artist or song get the point.  Simple, yet effective for tying you back to the radio station.

Logan and Sadie, WINK-FM, Fort Myers, FL The Graduation Letter Twist

In some breaks you get the expected.  You have a general sense where the break is going and that’s okay.  In others, though, it helps to plan an unexpected pivot that will capture the imagination of the audience.  That’s what’s done in this break from Logan and Sadie, WINK-FM, Fort Myers, FL.  Logan has two kids and his youngest daughter was graduating from high school a few months ago.  The expected came in the letter Logan wrote and read to his daughter about her milestone on-the-air.  So many of us have done that in radio.  It’s touching, human, character building, and expected.  Then, in our brainstorm to create a moment of something unexpected, we decided to give Logan’s son, Gabe, a chance for a rebuttal to the letter Logan read his daughter.  Great breaks happen when you prep them through.  This is the expected and unexpected and becomes memorable as a result.

George, Mo, and Erik, KILT-FM, Houston We Need A New Area Code

Know how I know an idea is great?  I’m jealous I didn’t think of it.  Curiosity fuels creativity.  In a brainstorm, asking the “I wonder…” question leads to well, wonderful places.  Such is the case with George, Mo, and Erik, KILT-FM, Houston and this week’s audio.  The team learned that Houston will need another area code next year because of population growth.  I wonder how area codes are decided?  I wonder who makes those decisions?  Those are two of the “wonder” questions they pondered so they explored them.  The show first talked to someone nationally who approves new area codes.  That person told them to call the Texas Utilities Commission, which they did in the second segment.  The show first lobbied for 468, as that spells HOU.  It’s taken in Canada.  So they opened the phones and a listener suggested 489  which spells HTX.  All the way around, this is local, relevant, creative, and fun because it came from the wonder of the team.  I give this an A+.

Mark and NeanderPaul, KSLX, Phoenix The Tide Pod Controversy

The frivolous always wins and tends to be the stickiest content.  Proven here by Mark and NeanderPaul, KSLX, Phoenix.  The show got into a conversation about the right number of Tide Pods one should use with a load of laundry.  All coming from a conversation Mark had with his wife.  This became a short term story line on the show, as proven by this break.  Some things to hear:  the caller wanting the update happens very quickly in the break to grab the listener.  Then Paul is smart and does a reset for listeners who are unaware of what’s going on (very smart).  They then push the narrative forward with another caller plus a quick Q&A with a co-worker who helped advance things.  The structure of all of our breaks needs to be like this so the three minutes of content feels shorter.  The other very important thing to note is how stressful the world is so a controversy about something silly like how many Tide Pods to use with a load of laundry will be remembered.

 

Thunder and PT, 102.9 The Wolf, Minneapolis Taylor Swift’s Valentine Line

Our audio this week highlights the best way to solicit for listeners when you want them to do something creative to win a prize.  Last February, Thunder and PT, 102.9 The Wolf, Minneapolis had Taylor Swift tickets to give out.  Her tour was in town and it happened to be Valentine’s month so they brought both topics together, which is brilliant.  The idea was asking listeners to leave Taylor a love message on their Valentine Line – the purpose being to generate audio for the show (content) with the best winning the tickets.  The smart move here was Thunder doing his Valentine so those wishing to enter would know what they were looking for.  This break is fun for those not entering (a very important point) and instructive to those who will.  Guess what they got over the next few weeks?  Fun entries from listeners because they gave an example of what they wanted instead of just explaining it.

Karen Carson with Johnny Minge and Intern Anthony, WNEW-FM, New York City Hey It’s Father’s Day

Relevancy almost always is being topical.  What are the big topics today and what are you doing with them to create fun and capture the imagination of your audience so they come back for more the next day?  This weekend we celebrate Father’s Day and Karen Carson with Johnny Minge and Intern Anthony, WNEW-FM, New York City are all over it, as is evidenced by these two breaks from this past week.  I love the first because it’s never been done before, which makes it unique.  Karen hadn’t bought her dad a gift yet so Johnny and Anthony got him on to quiz him about much he knows about her.  Each correct answer netted a dollar amount Karen had to spend on his gift.  While done before, the second and third breaks are two dads telling dad jokes.  They’re included because they’re just so damn funny.