John and Tammy, KSON, San Diego All I Need To Know About You: Kids Edition
We do a fun daily feature on John and Tammy, KSON, San Diego called That’s All I Need to Know About You. It’s a simple, call-in benchmark where listeners phone you each morning, make mention of something they saw someone do that irritated them, and then tag on the line, “That’s all I need to know about you,” as a hook to remember it. Benchmarks deserve to be updated in how they’re done on occasion, but must always stay true to what they are by defintion. An example of this is David Letterman’s Top Ten List. While it stayed honest to what it was for almost thirty years (one category, ten punchlines), how they presented it to the audience evolved over time. And, at times, there were special versions of it. Which is what this is. When the need strikes to do something a little different with this regular feature, but keep it consistent, John and Tammy will do special kids versions. Consider doing that with your features, too. Here are two examples.
Lots of shows and stations give stuff out to help the ratings. Contesting has an immediate impact on them. We were presented with a unique challenge when management told The Josie Dye Show with Matt and Carlin, Indie 88, Toronto that we’d have $10,000 to give out every Friday. The only thing we’d been asked to preserve was that qualifiers needed to text to win throughout the week for a forced listening part of the promotion. The win in contesting is NOT what you have to give out. The true benefit comes in how you give out the prize because that will impact perceptions of the show for all those who don’t play contests, which is 98% of the audience. We have to engage them, make them laugh, and do it in a way that garners positive images. Instead of giving one of the random qualifiers the $10,000 each Friday, we put in a twist. The first name we called got $5,000 when they answered the phone. We then pulled a second qualifier and called them. If they answered, they got $5,000, too. But, if they didn’t answer, or it went to voicemail, the first person got all $10,000. Here’s one of the breaks. It was an awesome way to give out the money that we feel was fun for non-contest players to listen in on. The takeaway? Work super hard on how you give stuff out – always think how will this impact those who don’t care to win it?
Interviews suck! When they’re bad they do. But when you get the person you’re interviewing off their talking points or what they’re selling (tickets, web hits, books, product) and move them to reveal who they really are through a story, you add to the authenticity of both them and your show. That requires prep on your part. Karson and Kennedy, MIX 104.1, Boston has been open with the audience for years about the mental health challenges of cast members. That vulnerability draws the audience closer to you. So it’s appropriate, when they found out in prepping for an interview with artist Andy Grammer that Covid put him in therapy, to go there. Listen to how intimate and real the first part of this conversation is. How open and honest they are so that Andy is open and honest, too. Knowing who you are, preparing, and having the confidence to go there makes for a conversation you can’t get anywhere else.
One of radio’s many super powers is to tap into whatever is going on in the world. Being about the moment heightens our relevance and helps connect our listeners to the world. Facebook decides to change its name to Meta. What would happen if you already owned a tech company named Meta? What David vs. Goliath battle would come from that? Lexi and Banks, KUBL, Salt Lake City got right in the middle of this story by talking with a guy who is in just such a situation. Here’s a gentleman who built a company and trademarked its name Meta and now Facebook wants it. What we learn is that he’s in talks with Facebook to sell the name to them for $20,000,000. Relevance is one of our key images. Setting yourself in the middle of a story, in a most unique way like hearing how this gentleman is impacted by that move, creates distinct, different radio.
Sometimes a simple update to an old idea makes it new again. Everyone’s pitted awful Halloween candy against itself to get calls. That one has been around since Marconi invented radio. How do you update this so it’s different and fresh? Kyle, Bryan, and Sarah, WRAL-FM, Raleigh figured out a fix. First, they tied it into the World Series, making it double-topical. The World Series of Worst Halloween Candies. Great name. Then, they wrote parody scripts as though the candies were in a WWE contest to present the matchups to the audience so they voted on-air and on their social media channels. The over-the-top scripts, voiced by a Joe Buck parody, isn’t meant to fool the audience – it’s just there to elevate the idea. Their social media engagement was through the roof because of these elements. Here are two examples of what they used this week.
This is one of my all-time favorite breaks, done by the great Dave and Veronica, WQYK, Tampa several years ago. Dave was absolutely fearless and both had work ethics out the door. There was no idea we came up with that scared them, if they heard it in their head. With Halloween approaching, we wondered what it would be like to get local dignitaries to do their version of Vincent Price’s poem at the end of Michael Jackson’s Thriller. Knowing that there was a town hall meeting coming up in his building with the mayor of St. Pete, Dave decided to show up and ask the mayor to do it in front of a room full of people. The room had a righteous what-the-hell-is-going-on-here reaction when Dave took the mic. The mayor was confused, too. But he played along in this impressive break that no one else thought to do. The St. Pete mayor does Thriller. Go be different around the big topics. Think about the talk this one break caused for the show. Enjoy!
What’s the audience looking for when they turn you on? Yes, humor and companionship. They’re also looking to connect with people just like them. That is one of the foundational images that jettisons you to success. “They are just like me,” is one of the most powerful things an audience can say about its favorite morning show. Like all their fans, Karson and Kennedy, MIX 104.1, Boston is having issues when they order stuff online. Everywhere they turn, they can’t get what they want due to “supply chain issues”. Sometimes the best breaks are the easiest. A quick conversation to communicate they know what the audience is experiencing. Followed by phone calls of passionate (sometimes upset) listeners who cannot get the simplest things ordered in their life. Great radio is “me, too”. That’s when the audience hears the content and is entertained by it because it speaks for them, as well.