Radio Show Content | Audio Breaks

106.5, The Arch St. Louis The Kentucky Derby Weekend

May 13, 2018

It’s quite clever when a show marries something in pop culture with character development to satisfy the audience’s need to understand the talent as it reflects a topic of the day. Enter Spencer’s Neighborhood, 106.5 The Arch, St. Louis who did just that with the Kentucky Derby last week. The topic amongst the cast and then with listeners on the phones was for each to share a short highlight of their weekend and then the team assigned you a Kentucky Derby horse name based on the experience. Spencer and his team get so much done in a few short minutes, which requires additional prep because they have very little time to waste. Listen as this is wonderfully set up in the first few seconds with audio of the event, hooking the audience, and then tied that to pop culture to contemporize the show along with short stories from the weekend, all leading to humor.

KSLX, Phoenix The A to Z Game

May 6, 2018

Radio stations need to do promotions – these large giveaways (usually trips or cash contests) add energy to a radio station and cultivate listening from contest players. Mark and NeanderPaul, KSLX, Phoenix subscribe to the philosophy that while these promotions need to be talked about on their show, that kind of break is only geared at the 2% who care (and will follow or play the game). We need to make a break like that entertaining to the other 98% to help carry listeners thru content that really doesn’t matter to them. The station just started a game centered around classic rock called The A to Z Game. Listen to this break and note what they did in promoting it to make it fun to hear for the larger group, the 98% who’ll never call to win anything from the station.

The MIX, Chicago Show Biz Pop Quiz 100th Episode

April 29, 2018

Much like Steve Harvey does special-themed Family Feuds, it’s totally fine for you to take your tenured, signature features and do something different with them on occasion, too. Koz and Jen, The MIX, Chicago, do the Show Biz Pop Quiz each afternoon as listeners are driving home. This Hollywood trivia game is widely done and immensely popular with an audience because it’s vicarious, easy, and centered around a cast character in efforts to help define them. Here is their 100th episode of the feature. As a special treat for both Jen and the audience, Koz had her play against someone who is 100 years old. This quirky turn is geared at those just tuning in to play along, helping heighten how fun it is for them.

WDRV The Drive, Chicago A Survivor of Southwest 1380

April 22, 2018

How hard is this? Not very. Tapping into the biggest stories of the day radiates relevancy to the audience. When tragedy happens, shows need to only think – what would Good Morning America or the Today Show do here? Sherman and Tingle, WDRV-FM, Chicago think like that. So the morning after Southwest #1380 is in the news for an engine blowing up at 30,000 feet and an emergency landing happening in Philadelphia, they’re faced with three choices: not have it as content on their show (big mistake), talk about it based on what they saw on TV and read online (just okay), or have someone on who was on the plane when it happened (amazing). No one tells a story better than the person who experienced it. The team got one of the passengers to come on to paint the picture of what it was like. While we won’t give away the secret of how they got her (it’s way easier than you think), these guys did a break no one else in Chicago did, thus winning the moment.

WIL, St. Louis Name that Street

April 15, 2018

There are multiple ways to tell the audience you’re new to town. The standard way is to ask listeners where to get a great local pizza, etc. That can live for only so long before it becomes one-dimensional. Stacy and Jonah, WIL-FM (New Country 92.3), St. Louis have been in place as the new afternoon show in town for only a few months so we’re now looking for fresh ways to publicly learn the market and have some fun. Stacy’s mom recently visited for the first time. The streets are notoriously hard to say in the market given their French spellings. Which is why they had their longtime traffic guy, Captain Mack, give her the spellings of local roads and Stacy’s mom had to pronounce them. Goals served for being local, saying we’re new to town, and creating some fun.

Kick-Ass Audio Breaks

106.5, The Arch St. Louis The Kentucky Derby Weekend

KSLX, Phoenix The A to Z Game

The MIX, Chicago Show Biz Pop Quiz 100th Episode

WDRV The Drive, Chicago A Survivor of Southwest 1380

WIL, St. Louis Name that Street

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