Free Samples From Morning Radio 2

When To Do Stunts? If you have an impressivestunt for a new show, wait until the show sounds great before executing the stunt. Successful acts will yield a cume increase, especially if it catches the attention of local television stations. If the show itself isnt developed to the point that it can attract and hold listeners yet, the end result will do more damage than the short-term gain. A new business would not hold a grand opening until the store is 100% ready. Neither should your show employ such a powerful weapon that will attract new listeners until it is fully up-to-speed. So its important to evaluate your show and identify where it is in development. The Randy Lane Company equates this process to a business identifying where it is in the product life cycle. When you determine where you are in your life cycle, its easier to see how stunts might fit into your show: 1. Introduction. Youre new to the market. In this phase, stunts can be used to gain attention and make a statement that you have arrived. Stunts should be consistent with your overall personality in this phase, but the most important consideration is whether or not your stunt will attract attention and facilitate audience retention of your name and call letters. You can take a few more risks in the introduction phase, since your image has not yet been entrenched and early mistakes can be overcome more easily. 2. New/Growing with limited awareness. Here, youve been introduced, and youre using stunts to begin developing your character and personality. Gaining attention and creating talk is still important, but now you are more concerned about the nature, values and personality you wish to project. 3. Mature. Your show is hot and on-the-rise. Stunts must be very carefully considered here. Youre on your way to the top, but not there yet. This is where poorly considered stunts can backfire. Think everything through. Be more concerned about your image and how any particular stunt can enhance it. 4. Peak A (recently exceeded highest market expectations). This is actually a part of the "mature" phase in the product life cycle. In this phase, stunts are probably not needed as frequently. This is the time many shows introduce new characters to become the risk-takers, while the main personalities on the show act as "ring-master". At this time, performing fewer stunts will pay higher dividends, and should be used to extend this phase as long as possible. 5. Peak B (has been at the top over time). This is the second part of the maturity phase in the shows life cycle. Its the uncomfortable period of time where apathy begins to set in, with the show and with the audience. By this time, youve worked for years to become a part of your listeners lifestyle, and now youve become so comfortable that they begin taking you for granted. If you have avoided major stunts for a period of time (in the Peak A phase), this is the time to rework old ideas or create fresh new stunts to inject new life and excitement into the show. If you can re-package and re-vitalize the show, you could even return the show to the Peak A phase. 6. Decline. Competition starts to eat away at shares, audiences become less impressed, or worse, disinterested in the show, and no matter what you try on the air, it seems to fall flat. Listeners start to get the feeling that the show is "out of touch". At this point, its probably too late for stunts to rescue the show. You need to overhaul everything and get back to basics, so stunts have limited value. 7. Never got off the ground. Though not charted on most product life cycle graphs, too many shows fall into this category and never move. Many shows fail to become a "hit" because they fail to properly identify where they are in the product cycle. They may execute a great idea perfectly, but it is inappropriate for the show and therefore, fails. These shows continue to struggle, and search for their position, but never quite get over the hump. Stunts often become habit-forming. When a successful stunt brings attention to your show, its enticing to follow it up with another. Be aware that if you perform many stunts, eventually you will achieve "category dominance" for an image you may not want!

Capturing The Moment/Dealing With Tragedy One of the most important things you can do as a a morning show is find a way to become the show to tune in when something major happens. Weather emergencies, local tragedies and city-wide celebrations create opportunities for your show to increase your value to your audience. The ability to "capture the moment" can be the difference between success and failure. If you are able to identify those moments when they occur, react quickly and tap into your audiences reaction with an emotional sincerity, you can make giant strides in your goal of attaining local celebrity status. Whether its a natural event (a disaster), or an event you create, your ability to turn a topic into an experience for your audience can raise your profile to the next level. One of the most difficult shows you will ever perform is the day of, or day after, a tragedy strikes your community. Ive heard dozens (hundreds?) of shows simply "give up" and avoid addressing the very topic that literally everyone in town is talking about. While its true that most shows are not equipped to cover major events as well as television and news radio, shows that dont deal with these emergencies are not only letting their listeners down, theyre missing an opportunity. In the 80s, following a major earthquake in Los Angeles, KIIS-FMs Rick Dees abandoned his normal morning show format to let listeners talk. He provided a forum for Los Angeles residents to share their emotions, their feelings, their thoughts and concerns. When a high school shooting occurred in San Diego, STAR 100.7 morning superstars Jeff & Jer stayed on the air until 1pm taking calls and passing on information. Through the confusion of trying to sort out a major breaking news story, Jeff & Jer took calls from parents of the students at the school who had not heard from their children. At the school, their producer "Little" Tommy Sablan then found the kids for a tearful, powerful emotional reunion on the air. Great shows, and shows that become great, are so in touch with the lives of their listener, its almost a natural response to do "the right thing" in difficult times and connect with an audience. You dont have to be an authority on the topic to deal with it. You just have to be alert enough to understand your audience well enough to connect. What does your show do when an event occurs that affects your listeners lives? A few weeks after Princess Dianas death, I had the opportunity to participate in Don Anthonys Morning Show Boot Camp. It was amazing how many shows admitted they did nothing on the air the morning after her death. Excuses ranged from "Its too depressing" to "Thats not what we do" to "Thats all TV was talking about and we wanted to be different". I was amazed, somewhat appalled and became concerned about the future of personality radio. When radio stations fail to respond to events that impact our listeners world, we make our radio stations irrelevant. It doesnt have to be anything more than putting average listeners on the air to provide a common experience for your audience to relate. An outlet to express their emotions. The most important part of preparing yourself for your show is to understand your audience well enough to know how they will react to events. When you are able to "feel" that reaction, you will be able to anticipate events and relate to them in an appropriate way. Winning morning shows make it a habit of seizing the moment. When events occur that affect their community, they instinctively visualize what they can do on the air to create the moment. Dont let skeptics throw you off track. If you listen too much to critics, youll lose your nerve. Your confidence will falter, and youll talk yourself out of taking risks. Any time you try something new, different, or out-of-the-box, you will attract criticism from co-workers, friends, the sales department, maybe even your PD. Most broadcasters dont have a vision. They dont see it. To them, theyll "believe it when they see it". They have to have tangible evidence. Listen to them and itll suck the life and emotion out of your idea. But if you understand your audience, are willing to take risks and f you believe it, you will see it. And if you see it and believe it, you will make it happen. Its not easy. Its hard. You must make yourself vulnerable and take a walk in unfamiliar surroundings. The rewards are great for those who take the risk and execute with passion and precision. Plan for success. Believe in success. Visualize success. Brainstorm. Plan. When events or tragedies occur that impact the lives of your listener, ask yourself, "What can our show do to be very good, when things are very bad?" If you want listeners to talk about you, talk about THEM, and things they CARE about.