Radio Show Content | Audio Breaks

Sarah and Jessie, MIX 96.5, Houston Teachers Worst Christmas Gift

December 11, 2022

We’ve covered before the importance of telling stories when doing phones with listeners. Stories are how we connect. Stories have details and twists and turns and resolutions which make them fun to hear. Sarah Pepper and Jessie Watt, MIX 96.5, Houston, did calls asking teachers about the worst Christmas gifts they ever got from a student. Pushing stories to the margins (in this case, the worst gift) helps the story telling because worst gifts are much more fun to hear than best gifts. Remember when opening the phones for any topic – if you do an “st” (best, worst, lamest, funniest, etc.) – you will get a something from listeners that lives on the fringes of the topic, which is a good move for vibrant, electric stories others tuning in will want to hear. On the topic of worst teachers gifts, here are two breaks from the show, along with a third where they asked about the best gifts.

Karlson and McKenzie, WZLX, Boston Scared Straight Santa

December 4, 2022

This is one of my favorite breaks ever as done by Karlson and McKenzie, WZLX, Boston. We were looking to find an edgy way to connect with the audience. The show has attitude and swagger and we wanted to channel that sense of humor into a holiday idea that would be much different than the standard fare phone topics most shows do around this time of year. Enter Scared Straight Santa. Everyone knows of the “scared straight” concept where prisoners scare kids into towing the line so they don’t end up in jail. We used that to keep misbehaving children in line for their parents or else Santa won’t show up. The first break is the call from a parent who tells us how their kid is misbehaving. The next break (the one below) is when Pete McKenzie calls back as Santa and challenges the kid to promise to be good. This hits all important images you should have: it’s fun, it’s real, it’s innovative, and it’s relatable.

George, Mo, and Erik, The Morning Bullpen, KILT-FM, Houston The 6:10 Amen

November 27, 2022

Lots of shows do positive news. It’s a great feature to communicate your values to the audience and works because it’s the opposite of the world so many listeners experience each day. For many, while the content is the same, the frame is different. We recently changed a few things about this feature on George, Mo, and Erik, the Morning Bullpen, KILT-FM, Houston. We do this twice a day – it’s called the 6:10 or 8:10 Amen. The big change we made is what we curate for content. Where a typical show might find a good story and tell their audience about that, we decided to root for whatever good news the listeners have in their lives. They determine the content. We love hearing listener’s voices and stories. The show then celebrates that fan. Which sets us apart from what you usually hear on a feature like this.

John and Tammy, KSON, San Diego John Doesn’t Get Taylor Tickets, Too

November 20, 2022

This week was a debacle for Taylor Swift fans who were tormented by Ticketmaster. Tons tried, but few got tickets to see her in concert. An imperative image for any show to own is “they’re just like you”. Rooted in authenticity, one of radio’s super powers is to convince the audience that you are just like them. That intimacy (that you are real) helps the bonding process to build a strong relationship. John and Tammy, KSON, San Diego are exactly that. Which is why John tried to get Taylor tickets from Ticketmaster this week, like everyone else. The only difference? John is on the radio so he recorded his mood as he endured the long wait, eventually failing, too. To be like the audience, you must have similar experiences. Living that on-the-air helps your fans know you are just like them!

The Josie Dye Show with Carlin and Brent, Indie 88, Toronto Dani Still Has It

November 13, 2022

One of the challenges of a three-person show is that you have two talent of the same gender and need to focus on separating them perceptually. Such is the exercise with The Josie Dye Show with Carlin and Brent, Indie 88, Toronto. Brent’s single and Carlin is getting married is one trait that separates these two male voices to the audience. This breaks does that. We do lots of content talking about Carlin’s fiance and the stories they generate. That’s all on purpose to reach the goal of separating Carlin and Brent’s on-air personas. Carlin went to bed early one night and his fiance, Dani, went out with friends. When she got home, she woke him to boast that she’d been hit on multiple times at the bar. Carlin said that Dani still has “it”. Two things to listen for in this break – a great story that moves Carlin away from Brent’s singleness and the language used in the telling of the story to stand out. Plus, to make the break even better, Dani is included at just the right moment for an additional level of storytelling to keep the audience hooked and the energy level high.

Kick-Ass Audio Breaks

Sarah and Jessie, MIX 96.5, Houston Teachers Worst Christmas Gift

Karlson and McKenzie, WZLX, Boston Scared Straight Santa

George, Mo, and Erik, The Morning Bullpen, KILT-FM, Houston The 6:10 Amen

John and Tammy, KSON, San Diego John Doesn’t Get Taylor Tickets, Too

The Josie Dye Show with Carlin and Brent, Indie 88, Toronto Dani Still Has It

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