THE MORNING SKOOP RADIO BLOG

WHAT’S MISSING FROM YOUR SHOW?

admin — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 13:06:51 +0000

I can’t believe how many morning shows think what they’re doing on the air is enough. It’s never enough. Being a morning radio personality is tough. You constantly have to push yourself to do new things. Chances are, there’s probably something missing from your show. Do you have daily or weekly benchmarks? Are they entertaining? Do you drop audio clips into your show? If not, you’re depriving your listeners. How are your contests? Do you have them? There are so many things that might be missing from your show.

YOU SHOULD…

-Drop audio clips into your show (Last night’s TV; Audio-related contests; Comedy clips; Song parodies, etc.)

-Do trivia. Get listeners to call in and answer trivia questions. People love trivia. Interacting with listeners is extremely important. Trivia is a great way to do it.

-Have daily or weekly benchmarks. Great morning shows have great daily or weekly benchmarks. When you think of David Letterman, what do you think of? It’s his top 10 list. What is Jay Leno known for? It’s his “Headlines.” You should have great benchmarks (The Morning Skoop has lots of benchmarks).

-Have local content. Since you started radio, you’ve heard “be local” a million times. You have to be local. Where a lot of morning shows blow it is by being local in a boring way. There are ways to make local things entertaining. If you think something local is boring, find a way to make it fun. (Example: If you are going to talk about a road closure due to construction work, ask listeners the following question: “Where’s the biggest pot hole in town?” Tell your listeners you’ll compile a list, then contact the city to see if they’ll fix the pot holes.

-Stop the inside jokes. I often tune in to morning shows and hear them talking about things only the morning personalities know about. They don’t do any kind of setup. For some reason, they think their listeners will be able to follow what they’re saying – without a setup. Don’t do this. If you’re going to talk about something, make sure your listeners will be able to follow you.

It’s really important that you challenge yourself. Don’t become complacent. You have an extremely important job. Don’t disappoint your listeners.

Steven Dee – The Morning Skoop

ARE YOU SUPPORTING YOUR MORNING SHOW PARTNERS?

admin — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 17:55:35 +0000

Are you supporting your morning show partners the way you should? I’ve had a few co-hosts in my life where they didn’t support me the way they should have. What do I mean by this? They didn’t show interest in things I said on the air. They didn’t laugh much. There’s nothing worse than a co-host who doesn’t laugh at the funny things on the show. This happens a lot. I hear morning shows all the time where one of the personalities says something really funny, and the co-host doesn’t laugh at all. You have to support your co-host. Remember, perception is reality. Can you imagine what “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson” would have been like if Ed McMahon didn’t laugh at anything Johnny said? Why do some morning co-hosts not laugh or support the other members of their show? Maybe it’s because they’re competing with that person to be the funniest on the show. Working with your co-hosts is not a competition. You are not out to get him or her; you’re out to get the competition. When you don’t support the members of your morning show, listeners will pick up on it. You don’t want that to happen. You may have issues with your co-hosts, but when you’re on the air, you can’t let that show. Your listeners don’t care if you have a personality conflict with a co-host. They want to be entertained. Deal with your issues off the air, after your show.

Steven Dee – The Morning Skoop

The Morning Skoop is Now Blogging

admin — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 08:01:15 +0000

This is the official blog of The Morning Skoop. Check back often for radio-related posts. We’ll be posting show prep ideas, radio-related articles, etc.

LINE OUT YOUR SHOW

admin — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 10:40:50 +0000

Do you line out your show before the show starts? I don’t care how long you’ve been in the business – you need a roadmap for your entire show. The roadmap is a basic outline of what will happen on your show. Of course, the direction of your show will change from time to time. That’s okay. As long as you know what you’ll be doing on your show, you’ll be in good shape. Don’t wing it. Click on the following link for a Morning Skoop daily roadmap page. Print copies of this and use it on your show every dasy. http://www.themorningskoop.com/morningskooproadmap.pdf.

CALL US FOR THE PUNCHLINE BIT

admin — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 10:11:36 +0000

Here’s a great bit for your show. The bit is called “Call Us for the Punchline.” Tell an off-color joke on the air, but don’t reveal the punchline. Tell your listeners they have to call you for the punchline. When listeners call in, put them on the air and tell the joke. After telling the joke, tell them the punchline off the air. As soon as they start laughing, bring up the volume on the phone. Your listeners will hear nothing but laughter. This will cause more listeners to call in for the punchline. I did this on the air once and we took phone calls for two hours – people wanting to hear the punchline.

Here’s a great joke for “Call Us for the Punchline.”

What’s the similarity between women and Kentucky Fried Chicken? When you’re done with the breasts and thighs, all you have left is a greasy box to put your bone in.

Remember, don’t tell the punchline on the air. If kids call in, don’t tell them the punchline. This is for adults only. Why is this entertaining to listeners? They’ll get a kick out of hearing the person on the phone laughing, causing them to call in for the punchline.

WHY SUBSCRIBE TO THE MORNING SKOOP

admin — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 09:15:13 +0000

It’s shocking how many morning shows don’t subscribe to prep services. Why is this? Well, this is an ego-driven business. I think a lot of morning personalities think their show is great just the way it is. I can’t tell you how many radio shows I’ve listened to where the morning personalities just talk about “stuff.” They think listeners are enthralled with every word that comes out of their mouth. I hate to break it to you, but they’re not. They want to be entertained. It’s your job to entertain them – every single day. When you get complacent with what you’re doing, your competition is going to get aggressive and kick your butt. You need great content – prep and audio. If you’re doing a show and audio clips aren’t a big part of it, your show is suffering. I’ve talked to many personalities who say they don’t air audio clips (produced comedy clips, show openers/closers, etc.). Radio is audio. These people need a reality check. Think about this: If you watched the news on TV and they didn’t air news footage video, you would tune into a news broadcast that did. News would be boring without video footage. Your show is boring without audio clips. The Morning Skoop provides tons of audio. Request a free trial of The Morning Skoop today and watch your show climb to a new level.