The over-riding vibe is that most people want the election to be over. It will be this week, when on Wednesday we all go back to our normal lives. Lots of people have de-friended people on Facebook because they posted so much political stuff. A smart Wednesday feature is to put someone on with a person they de-friended, explore why, remind them that the presidential race has been decided, and then get them to re-friend each other on Facebook.
With the World Series about to wrap up, winning sports teams always celebrate with a champagne bath. Kevin, Virginia, and Jason, WILD 95.5, West Palm came up with a great idea while wondering what it would be like for a regular worker in the real world to be celebrated for something great they did at work with a champagne bath, too. Let a boss show their appreciation for great work by an employee by helping them give one to a worker on your show.
Remember that your listeners moods are different on Friday morning. All they’re thinking about on the way to work is how to get through the day to get to the weekend. That’s why it’d be smart to have a Friday feature called, “Hey, Can We Come?” Do the simple break asking listeners what one big thing they’re doing that weekend they’re most looking forward to. Then, choose one caller and ask if you can tag along.
With Halloween just a couple weeks away, here’s an easy one. Find someone on your show (or in the building) who hates haunted houses. Open the phones for listeners to tell you about local haunted houses and take that person on a tour. Of course you’ll record it for the show and videotape it for web content!
With Halloween a few short weeks away, how about calling your local Children’s Miracle Network Hospital and trick-or-treating with the kids? Normally we suggest fun ideas here, but as we get close to the holiday season, it’s time to do some community service work. Call your local CMN Hospital, find out the do’s and don’ts, and go visit the kids, recording the visit to air on your show the week of Halloween!
The very beginning of an interview is the critical moment listeners decide if it’ll be meaningful and entertaining. If you open in a broad, accessible way, there’s a greater chance listeners will stay through it. Which is why, at the beginning of every interview you could do something quirky. Like let listeners guess what the celebrity ate for breakfast that morning, then make that your very first question when the interview starts.
The next time you have concert tickets to give out, do this fun thing Rob and Joss, Froggy 92.9, Santa Rosa, CA did. It’s called “Sing the Mystery Song”. You guys place a hit record in a sealed envelope done by the artist. Don’t tell listeners what it is. Tell them to call and the moment you answer, they must start singing any song recorded by the artist. If the song they’re singing is the one you chose and is in the envelope, they win the tickets.
In Mitt Romney’s speech at the RNC a few weeks ago, he said his father left a rose every morning for his mother on the nightstand. Here’s a week long narrative arc designed to make the guys on your show more romantic. They tell the audience they want to leave a love letter for their wife/girlfriend each morning before they leave for work. Each day, listeners help them write a letter which is left the next morning before they leave for the station. At the anointed time, you call the female to get her reaction and then write the next day’s note with listener’s help. At the end of the week, the wife/girlfriend grades the week and determines if her guy has become more romantic.
Street audio is always a viable way to get regular voices of listeners on the show. We love unique frames and found one: The Food Court. Go to area malls and have fun conversations with people in the food court. Edit together the fun exchanges for this recurring feature.
With the explosion of Twitter and Facebook, it seems like all people want to do is talk about themselves. This is a new feature called “I Wanna Talk About Me”. Open the phones and tell listeners to call and talk about themselves. If they keep you engaged for longer than ten seconds, hang with the call and give them something. If they don’t, buzz them out and move on to the next call.