Radio Show Content | Audio Breaks

Christine and Salt, WTIC-FM, Hartford with Christine’s Dental Visit

June 16, 2024

How personally deep can you go with listeners? What are you willing to share to move the audience to care about you? When we care about something, we think more deeply about it and want to be around it. On Christine and Salt, WTIC-FM, Hartford, the audience has been part of a conversation about Christine’s cancer over the years. Christine has been deep and open about her medical challenges and struggles and draws strength from those listeners rooting for her. Her cancer is back. It was found by her dental hygienist during a regular oral cleaning. In this segment, she visited her hygienist to share the news and recorded all of it so we felt like we were in the dentist’s lobby as it was discussed. This is immensely personal and powerful on so many levels. Would you be open to doing this?

Foxx and Annie, CBS-FM, New York City with Wishing Myself a Happy Birthday

June 9, 2024

The more intimate and personable vibe your show has, the greater chance you have connecting with the audience and moving them to a primary goal – feeling like they know you. Such is one of our objectives with Foxx and Annie, CBS-FM, New York City. The show is relatively new, having taken over when the iconic Scott Shannon retired several months ago. I normally hate the reading of birthdays on-air. I think it’s irrelevant content no one else cares about. But this one was different. It’s a listener calling to wish himself a happy birthday. In the process, it’s quite apparent he knows and loves the show. Plus he’s fun and reveals himself, heightening that intimacy, which is an image transferred to the show.

AD and Chris, KSHE, St. Louis with the Stray Rescue Recap

June 2, 2024

Get involved in life, and find stories for your show. In the process, show your humanity to connect with the audience. Such is the case with AD and Chris, KSHE, St. Louis. AD was out of town with his wife two weeks ago. While out on a walk from their Airbnb, they found a dog on the highway disheveled, thin, and scared. Our cause on this show is pets. AD took to the dog and brought him back to their rental. He and his wife cleaned up the dog and brought him back to St. Louis and turned him over to one of the many animal shelters we partner with to do our Pet Projects. This on-going narrative has been content for the show. Here’s a conversation he had with the shelter to get an update on their efforts to find a forever home for the dog. Human and real. You leave with an absolute sense of what AD’s all about as a person. Show that to your audience and you’ll win.

Karson and Kennedy, MIX 104.1, Boston with The Big Trial

May 26, 2024

With the Trump trial headed to a verdict, I suggested in last week’s Monday Morning Free Idea to engage listeners who’ve been on juries to find out what that was like. You can tackle the Trump trial without ever talking about the ex-president so you don’t trigger the audience. Karson and Kennedy, MIX 104.1, Boston took that challenge and asked listeners who’ve been on juries to tell them about their experience. This is terrific story telling as everyone with an experience has a different one to share. This highlights you don’t always have to be fun, but you must always be relevant and engaging. Here’s a listener telling them about the trial where she judged someone’s fate. This is “lean in” radio.

Chris and Dina, WMAS-FM, Springfield, MA with Mother’s Day Mayhem

May 19, 2024

Without friction, you don’t get any explosion! That’s another way of saying if you don’t have conflict or tension, your story is less valuable to the audience, maybe even worthless. When looking at the stories to tell on-air, ask if there’s a tension of opposing forces. Mix those and then watch what happens. As evidenced by Chris and Dina, WMAS-FM, Springfield, MA. Back before Mother’s Day, they heard from a stay-at-home mom who wasn’t going to get a gift from her husband. That’s moderate tension, as they wished her well. On the next break, they heard from her husband who said she always complained and that he felt her being able to stay-at-home with the kids was a gift all itself. Explosion. How do you think the audience reacted? Yup, that’s what happened.

Kick-Ass Audio Breaks

Christine and Salt, WTIC-FM, Hartford with Christine’s Dental Visit

Foxx and Annie, CBS-FM, New York City with Wishing Myself a Happy Birthday

AD and Chris, KSHE, St. Louis with the Stray Rescue Recap

Karson and Kennedy, MIX 104.1, Boston with The Big Trial

Chris and Dina, WMAS-FM, Springfield, MA with Mother’s Day Mayhem

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