We’re not too crazy about produced features but here’s a new one called “We’ll Make It Funny Even When It Isn’t”. Go grab audio from a serious conversation on TV (from the evening news, Oprah, some other source). Place canned laughter after people say serious things. That disparity might be very funny to hear. It’s kind of Letterman-esque and can be done every now and again to make people laugh.
Another recurring Friday feature that ties into a weekend lifestyle is called “Best Weekend Ever”. This one starts as a simple phone topic on Friday (“call and tell us why this will be the best weekend ever for you”). Then, choose one caller doing something that most intrigues you and have them back on the following Monday so they can tell you about what they did!
Most people think they carry a big weight on their shoulders. Here’s a new weekly feature that takes advantage of that. “F My Life Friday” is where you open the phones asking listeners to tell you a fun story about something that happened to them in the past week where, at the end, they’d say, “F my life!”
Spring break is about to happen for college students in every market across the country. Remember those memories of drunken debauchery as kids? Re-live them by finding a fun female college student who’ll check in with the show each morning at the same time during the week they’re away on break. The curve ball? Without her knowing, have her mother on the other line listening in to all the tales of alcohol, sex, and brushes with the police. Then, once the conversation is done with your female college student, get her mother’s take on what her kid is up to!
With spring training happening now, what kind of audio might you get if the guys on the show took a bunch of colorful women in the office to the local batting cage to celebrate spring training? This works if you choose fun people – record everything, and then have the women in the studio the following morning as you air the fun pieces of audio.
Everyone likes to beat up on and stereotype New Jersey. That’s one of the draws of the hit reality show “Jersey Shore”. A game to play from this is called “Jersey Are You Sure?”. Get interesting trivia facts about the state of New Jersey. Then make some up. Offer a nugget up to your contestant who must identify if it’s fact or fiction. Always after their answer, you’ll ask: “Jersey, are you sure?”
A female-friendly weekly bit that always works is the “Kids Comedy Corner” where you transcribe topical jokes from the nightly monologues from Letterman, Leno, Jimmy Kimmel, Conan, and the rest of that crew and find one cute sounding kid who’ll do a comedy routine with their material. If you produce this right (theme music, applause, canned laughter at all the right spots), you’ll have an endearing feature women will love. To make it sound even cuter, don’t let the kid see the jokes beforehand. Reading the jokes cold, with them stumbling, might make it sound more organic and better.
Character development is essential to building a loyal, thriving listener base. That’s why listeners of great shows always claim that they know the cast members’ personal lives. One way to get there is to do “Guess Whose Ex”. The show offers up a description of someone a cast member once dated. The listener has to guess which cast member dated that person, then the deeper story is told thus defining the person on the program.
Here’s a feature that plays off of American Idol, with a slight change in spelling. On occasion through the run of the program, do “(Your City) Idle”. This is a simple phone topic done in your prime time rush hour where you ask listeners to call and tell you where they’re sitting in traffic. It’s really local and will get exasperated listeners on who are living the morning routine, waiting at red lights or in bumper-to-bumper traffic on the freeways!
The most universal content topic is relationships. There are many kinds of them and they’re relatable to everyone. Here’s a new feature called “Text Your Ex”. Ask listeners to put together a text they want to send to a ex to tell them what they really think about them, but have the listener send it to you instead! Find someone with a British accent and put really classy music under it as the most vitriolic are read on the air!