In this week’s Programming To Win column, Mike Bettelli makes up a checklist of questions for programmers to run down with their morning show. For good measure, Bettelli also delves in to the topic of “sizzle” and various ways to create that intangible effect on your station.
Mike Bettelli
By Mike Bettelli
Sifting through notes from past conventions and articles is a like sifting through that drawer in your kitchen that has all the stuff in it. Those batteries way in the back are not going to come back to life, but there are always some handy items that you might need someday. Here are a couple of forgotten gems that can help your station get more focused and maybe even recharge the batteries of your airstaff.
10 Questions A Successful Morning Show Should Be Able To Answer
Notes from a session on morning shows at the Midwest Conclave in Minneapolis a few years back:
1. Who is your target? Do you have a specific target in mind for your show? Is it the same as the target for the station?
2. What is the position? Have you uniquely positioned yourself, or are you just another show that’s on in your market?
3. Can you learn from critical review? Can you handle negative feedback? What about good feedback? Is the feedback based on objective observation?
4. Are you really aware of the competition? Where will audience growth come from? Do you know the strategic position your station is in? (offensive, defensive, flanking)?
5. Have you done your homework? Aware of what’s going on in the community? Aware of other happenings that your market would relate to?
6. Do you maximize your bits/features? Do you know what your target considers your best bits and features? Do you practice “low ride out” with your bits/features? (This refers to the Disney policy of replacing the lowest-usage ride in the park.)
7. Do you capture the moment? Can you recognize an opportunity? Do you know how to take charge of that opportunity? Do you understand when it’s okay to break format?
8. Do you know how to promote? Do you go outside to reach listeners? Do you help the station come up with ways to promote the show? Do you promote the rest of the station?
9. Do you work with the other personalities? Have you honestly and objectively evaluated them? Do you feed off each others’ ideas? Do you share bits and features with them?
10. Do you try to get along with management? Do you listen with an open mind? Are you able to tell them what your concerns are? Do they try to get along with you?
These questions are meant to be thought provoking and invite discussion. This is a good handout for your next morning show meeting.
Creating Sizzle On Your Station
What makes a station “sizzle” as opposed to being flat & unexciting – even though the elements are being executed well? Here are few thoughts on what makes a station’s air sound “sizzle”:
The Sum Of Many Parts
Listeners don’t think about this, but a radio station has a lot of moving parts. If you’re a PD or GM you’re responsible for keeping those parts in perfect working condition. Like the parts that work together to make a car run smoothly down the highway, your radio station not only needs those parts to move, they have to work with each other to create that “sizzle” we want to hear. That goes for everything from the most expensive (the morning show) to the least expensive (a weekend countdown show or buyout production library). Only when you’re satisfied that every part works correctly on its own and in combination with the other moving parts will you be able to create a compelling, “sizzling” product.
Inventory List
Start by making a list of the parts that make up your radio station. Begin with a definition of what the overall package is. This definition is what you constantly refer back to and keep in mind when making decisions that affect your station. It’s tempting to make this part complicated: “WKRP is a low power AM radio station playing favorite hits from the ‘80’s, 90’s and Today with a demographic appeal of 25-54 year old adults with a female/male ratio of 60/40. We limit commercials to 12 units per hour – except in November and December.” Sounds boring already! Ask a few listeners to describe your station (or any other in the market). They will come up with a short sentence or maybe just one word. “Dance Music” “Oldies” “Hot Country” “Top 40” “Love Songs.” They’re telling us what they like about radio and you in particular – they know best.
Now let’s move into some major areas and discuss what’s necessary to create a little “sizzle” on the radio.
1. Morning Show. Does your morning show understand the position you have defined for the station? Is the show supporting this definition or ignoring it? Many morning shows feel obligated to use up as much time as possible with the mike on or running bits back-to-back without regard for how many songs get played each hour. Does your morning personality have such wide regard in the market that it’s no longer necessary to use his/her name on the air? Mention call letters? Pick a topic that connects with your audience? Mornings feed all other dayparts on your station and must resemble what happens the other 20 or 21 hours of each day.
2. Airstaff. Go over airchecks regularly with all your air people. Every day (if practical) with your morning show, once a week for afternoon drive. Every two weeks for midday and evenings. Once a month with weekenders and overnighters. Be sure to put a positive spin on these meetings. Every air personality needs approval for what’s going right, and they often are not aware of what’s wrong. Come out of the meeting with a list of areas for improvement. Refer to the list at the next aircheck review.
Pay as much attention to content and style as you do to technical performance. Is your airstaff talking like real people or like some blow-dried TV anchor?
3. Production. Do you distribute production equally among your announcing staff? Are you using any marginal voices for tags on spots or promos? Are your production beds a good match for the music on your station? Are there too many hard sell spots in rotation? Too many humorous spots? Too many spots with the same voice?
4. Liners and Promos. Chances are you don’t have a person on your staff who can deliver liners and promos like the pros out there that make a living doing just that. Good liner and promo voices are almost never exceptional air talents. They have a quality of excitement and “sizzle” that really sell your format and position. You dilute your own air talent by using their voices to deliver liners and promos that may be repeated hundreds of times each week. Don’t keep running the same liners forever. Freshen your liner copy frequently (at least every two months) and run “product promos” along with everything else. Do you have a TV spot? The audio should be running on your station as a promo. Remember that “freshen” doesn’t mean totally changing your positioning every two months. Stick with the basic verbiage and find ways to make it sound new and different.
5. Jingles, Music Beds, Bumps, Stingers, Stagers and Bridges. Your station may operate without any of the preceding. You almost always need some of them to keep elements moving. A high percentage of stations I’ve found lacking in the sizzle department could use either a jingle package that is a better match for their format or a complete revamping of all the music used under liners or to transition into newscasts or weather updates. When this material doesn’t match your music mix or the character of the station – the result can be confusing and distracting to the listener.
6. Two words: Seamless. Momentum. The old Hyundai Accent that needs engine work vs. the brand new Lexus. Smooth running and likely to get you there in style vs. clunky, uncomfortable and moving in stops and starts. The music isn’t just the right music…it segues perfectly. Levels are uniform on all of your audio sources. Your signal is at least as loud as everyone else across the dial. You always have something compelling coming up. The listener didn’t just miss the longest music sweep of all time…they tuned in at exactly the right moment for their favorites.
Bottom line: They will likely stay tuned to your station longer than your competitor because it flows better and is more fun to listen to. Pay attention to every single part of your radio station. Even a $50,000 Lexus can be stopped by a $1.49 fuse.
Mike Bettelli is a Partner and Radio Consultant with The New Broadcast Partners. He can be reached at: 206-849-2456, mike@thenewbp.com or www.thenewbp.com.
