Hot 101.7 Work It
Music-centered ideas and features score very well with listeners. Taking one of the main reasons they come to the radio station (your music) and creating something fun around it, really performs well in PPM. Stacey K and Jonah, HOT 101.7, Santa Rosa, CA realized there are similarities in both the titles and hooks of Fifth Harmony’s “Work From Home” and Rhianna featuring Drake’s “Work”. So they did the next logical thing, they fused the two songs together. This took lots of work (pun intended) to conceive and edit. The win for the audience is fun for them as they hear the final product.
We preach regularly on this page the necessity for three things to properly define who you are on-the-air: be honest with the audience, be comfortable enough to share your life with listeners, and tell stories. Enter Bud and Broadway, 92.3, WIL, St. Louis who do it effortlessly in this break. You disarm listeners when you are vulnerable. They actually get closer to you the more they know you. Broadway, talking about his relatives, referenced that he has a “white trash division” of his family. It’s a funny characterization that shows his comfort level with listeners. He then goes on to prove it by telling little funny stories that defines who he is, where he comes from, and his ability to poke at himself (and his heritage). As a result, he disarms the audience to do the same (we all have crazy relatives) and they get closer as a result. This is excellent character development.
There has been a slew of OJ Simpson programming on TV in the last few months. Reenactments of the case, ESPN’s five-part documentary on what happened behind the scenes. It’s all very riveting story-telling. That, in itself, is instructional of the power of telling a story in a way that grabs the audience, even if you know the outcome. How better to tie in than by finding someone directly attached to the story and ask the questions you want answers to? Norman Pardo was one of OJ’s agents after his acquittal. Did he think Simpson was guilty? Kyle and Rachel, Radio NOW, Indianapolis, asked Pardo this question, among others, in their interview of him at the height of the shows being on TV. I always ask talent what they did this week that no one else thought to do. This is something that would be on the list.
Here are two examples of taking one Hot Topic and doing two very distinctly different things with it. Having a broad range of creative ideas that resonate and entertain the audience around the highest equity topics of the day is important to keeping your show relatable and accessible. With Father’s Day upon us, Spencer’s Neighborhood, 106.5 The Arch, St. Louis, did two separate breaks that had a strategic goal of defining a cast member and entertaining the audience. The only parent on the show is Brando. In one break, Brando is “interviewed for the position of father” by one of his kids (questions written by the team). It is so cute and warm, it might melt your heart if you’re a parent. In the other, Spencer talks with his father about their relationship (very touching and intimate), defining him as a son and not as a morning show host. Both are below and both are excellent.
Here’s a feature you cannot steal because it’s driven by the personalities of the host and guest. Each week on The TJ Show, AMP 103.3, Boston, TJ talks with his nephew, Judah. The topics are always about life, with TJ needing some piece of advice. Nine-year old Judah is unbelievable cute, exceptionally eloquent, and very logical in his answers, making his innocence ring through. Of all the incredible features this show does, this is the one that scores highest for the audience because it is so novel and entertaining (as we say, “only on TJ”). In our efforts to separate ourselves from the entire market, this weekly bit scores big time. We’re securing each of the four necessary images to win: it’s fun to listen to, very authentic, completely innovative, and highly relatable.
This week’s accolades go to Raina and Matt, Indie 88, Toronto. Their Raptors just got done playing the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBC playoffs. Not content to just talk about the game or play TV audio as most shows would (and should), they decided to add something different to the conversation in a produced thing call “LeBron James ‘Secrets'” where they revealed silly secrets about the Cavaliers star player. What makes your breaks memorable and sticky is not just the topic, it’s what you do with it that grabs notice and a deeper attention from those listening. Their series of “Secrets” (several below) highlight their fun sense of humor, are very topical, very local, short, and gives us one more thing on the show (even though short-lived) that our competitors never thought to do.
One more Mother’s Day break that is flawlessly executed. The Cruz Show, Power 106, Los Angeles is right up on Mother’s Day and wrote letters to their moms. These have just the right tone and attitude to create humor. What is perfect about this break is how it’s designed. The very first thing you hear after the song are two cast member’s letters. That the show immediately got into content (before any station business) talked to the widest swath of listeners who want to be entertained. They transition from this to Cruz expounding on his letter, with more detail about something he shared with his father as a kid (you will be shocked) with the cast showing its chemistry as they quiz him for all the details. Station business (what you can win, coming up!) is placed at the end, where the audience is most receptive to the message because they were entertained with a great story, delivered in a fun way.
What’s it like when you tell your five-year old son to “man up” and take control of Mother’s Day? That’s what Sean Henry, host of Sean and Michelle, B103, Rockford, IL, did with his son, Declan. Seems like Sean wanted to teach his kid how to start making big decisions about what he’d get his mom for the holiday. So, he charged Declan with coming up with one new thing to get his mother each day during the week. This break is strategic because it’s very real, plays off a current topic, is highly personal, and I leave getting a true sense of Sean as a father. There is not a mom in the audience who isn’t stopping and listening to this break loving how this relationship is playing out on the air.