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!
How about trying a new idea called “We’ll Help You Sell It On Craigslist”? No doubt people have lots of junk to sell in their home for extra cash. One place they do this is on Craigslist. Ever read the ads on that site? They’re banal, boring, and don’t stand out. Here’s a chance to use your team’s creativity. Have a listener call with the item they want to sell. Take a break, then write an ad that sparkles and captures people’s attention. Debut the ad for the item on the show with your caller. A trick: sex sells everything. So regardless of the item, figure out a way to include nudity or sex in it and listeners will laugh!
Here’s a fun relationships-based feature developed for J & Julian on B96, Chicago you can add called “Gentleman or Jerk”. A female listener tells you a story about something that happened while on a date with a guy. Just at the climax of the story, she stops. Other listeners (or your contestant if you make it a game) must determine if the guy in the story turned out to be a gentleman or a jerk. You then get the resolution of the story and find out!
Nothing is better than starting off the new year with an apology! It’s easy to assume there were acts of misbehavior new years eve that should be apologized for. As a simple phone topic, open the phones for stories of people who exhibited behavior that was less than noble. Then choose one, get the offended party on the other line, and facilitate an apology on the air for the actions!
A fun running bit you can do throughout 2011 is The SkyMall Wedding Gift. The oddest, dumbest things are sold in SkyMall. As celebrities get married through the year, buy a wedding gift on behalf of your listeners from SkyMall. It can start by opening the phones for listener suggestions from the catalog (or they can choose a page and you look at the odd items for purchase on that page). The next step would be to call SkyMall’s 800-number to find out about the item. You then purchase and send it as a wedding gift to the happy celebrity couple!
An idea for a theme show before you take your holiday break is to ask listeners to help you re-write the famous poem “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas”. Only you twist it (and make it local) by offering up the second line, which will push listeners in a different direction. For instance, you offer: “‘Twas the night before Christmas and on [Action News Ten]…” Then ask listeners to call in with the next line (of course it must rhyme with the word “ten”). Record that line, share with listeners what you’ve built, then ask for the next line, always choosing the funniest one that’ll help tell a story. Make sure to share what you have built on-the-air with every addition so you get that next great line and intrigue people to the final product. Point people to the end of the show when you debut the fully re-written poem, which ends up being fun and about something in your town.
With Jessica Simpson making the rounds, Karson & Kennedy at MIX 104.1, Boston did a simple, fun game called “Jessica Simpson or Homer Simpson”. They read a sentence uttered by either Jessica or Homer to the listener, who had to guess who said it. Three of five right and they won a prize. They had supporting audio of everything to prove who said the sentence, which is what made it funny. Oddly enough, each sentence they chose could have been said by either person!
With Christmas approaching, can the morning show provide “Gifterventions” for the audience? Ever get a crappy present from a friend or relative? This is where the show calls the well-intentioned person who chooses bad gifts and tells them on behalf of the listener what’s up. Isn’t that relatable and wouldn’t it be fun to hear?
Years ago, a friend said his parents dropped a bomb at Thanksgiving dinner. They announced to the family that they’d decided to divorce. Needless to say, it was a rather quiet and uncomfortable meal. So here’s the idea: find a listener who has a bomb to drop to the family and convince them to do it at Thanksgiving dinner. This can be a two-day narrative (day one is your call with them to set things up before the holiday, day two is your first day back from the break to see how it went – with potential calls with other family members to see how it was received).