Know what would be oddly entertaining? For each member of the show to record themselves knocking on the bathroom door while a family member is in there and say, “What are you doing in there?” Record the answers as the other person shouts back at you and play them on the show.
A friend mentioned how he went to get his car serviced one Saturday morning and they offered to detail it for $10 off. He did it, and then while riding down the highway after it was done, his antenna ripped off in the wind. So he went to the dealer and bought a new antenna. The price? $10! He then said, “That’s how life mocks me.” So, here’s a new feature called “That’s How Life Mocks Me” where listeners tell you stories about how they got a good deal, only for it to be negated by what happened to them just after.
With Fashion Week going on in New York City, grab a list of fashion designers and some names of people you’re personally friends with on Facebook for a game called “Fashionista or Facebook Friend”. It’s a fun, character building game you can play where, once you share the name, the listener guesses and you say things like, “He actually designs $1000 handbags,” or “I was buddies with her in fifth grade.” Thanks to Ty Bentli, from Ty Loves New York, NOW 92.3, New York City for this one.
With Alicia Keys now joining the long list of people who’ve sung the National Anthem at a Super Bowl, you can do “And the Home of the Brave” to celebrate. You will find at this link the list of artists who’ve done the Anthem at previous Super Bowls (Anita Bryant, Super Bowl 3!!). Find the audio of three artists on You Tube. Each of the three sing two words of the last line of the song. Edit them together. The first listener to correctly identify all three artists wins.
With Katie Couric’s interview of Manti Te’o last week, it’s now common knowledge that his “girlfriend” was really just a guy talking like a woman. Why not open the phones and get guy listeners to talk like a lady?
If you target women, you can never go wrong talking about relationships with kids. Either as a promotion or irregular feature, do “Daddy Dude Time”, highlighting the fun things fathers do with their young sons to bond with them on the weekend. It won’t be your standard thing…it’ll more be taking the kid to the WWE which will interest your female base to listen to.
Karson from Karson and Kennedy, MIX 104.1, Boston recently walked into his mother-in-law while she wasn’t wearing any pants by accident. Oops. Having a pair of concert tickets, they decided to give them out by doing a bit called “Beat That”. They took similar stories from listeners with the best one getting the tickets. Simple, story-based, and fun. You can hear audio of it here.
Brainstorming with Karlson and McKenzie, WZLX, Boston’s morning show, we had fun coming up with two words that we thought were the greatest pairings ever: powdered sugar, omelet station, reach around. So that led us to a new feature where we challenge listeners to come up with two words, when used back to back, mean bliss!
Looking for a new relationships-based feature for your show? Jim and Kim, Fresh 102.7, New York, just added “Know Your Mate at 6:38”. One couple, three questions (much like the “Newlywed Game” but with some attitude). Ask her the questions (with him in the “sound-proof booth”) and then ask him the same questions. If they match two answers, they win. Make sure at least one of the questions has an edge to it. And remember, time-stamped benchmarks are more memorable because they arm listeners with a piece of marketing information to share with friends when it’s on.
Living in an area of the country with lots of college stations, I get to hear some very innovative radio, considering they are not slaves to PPM. NC State’s radio station, WKNC, does a weekly show called “Jailhouse Rock” where they read a letter from an inmate at the maximum security prison a few miles down the road, and then they play the inmate’s request (read the article here). Great features sometimes focus on the fringes of life. Maybe read letters from area inmates and then play their requests in this new, weekly feature for your show.