Great artists will see one thing in the corner of the picture that stands out. It’s like their eyes are magnifying glasses.
So when you’re going through your process, you don’t want to just pick out an approach, or just start to tell a story and hope it works. You should be alert to what “caught your eye” about it. Continue reading
For a program director, coaching air talent can be one of the most challenging tasks.
First, your talent must understand the vision and purpose of the radio station and for which specific group of people you are designing your radio station. Unless they understand who they are talking to, they won’t be able to prepare content appropriate for the audience and they’ll just as likely end up giving football scores to people who don’t listen to your station for sports.
Continue readingRecently, I listened to a morning show host do the News. I’m not a big fan of this, but in this case it’s necessary; a budget issue.
The stories were okay, but because News is so “left brain” informational, it came out in almost a dead monotone. Here’s what I said in our next session:
I know things get busy, and it’s easy to get focused on story count, pronunciations, and time. But you should avoid letting anything keep you from sounding as conversational as possible. If you sound interested in what you’re saying, chances are the listener will be, too. Continue reading
We’ve chatted a lot over these 655 Frost Advisories about how to grow your station. Growth is the fruit of adopting common ground; of making the unfamiliar familiar.
As we’ve discussed, common ground is the biggest barrier for growth in our format because the music is generally unfamiliar to new listeners. And let’s not forget that everyone’s favorite radio station is the station that plays their favorite music.
Continue readingYears ago, my first two tips about Content were “The 5 Subjects,” which was about simplifying your show prep, and “The 3 Questions,” a sifting exercise that helps you refine your on-air performance.
“The 5 Subjects” tip was updated last week, and here, in 2023, is an updated edition of the companion piece. (The 3rd question is different from the original. Times change.)
The 3 Questions to ask yourself about your Content choices:
I was driving along minding my own business when the announcement came on the radio for “The National Bereavement Conference 2023!”
“Egad!” I thought.
Were they talking about an amazing get together of caring people that come alongside those whose lives are forever changed due to the loss of a loving spouse? You’d never know it by what sounded like the label to a file folder.
There is no promotion so brilliant that it can’t be made utterly ineffective through the presentation of data, such as a list of dates and times.
Continue readingOne of the first tips I wrote years ago was a show prep piece called “The 5 Subjects.” Here in 2023, is an updated edition.
The 5 Subjects (a Content guide)
1. Job stuff.
Besides stories that grow out of the workplace, this also includes finances, “the family wallet,” too. The economy affects our choices. But I start this list with the job scenario because all Content is primarily about what you have in common with the Listener. Continue reading
In my other life I announce some baseball games for the St. Louis Cardinals. Last week, a Hall of Famer member of their storied franchise passed away. While he had a significant 21-year playing career, he was mostly known to recent generations for being a broadcaster announcing 29 consecutive post seasons in a row on national television.
In hearing the tributes to Tim McCarver, I ran across an interview with the talented Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post Dispatch where he talked about the craft of being a broadcaster.
Continue readingI’ve been talking about “camera angles” for decades, born out of an acting and performing background, and a brilliant teacher I had in college while taking film classes.
The “leaky bucket.”
That’s PPM-talk for stations losing listeners by tuning away or turning the radio off. The traditional thought is that it is easier to keep listeners than to get them back. And darn logical that is, I reckon’!
But that’s only half the story. Or, should I say, two-thirds.
A recent study of 37 million listening occasions conducted by Coleman Insights and Media Monitors found that…
Continue reading“Nearly two thirds of radio listening occasions are the result of a consumer turning on the radio, listening to a station and turning the radio off.”
Inside Radio
