Radio Show Content | Audio Breaks

KSLX, Phoenix Alice Cooper Flames Out

November 19, 2017

Shows need signature features – being known for something helps define the program and its sense of humor. Locked in features also cause appointments, resulting in more PPM meters. Mark and NeanderPaul, KSLX, Phoenix do the 30-Second Song Challenge each morning – it works because it’s fun, vicarious, and further aligns the show with the critical station music images that it’s the classic rock authority in the market. On occasion, doing something atypical with an established feature helps it stand out again. Which is why they got Alice Cooper, who runs a syndicated show on the station each evening, play the game. Listen as the iconic rock star fails miserably and flames out. Another moment which causes talk for the show and helps the feature cut through.

WTMX, Chicago He Gave Her Mountain Dew

November 12, 2017

In a recent article, Jerry Lee, the iconic owner of B101, Philadelphia, noted that one of the principles of engaging an audience is that relevancy drives a connection. We preach this all the time to shows – the more you tell stories where the listener can think, “Yup, me, too” you have a potential connection point to start or evolve a relationship. Koz and Jen, WTMX, Chicago, had one such moment (they actually have many!). Jen’s daughter came home after being out with her husband for an afternoon of errands. The kid was bouncing off the walls. Jen couldn’t figure out why, then her husband admitted he gave her a super-sized Mountain Dew. The daughter had never had so much caffeine and sugar. Boneheaded husband move! Which lead to a phone topic of moves your spouse made with the kids that didn’t work out (one father ate five gallons of ice cream with his kids for dinner when his wife was out). Relevancy drives connection. Sometimes it’s not rocket science! This might be simple storytelling, but it’s powerful, intimate, vulnerable radio.

AMP 103.3, Boston Is Apple Screwing With Us?

November 5, 2017

Apple releases its new iOS update and anyone with an old phone suffers the same problem: their phones don’t work as well. Enter The TJ Show, AMP 103.3, Boston, to address the issue. TJ believes that Apple is messing with us on purpose – so we’ll all get new phones. This show has a unique way of expressing what the audience is thinking in a fun way. Great shows have a good time with whatever the topics of the day are. With Apple’s release of new phones and a new iOS, TJ delves into the issue in a way generated from his perspective (a great starting point to help define you). Not only is this content on point (many in the audience is nodding “yea, I think that, too”), but TJ does this in a way that stands out. Listen for the content, his talk on the topic, and the production value which makes it sparkle.

KFRG, Santa Rosa, CA A Poem For Rob’s House

October 29, 2017

Rob & Joss What is your connection to the story? Why was this meaningful for you? How did it impact you? We all know the devastation of the fires in Santa Rosa, CA. The visuals are searing. For Rob and Joss, Froggy 92.9, Santa Rosa, CA, they mean much more. Rob’s childhood home, and the house his mother lived in, burned to the ground. It was claimed 100% and they had to evacuate his mother to safety. Having a lifetime of memories in a home lost to wildfires is Rob’s connection to the horror. Rob not only shared this with the audience, along with pictures of the site, he wrote a very moving poem for his childhood home, the place with all his memories and moments and read it to the audience. One of your jobs is to move the audience to care about you. The audience pauses in this moment as they grieve with Rob and for him.

MORE-FM (WBEB), Philadelphia The Bus Stop

October 22, 2017

There are several kinds of content you can do on your show. All of it signals to your audience that you understand what’s important to them and each of them has a strategic purpose. Pop culture says you’re tapped into whatever is hot right now. Personal stories give you an efficient vehicle to define yourself to listeners in a way where they see themselves. Lifestyle content communicates that you understand what they’re going through. One of my favorite features of all time is called The Bus Stop, done by Michael Chew, at MORE-FM (WBEB), Philadelphia. Michael was home early enough in the day to greet his kids as they returned from school on the bus. We hatched the idea that he’d asked the kids, as they got off the bus, about their day. Maybe it was because they were going to be on the radio or because they knew Michael as he was their neighbor, but what the kids offered was almost always very entertaining, and tapped into the lifestyle of the adult woman listening to the station who also had kids and encountered the same conversation when she got home.

Kick-Ass Audio Breaks

KSLX, Phoenix Alice Cooper Flames Out

WTMX, Chicago He Gave Her Mountain Dew

AMP 103.3, Boston Is Apple Screwing With Us?

KFRG, Santa Rosa, CA A Poem For Rob’s House

MORE-FM (WBEB), Philadelphia The Bus Stop

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