B105, Cincinnati Beat the Bear
Fun benchmarks serve two main purposes for a show: they help develop significant “fun” images. Shows cannot win if they’re not perceived as fun by their audience. This is one of the chief reasons listeners turn you on – there is no show that can win without this image. The other benefit of a terrific benchmark is that it creates an appointment into the show for listeners. Considering PPM is a game of occasions, unique and fun benchmarks do this for you. Trivia and games are an easy vehicle to develop into a benchmark because they are vicarious. But…(important), it’s how you do it that gives you both benefits. Any TV game show is basically built around trivia. Its execution is what cannot be duplicated. At Amanda and Jesse, B105, Cincinnati, we took the typical “name a certain number of items in a category” game and created Beat the Bear, where the caller has to name the category items or…they’ll be mauled by a bear. Few have survived, which is the hook for the win. Here is an example of an effective, strategic benchmark.
The goal each morning is to be silly and fun in a way that reflects your brand and your program’s collective sense-of-humor. The Big Dave Show, B105, Cincinnati has a highly opinionated, terrifically goofy listener who always calls that they’ve turned into a recurring character for Halloween in a feature called What Would Scarecrow Do? Listeners call with their Halloween costume dilemma and Scarecrow has at it. With the tension of the presidential race and the world, your audience is looking for a respite from the stresses of life. Humor cures anxiety and there is lots of it. This show (Big Dave, Chelsie, and Statt) are picking up a CMA Award this week in Nashville for the Best Large Market Show (exceptionally proud, it’s very deserved). This goofy audio is a four-minute break from the world, which is exactly what the doctor ordered. You’ll love the jingle.
If you do “news” or a trending feature on the show, let’s huddle up and talk about why. It’s not to convey information – it’s highly likely a station exists in your market that is an expert at delivering information around the stories of the day to those tuning in. They come to you for fun and perspective. A goal for every show I work with is to make the audience wonder what the talent’s take is on the news stories of the day. That is the engaging part of doing a news feature – and what makes it work. Here’s an information break done on Bud and Broadway, WIL, St. Louis. The stories chosen come from the day’s headlines. But it’s their commentary, their take, and their laughter that elevates this break for a strategic win.
You must be in the moment for content. You must be in the moment for content. You must be in the moment for content. There – I said it three times so I must mean it. We live in this pop culture world. So much so that shows that win big own the topics of the day in a way their competitor cannot. Ken Bone was the guy in the red sweater at the second presidential debate in St. Louis who asked the question about climate change. Ken (or more importantly his red sweater) made for an internet sensation. So…Spencer’s Neighborhood, 106.5 The Arch, St. Louis, tracked Ken down (he’s local) for an in-studio interview. Inviting him into The Bone Zone, they talked with him about his debate appearance, but then had him read some tweets about himself, thus creating a fun moment, around a top of the day, that our competitors did not have. What are you doing around those Hot Topics that’s unique to you? This interview is an A+ all the way around.
You want to connect with your demo? Understand what their life is like day-to-day. These are conversations you should also be having in your prep sessions – even asking people in the building who are the demo about the things going on in their lives to broaden the conversation. Karson and Kennedy, MIX 104.1, Boston, heard about a local woman who was going on strike in her home because her kids and husband did nothing around the house. The easy part is getting her on for an interview. Elevate the creative by committing to checking on her regularly throughout the strike for support and then bringing the narrative arc to a conclusion for her and the audience by brokering a peace accord. One of the check-ins is below. Every female listening to this show is nodding in agreement and laughing along with the storyline, forging yet another connection point for the talent with the demo.
You hear it every election cycle: celebrities who are moving to Canada if a certain presidential candidate wins. Drew Steele, who hosts Daybreak on FOX News 92.5, Ft. Myers, FL does regular updates of stars making the pledge, along with playing the Canadian National Anthem. Our plot is conservative politics on Daybreak, yet we understand no one wants to wake up to the typical anger and bombast the genre is known for. When people wake up they want to be put in good moods. So, we handle things like this from a position of humor and silliness. A break like this completely fits what the show is about, yet it allows Drew to showcase his perspective and sense of humor.
This one falls in the category of “please don’t tell me you can’t be local and you can’t be fun in under 2:30”!! Oftentimes shows believe the more time they have in the break, the better it’ll be. Rob and Joss, Froggy 92.9, Santa Rosa, CA prove otherwise. As a yearly feature at the beginning of the school year in each September, Rob chooses one daily school district’s lunch offering and sings the menu for the audience. With a game plan on how we’ll entertain, you can structure a break efficiently so you don’t waste listeners’ time and can get to the payoff quickly (listeners require payoffs). We do this as a seasonal feature each year on the show and bounce it around the clock so all the audiences hear at least one. What’s important is to connect with the audience in the content you choose, create entertainment from it so those who don’t care are having a good time, and do it quickly to score the most points. This does that.
What to do when your two-year old has constant meltdowns and you are still a fairly new show to the market and need to do some positive character development? If you’re The TJ Show, AMP 103.3, Boston, you do “Tantrum Tuesday”. Each Tuesday, TJ (whose character includes being the father of a young child) airs the audio of his daughter having a tantrum. Women connect with and have empathy for these kinds of characters on a show. What’s critical to the win in this break is how TJ handles things. With a quirky production value so it stands out, TJ tries to reason with his kid as an adult. You laugh as you eavesdrop on this conversation between father and daughter and walk away with two important strategic messages about the program: that TJ is just like you if you have kids and the show can create fun with real life stuff as it positions the competition as old(er).