(By Randy Lane) One of the top challenges for radio shows and podcasts is creating fresh content. That’s why we created a comprehensive daily planning checklist to help jump-start new content ideas, features, and benchmarks.
Here are a few nuggets from the list:
1. Start your planning meeting with the “Post Show Review.”
2. Plug in your regularly scheduled benchmarks and features.
3. Include humor/fun:
• Interactive games listeners can play along to
• Out-of-studio interactive games like Bailey & Southside Rock 100.5 Atlanta’s Smarta Marta
• Stupid/weird news-type stories.
4. Ask: What’s trending nationally and locally?
5. Tell stories — personal from the cast and external (such as good news stories).
6. Generate conflict, drama, dilemmas, relationship content, from the cast or correspondence from a listener.
7. Use Interactive phone and social media topics: Ask people with interesting posts and texts if they’ll go on air.
8. Create serial content: Set up a cast or listener storyline that pays off today AND sets up a continuing mystery that will be resolved at the same time tomorrow to boost TSL.
9. Create a video that will potentially go viral.
The most successful shows have a balance of predictability and familiarity from their benchmarks AND unpredictability from the generation of innovative fresh content.
Randy Lane launched his media talent coaching and personal brand development company in 1996. He can be contacted by phone at 805-497-7177 or email at [email protected].
