Radio Show Content | Audio Breaks

WRAL, Raleigh Bryan Tells His Mom He’s Engaged

April 9, 2017

Every content choice on your show must be done for a strategic reason. Two Men and a Mom, on MIX 101.5, Raleigh, is a new show for the audience so we focus a lot on character content to define the talent and humanize them. Bryan just got engaged to his longtime girlfriend. He decided to tell his mother last of everyone, opting to tell her on-the-air. His mom, Bekkie, is always great on the show so they knew her reaction would be very revealing, highly emotional, funny, and make Bryan her son perceptually in the process. The show calls Bekkie in this segment and we all get to hear Bryan tell the story to his mom and hear her natural reaction as she shares with the audience how she feels about the news and what it’s like to be in their family. This is very personal and vulnerable and is an excellent example of how to do story-based character content in a way that perfectly defines a member of a show. It’s sticky because it’s real, a story, and has emotion attached to all of it.

Froggy 92.9, Sant Rosa, CA The Chris Young Interview

April 2, 2017

Rob & Joss There’s this general sense, especially in PPM, that interviews don’t work. This isn’t true. Bad interviews don’t work. Good ones do. When interviewing a celebrity, remember that there are two agendas at play – theirs (to sell something) and yours (to entertain the audience). Great interviews get their subject to tell a compelling story and/or reveal themselves in human ways. That’s what draws listeners in and honors your agenda first (always sell the website/tickets/CD/book on the back end of the interview). Here’s Rob and Joss, Froggy 92.9, Santa Rosa, CA who talk with country star Chris Young who’s coming on to sell concert tickets. What they cover around that: what it’s like for him to be at a Garth Brooks concert as a fan (reveal), how he helped a disadvantaged kid in their audience (story), and they played a fun game with him. Don’t interview someone solely around their agenda (silly vicarious game). The audience will bore and sniff out if you’re trying to sell them something and push back because of it. Figure out how to accomplish your agenda, as these guys did, before doing any of that.

AMP 103.3, Boston Lotto Man

March 26, 2017

Most morning shows, when given lottery tickets as giveaways, would groan. The TJ Show, AMP 103.3, Boston, sees opportunity to have fun. TJ transforms himself into Lotto Man. He went out on the street as this character to give tickets to passers-by, really as a mechanism to converse about winning the lottery and create other TJ mayhem. The beauty of The TJ Show is that they always figure out, regardless of circumstance, how to use what they have to create fun. The standout elements of this break include: street audio so there is another dimension to engage the audience, TJ plays a short Lotto Man jingle in between approaching people which catches your attention, it’s quirky fun, the lottery was one of the Hot Topics that week, and talking to people on the street makes the show feel like it’s Boston.

Power 106, Los Angeles Pregnant Like a Woman

March 19, 2017

Empathy is such a critical element to connect with the audience. It’s “I feel your pain” because you have. J. Cruz’s girlfriend just gave birth to their first child. So the host of The Cruz Show, Power 106, Los Angeles, had to wear the pregnant belly one day so he knew what it felt like. Part of that was, when he had to go to the bathroom, we sent him into the ladies room to do so, taping the experience. Video for social media, audio for the program. And yes, he was interrupted by other women who also work on the floor while he was peeing. This is real life, with a unique twist. Which made it relatable and fun.

106.5 The Arch A Day Without Women

March 12, 2017

This past week we celebrated International Women’s Day. Many people asked us to imagine a day without women. Spencer’s Neighborhood, 106.5 The Arch, St. Louis did just that, with this produced piece which actually mocks men. There are a few takeaways from this show clip: first, don’t ever believe it takes forever to entertain the audience. This show is impressively efficient with its time. They respect the audience by setting things up quickly (but organically) as you’ll hear and then getting to the funny fast. When you do this, you reposition your competitors for those who cross cume stations as slow. The other item to note is that talking about the topic is certainly fine, but when you have a game plan to entertain the audience with the topic, as the produced part of this break proves, you make it stickier, which helps the audience remember you and want to come back out of a fear of missing something.

Kick-Ass Audio Breaks

WRAL, Raleigh Bryan Tells His Mom He’s Engaged

Froggy 92.9, Sant Rosa, CA The Chris Young Interview

AMP 103.3, Boston Lotto Man

Power 106, Los Angeles Pregnant Like a Woman

106.5 The Arch A Day Without Women

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