Kick-Ass Audio Breaks

Sometimes listeners bring stories filled with drama.  What makes the best stories memorable are details of tension that advance them to conclusion.  Watch any great TV show or movie and this is the technique script writers use to hook us quickly and keep us on the edge of our seats so we stay until the end.  Chris and Dina, WMAS-FM, Springfield, MA had one such experience in their Feel Good feature when a caller told them that he solved the case of a stolen car in the neighborhood by accessing the cameras outside his house.  When he found out a neighbor’s car was taken outside his home, he looked at the footage to help the cops nab the culprit.  What we’re given is a compelling story of high drama and humanity of one person helping another.  This is memorable content.

We’ve talked before about the kinds of content that work best for your audience.  As a reminder, they are:  pop culture (because pop = popular), local content (if you’re not syndicated), and stories about you that prove you are just like the audience.  Let me add a fourth, which tends to be over-looked.  And that’s music-based content that brands you as part of the station.  Often, shows ignore the music and this kind of content, creating a potential silo that you are not part of the station (which is based on music).  Here’s the Daly/Migs Show, 99.9 KISW, Seattle showing how easy it is.  They found a list of popular cover songs as done by artists in the format, and some groups that are local.  All around a very relevant break that folds the show into the station brand.  One note:  they aren’t even twenty seconds into the break and the real content has already started with a cover song hook being played.  That part is fantastic.