WODS Ben and Jerry

amp1033_tjshow_500x350Our agenda is to always satisfy the reason listeners turn the morning show on  each day – to entertain them.  The audience comes to us as an escape from the realities of the world (there are rare exceptions to this rule) and want to have a good time.  This is especially dicey when you interview a celebrity as they’re coming on to sell something.  Jerry from Ben and Jerry’s wanted some airtime from The TJ Show, AMP 103.3, Boston, to promote an upcoming event in town.  The cast instinctively knows they can’t sell Jerry’s event if they can’t first entertain the audience.  Which is why the interview posted here was choreographed the way it was.

WUSN Justyna Switches Teams

wusn_lisaray_500x350Bruce Jenner becoming Caitlyn Jenner has perplexed shows on how to create humor, given the sensitive nature of the topic.  Enter Lisa and Ray, US 99.5, Chicago.  One of their producers, Justyna, decided she wanted to “switch teams just like Bruce”!  Predicated on the fact that she thought the Chicago Cubs players were cuter, Justyna decided to tell the audience she no longer was a White Sox fan and wanted to pledge a new allegiance to that city’s other baseball team.  Here come the fun phones and great ideas on how she switches teams.  It’s a great way to have fun with the Caitlyn Jenner story without every having to touch that sensitive rail of Jenner’s sex change.

WNOW Rachel is a Kentucky Fan

Kyle & RachelThe one elusive quality that drives near every element of success for an ensemble-driven personality show is chemistry.  Little, if anything, can be faked when presenting real life to the audience, especially in a fun, playful way.  With March Madness in their hometown, Kyle and Rachel, Radio NOW, Indianapolis, easily tapped into the vibe.  Kentucky was in the Final Four and Rachel is a big fan.  Which leads to this audio that communicates the team’s ability to reveal itself and how they play with each other through the break to create humor around the biggest topic in the market that week.  Kyle and Bryan give Rachel the requisite grief, she responds in kind.  This is the kind of vibe the audience wants to be around in the morning.

WGFB Thank You Toys R Us

b103_seanmichelle_500x350There might not be anything more endearing to gain female listeners than putting kids on your show.  Sean and Michelle, B103, Rockford, IL are both family people and believe that part of the audience knowing them is also them getting to know their kids, too.  Sean’s son, Declan, is a very big part of the show.  Declan got a coupon in the mail from Toys R Us.  Here’s a break where Declan talks with his dad about wanting to write them a thank you note for doing this.  Women melt, they connect with the show, you gain very positive family images from a break like this, and listeners come back again to be around that, resulting in more occasions.

KFGY She Went to the Indy 500

Rob & JossYou can tell people about something that happened or you can figure out how to bring them there through first-person storytelling.  Rob and Joss, Froggy 92.9, Santa Rosa, CA work very hard to find people who have in-person experiences with the big stories they’re talking about.  Here is a terrific example of them transporting their audience to last year’s Indy 500.  The listener shared observations and commentary on things she saw, which heightened the entertainment value of the conversation.  Using social media helps make doing this around any topic you’re talking about that much easier.

KS95 Moms Mock Their Kids

Ryan & ShannonWith Mother’s Day just wrapping up, let’s celebrate dear old mom one more time!  Ryan and Shannon, KS95, Minneapolis, got into the topic of moms and the perception of their kids when the offspring aren’t happy.  How they mumble and are dismissive.  Most mothers simply wade through the emotional reactions of their children.  Not Shannon and hers.  Nor the listeners.  In this terrific phone topic, the team invites moms to call and imitate their kid when the kid is angry.  Relatability is the audience understanding you’re just like them and is a critical image to connecting with them.  This segment does exactly that.

KSON Tammy Fanilow

kson_johntammy_500x350Unbridled, silly fun.  That’s what listeners want to have when they tune in.  If you add in something local and an innovative approach to a passion of a cast member, you probably have the recipe for a successful break which cannot be duplicated elsewhere on the dial.  Tammy, from John and Tammy, KSON, San Diego, admitted to the audience she is a huge Barry Manilow fan.  Barry was scheduled to do a concert in San Diego, so John got Tammy to do “Tammy Fanilow” where she had to sing along with sixty seconds of Barry Manilow hooks to give out a prize to a listener on the phone.  When you have a prize to give it, the true win comes in how much you entertain those not wishing to win it (that’s 99% of your audience).  All the way around, this is a well designed break earning necessary images that remind listeners why they like this show and its cast.

WBMX Barrett or the Barfly

Karson & KennedyThere are multiple ways to do character development on a personality show.  The most commonly used method is where the talent tells a relatable story about themselves (with drama and twists and turns) so the audience can understand how real they are.  This usually leads to phone calls from listeners with their own entertaining stories around the same theme.  If the original story is engaging, this always works.  There are, though, other ways a talent can reach the same goal of defining themselves.  The Boston Marathon was last week.  Karson and Kennedy, MIX 104.1, Boston, played “Barrett or Barfly” where they asked a question about the famous race soliciting a funny answer from either a drunk person at a bar or Karson’s very cute son, Barrett.  In this game, they positioned Karson as the loving father he is, were very local, innovative, and entertaining in the process.

Star 94 Drex Talks About Golf Non-Stop

star94_drexcassidaytingle_500x350Have you ever been around someone who won’t stop talking about golf?  Drex, Cassiday, and Tingle, Star 94, Atlanta, know someone who won’t and he’s on the show.  Drex lives, eats, sleeps, and breathes golf.  So imagine the morning after The Masters.  Drex found a way to work golf into most on-air breaks.  This became a game the day after where a listener had to guess how many times Drex mentioned The Masters during the Monday show.  The audio below is the production piece their producer, JP, put together to prove it.  It’s very funny, quite relatable for women, and positions Drex as just like a husband of the audience.

My Ex in Five Words

power106_cruz_500x350With Twitter forcing everyone to communicate in short soundbites, The Cruz Show, Power 106, Los Angeles, decided to do character development the same way.  Relationships are the easiest and most relatable topic you can do on your program.  There are many kinds of relationships (boyfriend/girlfriend, boss/employee, neighbors, you/your mom, etc.).  Cruz had each member of the show choose an ex and they had to describe them in five words.  This is smart because the listener gets to know the cast members in short, digestible bites.  They then let listeners do the same and explored the more interesting stories as content to entertain the audience.