Karson and Kennedy, MIX 104.1, Boston with Kennedy’s Thailand Fail

What’s the length of a good break?  It depends on the quality of the content.  And how much drama there is in telling it.  The more conflict, tension, and drama you have, the longer the story can go.  Case in point is the story told on Karson and Kennedy, MIX 104.1, Boston after Kennedy came back from a vacation overseas.  Kennedy’s trip to Thailand, specifically a dinner she attended, went horribly wrong for many reasons.  Twist and turns and lots of speed bumps coupled with a self-deprecating sense of humor compel the audience to want to hear the story to conclusion.  Breaks with those elements feel shorter than they really are, if the break is structured right.  Go watch a reality show and see that they change the camera angle or scene every few seconds.  They do that to keep your attention.  Just like this break.

Sue and Kendra, Magic 106.7, Boston with Story Calls

Phones drive lots of morning shows. They should.  Inviting listeners to tell their stories is a time-tested treatment to many content choices that helps you form a connection with fans.  But not all questions work for phone topics.  Ask a question with only a yes/no answer (or an A/B choice) works against you.  Role play this – if you propose the question to someone in prep and they have an either/or choice and your only response is “why”, you have a dead end topic.  We are storytellers and that’s what you want in phones.  Case in point is Sue and Kendra, Magic 106.7, Boston who used the passing of actor Richard Chamberlain to launch a topic about unmissable TV shows when we were kids.  You might think this will be nothing more than listeners naming TV programs.  But as you’ll hear, the hosts and callers tell stories, which is where the win appears.  Nostalgia works and stories around that make this score a solid A for the topic and treatment of the content.

Karson and Kennedy, MIX 104.1, Boston with One Star Uber Reviews

Character development is when you define yourself to the audience.  When you do that, a connection forms and the audience gets to know you, which is central to radio’s greatest strength – the intimate bond between the listener and the talent.  Often, it’s you telling a story about your life the audience sees themselves in or when you’re talking about a topic and being honest in your opinion.  I will always reward new ways to define you to fans.  Here is a unique idea I’d never consider.  Karson and Kennedy, MIX 104.1, Boston figured out how to see how many one-star reviews they’ve received in their Uber app.  They each looked in theirs and had the audience guess who had the most.  Fun and clever.  And now, all yours!

Matt, Gabe, and Captain Ron, 100.7 The Wolf, Seattle with The Great Hooters Debate

Story lines that last a few days on the show and compel additional occasions of listening to get to a conclusion are a smart move to get your fans to tune in from one day to the next.  Find one and think about like a book.  The first chapter expresses the characters and drama and the final chapter concludes the story line with resolution.  In between are chapters that move the narrative forward.  Matt, Gabe, and Captain Ron, 100.7 The Wolf, Seattle launched one last week that was highly entertaining.  Chapter One:  Gabe is in a long distance relationship, just found out her boyfriend goes to Hooters a lot with his friends, and doesn’t like it.  Make this come alive in the middle and ending chapters so listeners follow along and wonder what will happen.  Here are the final two chapters.  Matt getting on his wife, Vanessa, to get her thoughts (additional drama), and finally Gabe talking with her boyfriend to hear his decision on no longer doing it.

Thunder and PT, 102.9 The Wolf, Minneapolis with the Alan Jackson Scam

A hypothetical: a co-worker tells you a story that they were at a restaurant over the weekend when Ben Affleck and a companion came in and sat at the table next to them.  He talked with your co-worker the entire meal and then paid for it.  What would you do with that?  Sadly, many shows would take the path of least resistance.  They’d get on and tell their co-worker’s story to the audience.  When the smarter move would be to have the co-worker on to tell their story.  When an interesting story appears, always find someone who actually was in the story to come on the show to tell it themselves.  It’ll be much more impactful.  Simple, right?  This is an easy way to make that break better.  Have people tell their own stories – and all you need to do is facilitate it.  Thunder and PT, 102.9 The Wolf, Minneapolis get this.  A listener’s mom is being scammed by a fake Alan Jackson online.  They got the kid on to tell the story and it feels much different.

Mojo in the Morning, Channel 95.5, Detroit with The Kids Make Him Cry

There should be so much going on in life (yours and your show) that you can replace the more bland and boring topics with personal stuff.  Character development comes when you’re honest with the audience and when you reveal who you are.  A strategic goal should be to move the audience to care about you so that connection happens.  Some of the very best examples happen on Mojo in the Morning, Channel 95.5, Detroit.  Wanna know why this show is so successful?  The audience feels like they know them.  And we like to spend time with people we know.  Last Father’s Day, the show decided to prove how easy it is for Mojo’s kids to make him cry.  They had each kid send him a note, which he read/played on-the-air.  The reactions are great.  The content and treatment are so good, you can see why a break like this will beat something like Hollywood News every time.

Karson and Kennedy, MIX 104.1, Boston with Does Karson Owe Lana an Apology

Forcing the audience to take a stand on something is another way to emotionally engage them.  Let’s first note that one thing listeners are looking for when they tune in is connection.  They’re fans of your show because you are just like them.  Your content needs to prove this.  A smart way to do that is by telling a story about yourself to prove it.  And what drives successful stories?  Drama, drama, drama.  Karson and Kennedy, MIX 104.1, Boston get that.  We’ve churned out of that show all the bland and boring content anyone can do and replaced it with more personal stuff to define the cast and engage the audience.  Lana, Karson’s wife, believes he owes her an apology for something that happened when she was sick.  Lana and the team go at it here, grabbing the audience.  Then on break #2, it’s their turn to chime in.  Easy, smart, powerful, and memorable radio.

Jen and Tim, Star 102.1, Cleveland with the RnR Hall of Fame 80s Music Quiz

Here’s another example of a music-based break that would do very well in research.  The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has a new list of inductees.  Jen and Tim, Star 102.1, Cleveland want to quiz their producer to see if she knows the group based on the song hook.  This is another sing-along, play-along type game for people in cars.  There is no prize involved, yet it still shines because the chemistry of the cast advances the fun, it’s local (because of the Hall of Fame), there is a little character development for the producer, and the show is weaving itself, once again, into the music brand of the station.  I’ve seen breaks like this played in focus groups for listeners – they are always very well evaluated.

Karson and Kennedy, MIX 104.1, Boston with Make Your Mess Your Message

I love shows that own their shit!  Some radio talent want to paint the most perfect picture of themselves.  What do listeners want to be around but flawed, human beings.  When you slip and fall, it’s always smart to run towards it for content, as it makes you mortal to them and, like it would happen in real life, draws fans closer.  Take Karson and Kennedy, MIX 104.1, Boston.  Karson had promised in December to attend a local Christmas tree lighting.  As the ceremony started, the organizers called to find out where he was.  He wasn’t even close as he’d forgotten to put it in his calendar.  What did he do on the next show?  Brought them on to apologize.  He owned it, took his beating, his teammates made fun of him, and the organizers let him off the hook.  And the audience loved him even more for all of it.  As the title above suggests, if you have a mess, make that your message.

Chris and Dina, WMAS-FM, Springfield, MA with Are We Rick Rolling

Rick Astley is having a birthday and, because Rick Rolling is a thing, Chris and Dina, WMAS-FM, Springfield, MA created content from it.  You’d never know how many artists actually sound like Rick Astley.  They grabbed the hooks of several songs.  Some of them Rick and some not.  The listener had to correctly guess if they were being Rick Rolled when they heard the hook.  I love several things about this idea:  it’s music and hit-oriented and there’s never a downside to do something musically.  The audience is playing along because this is vicarious.  And who’s not singing as the hooks are playing because all the songs are familiar.  Familiarity is really critical when people wake up so you can help acclimate them into the day.  All around a simple and effective idea.