Radio Show Content | Audio Breaks

Karen Carson in the Morning, WNEW-FM, New York City and Kyle, Bryan, and Sarah, WRAL-FM, Raleigh with The Super Bowl Shave Off

February 19, 2023

When you have a three-person show, you always have two people of the same gender and one common challenge. You must separate their characters. Case in point is Karen Carson in the Morning with Johnny Minge and Intern Anthony, WNEW-FM, New York and Kyle, Bryan, and Sarah, WRAL-FM, Raleigh. Both shows have two guys and a challenge we face at both programs is developing different personas for each of the two gentlemen. It’s first important to know how each is similar and different from the other and focus on the differences. Then, there are things you can do to help accentuate that. The week leading up to the Super Bowl, we set both guys in a competition with female-friendly Big Game trivia where the loser had to shave their head. In both instances, we got a ton of repeat listening as we did a narrative arc that lasted the week and incredible engagement on social media. Hear how both shows wrapped things up with the Super Bowl Shave Off on the Friday of that week. Watch WRAL-FM’s final round on Facebook here and the actual shaving of Bryan’s head here.

Gregg, Freddy, and Danielle, MIX 104.1, Boston Telling Tom Brady Stories

February 12, 2023

In a time when listeners are less inclined to call radio stations, we must be more resourceful in creating entertaining breaks around the most relevant topics of the day. Tom Brady retires again from the NFL and you’re a show in Boston, where Tom remains a star. What do you do? If you’re Gregg, Freddy, and Danielle, MIX 104.1, Boston, you use the resources right in front of you. There’s a sports station in the building and one of the hosts was a Patriot and knows Brady. The message here is use the resources around you to do your show. Where they could have opened the phones and not known if they’d get anything good, they used the host to talk about Tom Brady in the first person. A simple, yet very effective decision.

Sarah Pepper and Jessie Watt, KHMX, Houston Grandpa and Gizmo’s Wedding

February 5, 2023

You can’t tell a great story without at least one viable point-of-conflict. A point-of-conflict that will draw the audience in and make your story electric. The length of the break is also dependent on how many points-of-conflict you have. Case in point is this great character break from Sarah Pepper and Jessie Watt, KHMX, Houston. Jessie’s 80-year old grandpa got married again. Their code name for the new bride is Gizmo because Jessie refuses to call her grandma. This break is four minutes long but doesn’t feel it for several reasons. First, this is excellent story-telling. Within the first ten seconds, I know the topic and the main point-of-conflict. Then, in Jessie’s telling, she adds drama around the main narrative with at least ten additional observations (other points-of-conflict). You must have drama in stories to make them fun. Add in great use of audio and this is real and highly entertaining because of how it was told and the details of the story.

Kyle, Bryan, and Sarah, WRAL-FM, Raleigh with The Cookie Tank

January 29, 2023

Girl Scout Cookies are on sale in almost every market of the country, making them a Hot List topic you should have fun with. The folks at Coleman Insights talk about the 3 T’s of Content: Topic, Treatment, and Tone. Are you on the best topics? What is your treatment of those topics? And the tone is how you make the audience feel. Treatments are things you do with the great content chosen that make its execution all yours. Not in a wacky, cheesy way, but in a style that fits your brand. Last year, Kyle, Bryan, and Sarah, WRAL-FM, Raleigh decided from a brainstorm session that they wanted to marry girl scout cookie sales with the popularity of the TV show Shark Tank. What came from that was putting on cute girl scouts selling their cookies and them being the sharks. This is a creative treatment to the topic and called The Cookie Tank.

Chris and the Crew, WPST, Trenton, NJ Joe’s Pizza Easter Egg

January 22, 2023

You know what’s wonderful? When a show preps so hard that breaks are mapped out. Conversation on a show, especially around real life content, is good. But chit chat without a purpose or destination can backfire on any show, accruing them a “talks too much” image. Chris and the Crew, WPST, Trenton, NJ know the value of game plans. Joe on the show bought a pizza for lunch and accidentally dropped it on floor at the radio station. Did he pick it up and eat it? That was the hook to get you through this week’s posted audio. Listen to the design of this simple break. They grab me with the question if Joe still ate the pizza. There’s a caller quickly inside the break to stimulate that question. They then place an Easter egg in the break (an unexpected moment) to add to the humor. Before they engage people through their app and reveal what Joe did. All the way around, this is an A+ break for content and execution.

Kick-Ass Audio Breaks

Karen Carson in the Morning, WNEW-FM, New York City and Kyle, Bryan, and Sarah, WRAL-FM, Raleigh with The Super Bowl Shave Off

Gregg, Freddy, and Danielle, MIX 104.1, Boston Telling Tom Brady Stories

Sarah Pepper and Jessie Watt, KHMX, Houston Grandpa and Gizmo’s Wedding

Kyle, Bryan, and Sarah, WRAL-FM, Raleigh with The Cookie Tank

Chris and the Crew, WPST, Trenton, NJ Joe’s Pizza Easter Egg

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