Radio Show Content | Audio Breaks

Spencer’s Neighborhood, 106.5, The Arch, St. Louis First Five Notes

July 30, 2023

You will never lose when you tie your show back to the music brand of your radio station. Some shows are silos – they never talk about the music or the artists. I’ve always believed that that’s a mistake as you should acclimate yourself into the larger station brand. In some respects, listeners choose your show because of you and the content you do. In many ways, they choose your station because of the music you play, too. Here’s a fun game called The First Five Notes played on Spencer’s Neighborhood, 106.5 The Arch, St. Louis several years ago. The listener would choose from the cast who they wanted to play against. Then another in the room would play the first five notes of a song on the station. First to identify the artist or song get the point. Simple, yet effective for tying you back to the radio station.

Logan and Sadie, WINK-FM, Fort Myers, FL The Graduation Letter Twist

July 23, 2023

In some breaks you get the expected. You have a general sense where the break is going and that’s okay. In others, though, it helps to plan an unexpected pivot that will capture the imagination of the audience. That’s what’s done in this break from Logan and Sadie, WINK-FM, Fort Myers, FL. Logan has two kids and his youngest daughter was graduating from high school a few months ago. The expected came in the letter Logan wrote and read to his daughter about her milestone on-the-air. So many of us have done that in radio. It’s touching, human, character building, and expected. Then, in our brainstorm to create a moment of something unexpected, we decided to give Logan’s son, Gabe, a chance for a rebuttal to the letter Logan read his daughter. Great breaks happen when you prep them through. This is the expected and unexpected and becomes memorable as a result.

George, Mo, and Erik, KILT-FM, Houston We Need A New Area Code

July 16, 2023

Know how I know an idea is great? I’m jealous I didn’t think of it. Curiosity fuels creativity. In a brainstorm, asking the “I wonder…” question leads to well, wonderful places. Such is the case with George, Mo, and Erik, KILT-FM, Houston and this week’s audio. The team learned that Houston will need another area code next year because of population growth. I wonder how area codes are decided? I wonder who makes those decisions? Those are two of the “wonder” questions they pondered so they explored them. The show first talked to someone nationally who approves new area codes. That person told them to call the Texas Utilities Commission, which they did in the second segment. The show first lobbied for 468, as that spells HOU. It’s taken in Canada. So they opened the phones and a listener suggested 489 which spells HTX. All the way around, this is local, relevant, creative, and fun because it came from the wonder of the team. I give this an A+.

Mark and NeanderPaul, KSLX, Phoenix The Tide Pod Controversy

July 9, 2023

The frivolous always wins and tends to be the stickiest content. Proven here by Mark and NeanderPaul, KSLX, Phoenix. The show got into a conversation about the right number of Tide Pods one should use with a load of laundry. All coming from a conversation Mark had with his wife. This became a short term story line on the show, as proven by this break. Some things to hear: the caller wanting the update happens very quickly in the break to grab the listener. Then Paul is smart and does a reset for listeners who are unaware of what’s going on (very smart). They then push the narrative forward with another caller plus a quick Q&A with a co-worker who helped advance things. The structure of all of our breaks needs to be like this so the three minutes of content feels shorter. The other very important thing to note is how stressful the world is so a controversy about something silly like how many Tide Pods to use with a load of laundry will be remembered.

Thunder and PT, 102.9 The Wolf, Minneapolis Taylor Swift’s Valentine Line

June 25, 2023

Our audio this week highlights the best way to solicit for listeners when you want them to do something creative to win a prize. Last February, Thunder and PT, 102.9 The Wolf, Minneapolis had Taylor Swift tickets to give out. Her tour was in town and it happened to be Valentine’s month so they brought both topics together, which is brilliant. The idea was asking listeners to leave Taylor a love message on their Valentine Line – the purpose being to generate audio for the show (content) with the best winning the tickets. The smart move here was Thunder doing his Valentine so those wishing to enter would know what they were looking for. This break is fun for those not entering (a very important point) and instructive to those who will. Guess what they got over the next few weeks? Fun entries from listeners because they gave an example of what they wanted instead of just explaining it.

Kick-Ass Audio Breaks

Spencer’s Neighborhood, 106.5, The Arch, St. Louis First Five Notes

Logan and Sadie, WINK-FM, Fort Myers, FL The Graduation Letter Twist

George, Mo, and Erik, KILT-FM, Houston We Need A New Area Code

Mark and NeanderPaul, KSLX, Phoenix The Tide Pod Controversy

Thunder and PT, 102.9 The Wolf, Minneapolis Taylor Swift’s Valentine Line

Some of the Great Radio Stations I’ve Helped...