Kick-Ass Audio Breaks

The two things which drive the success of realty shows on TV are very well-defined characters and drama, drama, drama.  The next time you venture into your favorite realty show, watch them through these prisms and know that this is what drives great radio breaks, too.  Another element of great realty shows is relatabiilty – as viewers, we must relate to the drama – possibly see that it could be us in that dilemma, as well.  Enter The Josie Dye Show with Matt and Carlin, Indie 88, Toronto who see that relatable drama lives around them all the time.  The show regularly gets emails from their promotions director and something about each email irks them:  they always have the red flag that notes the email is urgent.  This bugs all of them because not every message from her is urgent, in their opinion.  So what do they do?  They call the promotions director and confront her, asking why she does it and asks that she stop.   In one word:  drama.  A break like this works because listeners have lived it (or see that they could) and in their fantasies, they’d make the same call.  The only thing is that these guys did make the call.  So listeners lean in to see how it goes.  Just like a great scene in your favorite reality show on TV.

We offered a Free Idea last week called WINOS.  As Rush Limbaugh taught us years ago, putting together tribes in your audience gives them power to not feel like they are alone in this world.  Kyle, Bryan, and Sarah, WRAL, Raleigh seized the idea, which is an acronym for Women In Need of Sanity.  Their target is a 35-year old female who’s going crazy after one year of Covid.  Sarah from the show will lead the group, then over the course of the next few weeks, build out the tribe by taking calls from women who have this in common with her and the others who want in.  There’s power in the group.  There is also humor as this week’s audio proves.  This is where your win actually happens.  Listen to not only the real life offerings from this nurse, but how deft the show is at allowing her to be the star of the break, maximizing her observations and sense of humor.  We all know shows that would be uncomfortable allowing the caller to be the center of the break, even trying to top the lines.  Not here and not with this team.  The show is elevated because they elevate the caller.  WINOS starts a new idea for the program, a tribe for the audience, and more genuine humor coming from listeners who feel comfortable to call the show to have fun.