Kick-Ass Audio Breaks

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.

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+.