Kyle, Bryan, and Sarah, WRAL-FM, Raleigh with Love Him or List Him

There are tons of relationships features out there.  Some around forever (Second Date Update, War of the Roses).  Then there are new presentations.  Take Kyle, Bryan, and Sarah, WRAL-FM, Raleigh who do Love Him or List Him.  Yup, you’re right.  The name is close to the very popular HGTV show, Love It or List It.  That’s on purpose – there is such equity in the TV show name that to use something similar helps it cut through.  It follows the same pattern as all features like this.  Break #1 is the dilemma – a caller had a first date with someone and something happened which made them wonder if they should have a second date.  Callers chime in.  Then you go back with the advice.  Relationships content may be the most universal you can do.  It’s very relatable to everyone, because all of us are in all kinds of relationships.  Here’s a new, more contemporary frame to do a relationships feature if the others are taken in your market (plus the opening jingle is an ear worm).

Gregg, Freddy, and Danielle, MIX 104.1, Boston with Grams Jams

When you have a prize, you can do one of two things.  Take the easy (and lazy) way out by asking for caller ten.  Or you can create a fun idea that gets both a winner and (most importantly) earns you important perceptual images with the 98% of those tuning in who won’t call for a contest, but need their win, too.  And that’s a play-along game they can have fun hearing.  Gregg, Freddy, and Danielle, MIX 104.1, Boston’s afternoon show work hard at this, knowing that caller ten contests are meaningless chatter-that-doesn’t-matter to the vast majority of those who come for great content, a human connection, and to have a good time.  So, they developed a fun game called Gram’s Jams where Danielle’s grandmother reads a lyric of a song they play.  The correct caller gets the prize then they play Gram reading her lyrics over that part of the song.  A win not just for contest players, but for everyone else, too.

Zach and George, The Anderson Journal, WHBU-FM, Anderson, IN with George is a Lousy Driver

If you’re in a moment with high emotion, grab that phone and get audio of it.  That audio will aid you in telling the story on-the-air in a way that simply recounting it won’t.  Case-in-point is what was done by Zach Johnson and George Bremer, The Anderson Journal, WHBU-FM, Anderson, IN.  George is flawed as he’s a lousy driver.  The team was out on a remote.  Driving back to the station, Zach and the promotions/video team started to rib George about all his driving mishaps.  It was very disarming and exceptionally funny.  Which is why, instead of just re-living things on the next show, Zach got audio of the post-trip conversation in real time from the group.  Listen to all the emotion and laughter in this exchange and hear how much differently the break was because of it.  Always think:  is there an oppotrunity to get audio here because it wil make the break on our next show when we tell it better?

Karen, Johnny, and Anthony, WNEW-FM, New York with Maury Povich and the Baby Announcement

Coaching a new show this past week, they asked an important question:  how do we become our listeners Netflix?  When I probed what they meant, they told me they want to be top-of-mind when people wake up, much like many of us default, when wanting content on TV, to wonder what’s on Netflix.  It’s a fair ask.  My answer was Netflix has generated so much unique content that they occupy space in our heads for top shelf shows that must be watched.  What does that mean for you?  Once you identify the right topics for your show, focus much of your attention and creativity on what you will do with the topic that will create an experience for those listening where you accrue those images, too.  Intern Anthony and his wife are having a baby.  This is good character development content.  Now the question is how does Karen Carson in the Morning, WNEW-FM, New York City do the gender reveal to the audience so it’s talked about and remembered?  Well, they invite Maury Povich on to do the deed.

Chris and Dina, WMAS-FM, Springfield with The Bowl of Confessions

Character development comes in many forms.  When you share a story of something going on in your life, when you’re honest about your take on whatever topic you’re engaging on, and when you are completely vulnerable with the audience.  Strategic character development is the primary instigator of the connection you must form with the audience to build that relationship which leads to loyal listening.  “I feel like I know them,” is a powerful statement any listener can make which proves the connection is happening.  Here’s a unique character development bit as done by Chris and Dina, WMAS-FM, Springfield, MA called the Bowl of Confessions.  They brought into the studio a co-worker who pulled a slip of paper out of a bowl, which contains a statement he had or decide if it was true or a false.  All of it leading to me learning about Chris or Dina.  Listen as the chemistry drives the fun.

Zog and Ivy Unleashed, Power 96, Miami with Trends with Benefits

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.

Karlson and McKenzie, WZLX, Boston Scared Straight Santa

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.

Matt, Gabe, and Captain Ron, KKWF (The Wolf), Seattle with Operation K-9 Companion

You might be doing a community service project now to show your heart.  That’s a smart move to rally the audience to help you reach some goal to make the community a better place.  Listeners are searching for any reason to feel better about their town, those less fortunate, and themselves.  Your event probably does all of that.  Matt, Gabe, and Captain Ron, KKWF (The Wolf), Seattle just wrapped up their annual effort called Operation K-9 Companion where they ask the audience to help them buy and train service animals for soldiers who are home with PTSD.  Lots of country stations do this – it’s a great event.  This year, the team rallied their listeners to help them raise over $400,000 in one week.  That number is outstanding.  I reminded them that this week-long effort is not a fundraising event.  It’s a story-telling event.  Tell stories and you’ll motivate more people who are inclined to give to do so.  You’ll also elevate the images of your show with those who won’t.  Below are two stories told that showcase two very different emotions.  In the first, they surprise the woman who runs the organization with her mom, who beams with pride.  In the other, a soldier tells a tough story about how his service dog passed away.  Both stories have intense emotions, elevating things for the team.

Iris and Grizz, KSII, El Paso, TX with Content that Becomes the Tease

We tease content for two reasons:  to extend listening with a provocative, intriguing tease.  The other is to make listeners who must leave the show wonder so they’ll return the next day out of a fear of missing something.  Often we think of an effective tease as one or two sentences.  What happens when content becomes your tease?  Iris and Grizz, KSII, El Paso, TX recently combined the two efforts very effectively.  They have a daily benchmark where Iris gives pickup lines centered around the biggest topics of the day.  Pennies will no longer be minted so Iris writes lines around the topic, then opens the phones (ChatGPT can help with this).  Listen to them here do content and how their chemistry drives the break, which leads to the tease of the actual lines.  I’m laughing at this break, so I’ll stay for the next.

David, Sue, and Kendra, Magic 107.7, Boston with Sal and His Apple Trees

There is content all around you.  As you engage people at the station or in life, listen out for stories to tell and quirky characters to put on.  In Boston, Sal the Boss is a character on every show in the Audacy cluster.  Sal always brings great stories, a swagger and attitude, and a terrific sense of humor.  One of Sal’s passions is his apple trees.  Each fall, he picks his apples and gives them away to those at the stations.  So this year, David, Sue, and Kendra, Magic 107.7, Boston had him come in to talk about it.  They then blindfolded Sal, made him take bites of apples, and he had to identify the type of apple it was.  This was fun audio, but an ever better video for social media.  The audio is below and the video is here.