(By Randy Lane) Audiences are captivated by episodic content like Yellowstone, Virgin River, and successful podcasts like True Crime All the Time. Each episode reveals resolutions to mysteries from the previous episode and raises more questions for the next installment.
In radio, serial content is a proven technique to increase time spent listening, and more importantly, to get listeners to come back to your show. Once the public is emotionally invested in a character and storyline, they want more.
Successful radio shows thrive in Nielsen with two listener variables:
LISTEN LONGER
Expanding TSL to two quarter-hours is accomplished with vertical content by introducing a scenario in one segment and following up with the resolution in the next quarter-hour. Examples include high-tune-in relationship dramas like DeDe’s Date Fail and Dave Ryan’s War of the Roses.
RETURN LISTENING
Creating more tune-ins is executed with horizontal content set up on one day and resolved the next day at the same time. Most shows get listeners back to their show 2.5 days per week on average. Boost the number to 3 or 4 days and your ratings will soar. Generally, the more tune-ins or listening occasions, the higher the ratings.
Examples of horizontal content include:
- Single character: 5 dates in 5 days
- New player to the show and market: A local adventure every weekend
- Celebrity interviews: Promote big interviews the day before with the best question(s) you’ll ask
Storylines
Storylines are broken down into chapters or episodes. They can come from life transitions like a wedding, a new baby, buying a home, or from life’s smaller dilemmas, like a series of Tinder dates, or an ongoing dispute with a neighbor.
The keys to building successful storylines are planning and teasing. You will tease the upcoming episode more effectively if you know what is happening next, and telling the story outside of real-time allows you to embellish and rearrange the drama to make it more entertaining. If it’s happening in real-time, listeners will experience the drama with you spontaneously.
Serial Content Structure
- A relatable character: The character can be you, your co-host, a listener, someone in your city, or a recurring show guest.
- A villain: Not necessarily a bad person; it can be a foil for your main character. The villain can be a person, an animal, a disease, a hurricane, or a government.
- A quest or conflict: It can be a discovery, a disagreement, or something valuable you want to accomplish. Also, it can be an inner conflict or a dilemma you want to resolve.
- A resolution: Resolution is crucial. Let listeners know you will reveal how the quest or conflict ends and tell them when they can hear it.
Randy Lane is the owner of the Randy Lane Company, which coaches and brands radio and television personalities, business professionals, sports personalities, entrepreneurs, and pop culture artists, helping them master communication skills to have an impact on their audiences. Read Randy’s Radio Ink archives here.
