How do you achieve greater morning ratings? We provide the following “25-morning essentials.” The Lund Consultants created the concept of the 3-M’s, believing that virtually all top-rated stations have three things in common: Mornings, Music, and Marketing.
When the 3-Ms are in harmony, the radio station garners a huge audience…and that makes management happy. The 3-Ms: the Morning Show is the big one in town, the Music is well researched and perfectly selected, and the Marketing (internal and external) builds cume and longer listening time. The Morning Show is the cume anchor for the entire day for most stations.
The following checklist was created for our morning show client seminar, and we believe this roster applies to nearly every station.
- Plan the show the night before. Use a Show Prep Planner to map benchmarks (e.g., the Lund Morning Show Planner).
- Research benchmark content. Use the Internet, prep services, and TV to find interesting bits, news, and topics before the show airs.
- Plan every break ahead of time—every element, the order, how to start, and how to get out. Having a planned exit will keep the break shorter and on a more direct course.
- Sound friendly, upbeat, fun, and personable. Negativism pushes people away from you.
- Have at least one benchmark or bitU every half hour. Use your benchmarks to set listener appointments (promoting ahead) and build timing guideposts for your audience.
- Practice brevity in stopsets; keep them short for flow; leave listeners wanting more (not less).
- Talk up the music and show passion for the format; occasionally provide music info into/out of songs beyond title and artist.
- Sound localU (not like a syndicated talent) with relatable community info; talk to the target listener. (Utilize the Lund Localism and Relatability checklists.)
- Be likable and positive, and avoid race, religion, and politics unless you are a talk show host.
- Stress the daily Big EventU – it’s usually local. This important topic is the big one on people’s minds and is talked about all day. Weave it through the show and aim straight for your core audience.
- Have listener phone calls and participation (games) as benchmarks.
- Create a daily benchmark that includes entertainment news and celebrity sleaze/gossip. This showbiz bit may become the station’s most desired benchmark. Many talents do this twice a day (with a few different stories).
- Be topical; talk about the top current movies and their stars.
- Talk about top-rated TV shows and their stars (American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, How I Met Your Mother, etc.); focus on the shows your listeners watch.
- For many formats, have family-friendly G-rated content safe for moms, dads, and kids; be clean!
- Produce a “coming up” promo right after the show. Run it every hour, all day long, promoting the next day.
- Do consistently great shows every day with identical benchmark features at the same times for regularity and reliability. By keeping your show (and your audience) on schedule, you can help listeners plan their day and ensure their on-time arrival.
- Have a morning show wrap-up meeting daily. As soon as the show’s over, discuss what worked and what didn’t and how to improve it.
- Avoid cutesy talk patterns that sound like a handoff to a TV weatherperson. Don’t be predictable and catch the listener off-guard; hook them.
- It’s okay to be vulnerable. That’s how you get a true emotional reaction and attraction. Let the listener in on your life, assuming you have one!
- Be an observer and weave stories of what you’ve seen.
- Know your market; know your life group. Utilize Lund checklists to better target your audience’s interests and needs.
- Musically, play just powersU in your format; only play the most familiar and best-researched “A” hits.
- Ditch the “I” myopia. Don’t talk about yourself too much, and watch constantly starting bits that way.
- Follow the format. (A special request from your PD and consultant!)
Pic designed by stopabox for Envato Elements.
John Lund is President of the Lund Media Group, a radio programming consulting firm with specialists in all mainstream radio formats. Did you find this article useful? You can leave a comment below or email John at John@Lundradio.com.