We needed a simple, quick benchmark for an early hour of Ty Loves New York, on 92.3 NOW, New York City. Enter “Food Porn” where Bryan the Phone Screener and a listener talk very suggestively about an item they recently ate, attempting to make the other person laugh. It sounds dirty, but it isn’t.
You must love a morning show that thinks outside the proverbial box. Approaching Father’s Day in June, Rob and Joss, Froggy 92.9, Santa Rosa, CA had a grand idea. Luke Bryant is one of country’s biggest artists right now. With the holiday upcoming that week, they found his father who offered up a unique take on the star. This is radio genius because no one else in the market thought to do it.
Karson and Kennedy, MIX 104.1, Boston, did something different after their long July Fourth holiday. They each kept an audio diary of things they did throughout the weekend. The goal was to air a mish-mash of audio, all of it reflective of what listeners were doing, too. Here’s their compilation break, aired on their first show back, which is also character building.
A tactical move that works to move listeners from one quarter hour to the next (or compels them to wonder what they missed if they had to leave the show) is to craft a narrative arc that entertains and intrigues, pushing people to the next break. In this arc, as done by John and Tammy, KSON, San Diego, Tammy had a surprise the rest of the show did not know. In the three breaks below, you’ll hear how it was designed. In break one, Tammy offered up three potential secrets, asking the show and listeners to guess, based on knowing her. In break two, she reveals the actual secret (and yes, it is character building). In the final break, you get audience reaction to the reveal. This was perfectly executed to hook listeners.
One of the things most hated about the internet is how crafty sites have become at forcing you to watch a 30-second ad before the video clip you really want to see. Talking about this on a recent conference call, The J Show, B96, Chicago noted how much they loved how YouTube handles this by letting you skip the ad after just five seconds. They then wondered if a business could actually grab someone’s attention in five seconds. So they challenged Chicago business owners and workers to call the show to do that. If they didn’t say something which grabbed them or was provocative about their business in five seconds, they got buzzed out in a feature called “Skip That Ad”. It’s a local and fun break.
“My Mom punched someone in the parking lot of a Target this past weekend!”. Well, that’s a delightful open to a break, isn’t it? Structurally, a synopsis and a great hook near the top of every break is what will best compel those listening to lean in and not leave. Drex and Maney, KISS 95.1, Charlotte understand this. Here’s a break not only with that hook, but a conversation with Drex’s mom, who came on to tell her story, leaving our team to ask the obvious questions to get all the wonderful details of what happened, entertaining the audience in the process.
Girl Scout cookies are on sale and you have a confession to make. You hate the Thin Mints. The one cookie every else seems to love. What do you do? Well, Joss from Rob and Joss, Froggy 92.9, Santa Rosa, CA went around to admit it to co-workers, recording their reactions, which are classic. This is the kind of fun, quirky, character-building break that listeners will mention to Joss if they see her at a promotion or remote in the next few months.
This break is a tad old, but highlights how things come alive when you add other elements to breaks. Each year for Thanksgiving, Cledus, from Dave and Veronica, WQYK, Tampa, visits Cracker Barrel for Thanksgiving. Pondering what Cracker Barrel is like for Thanksgiving, the team decided to call the restaurant Cledus actually visits every year with his daughter. The result is an inquisitive team having a fun conversation with the waitress who answers the phone. The team could’ve opted to just tell the story, but adding the call to the restaurant gave them stuff to work with in their effort to create a fun, memorable break.
What would you do if you felt your partner was cheating on you? Pablo, at WPGC, Washington, told his cast and audience of this fear, and then decided to step out and call his girlfriend on the air to ask if she was. There’s a curve ball in this narrative arc, so you’ll have to listen to the two breaks below. Pablo did a great job intriguing the audience and hooking them to lean in to see how this dilemma played out.
There might not be more fun than to quiz cheerleaders on things going on in the world. With the stereotype that cheerleaders might not be completely in the loop on the news, Kyle and Rachel, Radio NOW, Indianapolis asked area cheerleaders about the recent March Madness tournament. The only hitch was that the questions were very hard, and Kyle (obviously) gave them the answers so they came off as knowing more than the average sports fan. The “conflict” inserted into this bit (planned, of course) made it very fun and very topical.