Everything on the radio should be designed to appeal to emotions. That isn’t a big surprise, because we all make choices based on emotions, not facts or logic. But how about contests and promotions? Listen to most radio giveaways; it doesn’t take long to realize they’re generally robotic and mechanical. One reason is to save time, and another is to specifically target passionate contest players likelier to participate in the ratings process. But what if you design games to appeal to emotions and still attract the contest player?
Radio games and contests should be more like television game shows, and there’s no reason broadcasters can’t do it without compromising the benefits of contests. Game show producers invest time and money designing a strategy for viewers, not contestants. They specialize in leveraging the play-along factor.
Humans love games. They’ve never been more popular. We fill out Sudoku puzzles, play board games, compete to solve the daily Wordle, watch game shows, and waste hours playing online video games each week. Ganes are off-the-charts popular.
These shows are designed to appeal to emotions. Specifically, games appeal to a powerful emotion: Greed. But it’s not what you think. This isn’t about greed to try and get rich with a lottery ticket or winning cash or prizes. Incentives can be a powerful attraction, but this greed appeals to a sense of superiority.
If you can find an idea that does both, you may have the ultimate ratings generating machine!
The Play-Along Factor
The mechanics may vary, but every successful game show has the same concept. It’s not about the prize or the contestant—those are props to make the game more interesting. Their success is about attracting viewers to play along. Prizes are important only because they raise the stakes and add drama, so don’t get hung up on building a promotion or game around the value of the prizes unless your strategy is exclusively a ratings grab for prize pigs.
Game shows figured this out long ago. Can you remember how much money (or prizes) a game-show contestant won? Likely not, because you don’t care about those contestants. They’re built to entice you to play along, which could and should be part of every radio contest’s design. When the general audience (not just contest players) is engaged, you win!
Contestants Must Add to Entertainment Value
Producers for successful shows like Wheel of Fortune and The Price is Right carefully screen contestants to improve the show. These participants can make or break each episode.
They’re always looking for people who:
Energy: Contestants should enthusiastically add momentum and interest.
Representative: They look for attractive or interesting-looking people, but not beautiful. In other words, someone who looks “like me.”
Average Intelligence (or less): Game producers want you to solve the puzzle or answer the question before the contestant because it makes you feel good.
That third point is key. Their goal is to make viewers think
I’m a lot smarter than those people who made it on the show.
This is far more valuable than making the contestant feel great. It’s how they appeal to greed. See? The greed is good!
Add Drama
As a game show is played, drama increases toward a payoff. Storytelling elements add expectation and anticipation by getting the audience invested in the outcome. Jeopardy raises the stakes, building to the final round where anything could happen.
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire started with easy questions that became more difficult as the prize money increased. Putting contestants in a position to make difficult decisions allows the audience to relate to their emotional situation, which the viewer at home can judge. They think:
What would I do if I were them?
Conclusion
There are many ways to gamify content. Mastering a few of these techniques will increase tune-in opportunities.
Games are fun on-air. Use these game show techniques to dress up games, contests, and promotions.
Pic generated by Envato Labs AI for Envato Elements.
Tracy Johnson is a talent coach and programming consultant. He’s the President/CEO of Tracy Johnson Media Group. His book Morning Radio has been described as The Bible of Personality Radio and has been used by personalities worldwide.