Kick-Ass Audio Breaks

There’s the adage that the only interviews which don’t work on the radio are the ones that suck.  Last week were midterm elections and listeners had no desire to hear talking points about boring issues from candidates.  Until you get to Karlson and McKenzie, WZLX, Boston, who interviewed a candidate for governor (who won).  Listen to the questions they ask.  They are neither political (where do you stand on…) nor standard (boxer or briefs…).  They ask questions which let us get to know the candidate as a person yet are exceptionally off-kilter to elicit from the candidate both his humanity and laughter.

To thrive, personality shows must affirm images.  The four critical images are those of humor, authenticity, innovation, and relevance.  Here’s a terrific break from Dave and Veronica, WQYK, Tampa, which tackles all four, and very successfully.  Dave showed up at a town hall meeting with the mayor of St. Petersburg.  Going last, he asked the mayor, unexpectedly, to read the Vincent Price poem at the end of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”.  This took both the mayor and the room (who were complaining about red lights and poor roads) totally by surprise.  The mayor, seeing the opportunity, did it, with all having had a good time.  There was danger involved in how Dave set this up, as he thought he’d get kicked out of the room.  But the exact opposite happened and the show got a great break, loaded with the four images noted above, producing an experience for those listening that was exceptional satisfying.