Radio is not entirely outstanding at looking down the line and preparing for large opportunities. For instance, the 2026 Winter Olympics will happen in February in Italy. I’d have my radar up for local athletes who are going over to compete and glom onto them like a pilot fish on a shark. (My last Marine Biology promotional reference.)
When Sunisa Lee from St. Paul medaled in gymnastics in the Summer Olympics, Hubbard in the Twin Cities did an outstanding job of being on the bandwagon from day one and being part of her victory parade when she returned.
Also, and this is going to sneak up on people, July 4th, 2026, is the 250th birthday of America. This is going to be omnipresent. It will be everywhere. And most stations will stumble on it in June. If you’d like every 4th of July idea imaginable delivered to your inbox, email me at [email protected] and tell me the name of the radio station in Stranger Things.
And now on with the Dumpage:
Client Parties
Now is the time that sucking-up, massaging, entertaining and courting will be most beneficial. Cox in Birmingham has gone to NYC and Atlanta and taken out the buyers. This week, they’re having a cocktail party at the station for the local clients.
When I worked at Emmis, they annually did huge, expensive bashes. No one is expecting that of you. Drinks and food at the station? That’s great. And probably tradeable.
- Bowling 4 Spots – You can’t do a bowling event and fail. Or, at least, you’d really have to work at it. What about a client party at a bowling alley, and the team with the best score gets a sked. You want to have fun with it. Encourage people to come in tacky bowling shirts. Do a beer frame. Bowl backwards. Mix and match teams so you have clients bowling with other clients AND the airstaff.
- Networking – This is also a great op for them to mingle and meet other businesses for the purpose of sharing resources and services, to save themselves money.
- Wine Tasting – I went to a Newcap thing at CMW in Toronto and the label feted the PD’s with a wine tasting seminar. And you know what? It was pretty damn cool.
- Entertainment – We had Louie Anderson do stand-up at a client party once. He gave up and walked off after five minutes. No one was listening. They were schmoozing. You want something that people can participate in…if they choose. When we moved Wild in SFO to its new digs, we had an open house, and Mancow’s psychic, Sharon Capehart, sat up in an office and did readings. Line all the way down the hall for it. Having a magician walking around and doing tricks would be good.
- Movies – Free movie tickets are bigger now than ever. Because it’s a luxury and people love to go see them…if they can afford them. B-103.9 in Ft. Myers did a charity thing where people could choose a station shirt, CD, or movie tickets. Everyone wanted the tickets. I’d make sure your clients get to all the screenings that you do so they can take their family out for some free entertainment.
Morning/PM Drive Show Interviews for Next Week
One of several delivery drivers who came to the farm yesterday with packages that I’m too cheap to purchase was telling me about a new trend where drivers are being stalked by cars full of thieves waiting for them to make a drop off. He said that he once had to pull into police station parking lots to scare them off.
It’s an insane time of year for them. You should see if you could talk to a listener who drives for UPS or FedEx and get some horror stories. Maybe “the ugliest bathrobe” that someone answered the door in.
And in terms of social media content, videos exacting revenge on porch pirates will always be more compelling than “Lil Durks’ keto diet has people talking!”
“Last Call”
Very simple. No matter what you are doing or where you are doing it, at 11:59:30 on Saturday the 31st, take the last caller of ’25, and that person gets tickets to the first (whatever) of ’26. Just another hook for what has become a REALLY one-dimensional night for our medium. Like…
Let It Snow, Let It Snow (etc.)
Next week and through the 25th, you need holiday imaging, something in terms of an appearance, promotion, contest or “bit” that relates to Christmas to talk about. And something on the site that would indicate that maybe, possibly, it’s the holidays. If only so that you appear marginally relevant. This will teach you how to make it snow.
Merry Christmas to Me
Y94 in Fargo is doing a version of Power 96’s “Power Presents”: the caller doesn’t know what they won until the morning show unwraps it on the air. Lots of tickets and gift cards, and what kind of psycho doesn’t like gift cards?
Christmas Coupons
At a lot of stations, Christmas is going to end at 9 or 10 am on Friday because that’s when the morning show heads out on vacation.
You REALLY need excuses to mention Christmas or elves or Santa or sleighs or shopping or travel or trees or presents or stockings or tinsel next week.
What if you went and flocked the morning show office? Boom. Content and you mentioned Christmas.
You could also do a version of “The Boss Is Away” and raid their office and giveaway their stuff.
Or, for zero cost, channel in your inner 9-year-old and give away some coupons. We’ll come and make you breakfast. We’ll do the dishes. We’ll shovel the walk. We’ll give the dog a bath. We’ll do the laundry. We’ll take out the garage.
You COULD get some clients to do those for you. Like a caterer a plow company or laundry.
But it would be better if you did it in January.
And there is precedence. WiLD in Tampa went and did yard work for a listener on Father’s Day.
Ham For the Holidays
God Bless the Silly People at Q98 in Fayetteville who did this: gift cards for holiday ham.
Schooner Tuna. The Tuna with A Heart
And God bless people with the balls to take a big flying leap into the unknown. Cumulus in Colorado Springs once offered free spots to struggling local merchants. And as expected, the phones exploded. When this economic downturn turns around, they are going to remember the company that helped them out in their time of need.
This Weekend
To not work Christmas somehow into your theme, imaging, methodology for this weekend’s promotion, would be, well, really sad. I’m attaching a load of stuff. KUBE in Seattle once did “Oh (Bleep), It’s Almost Christmas!”. You won whatever they had in stock, and they threw in some tinsel, cookies, or other accoutrements.
Kicking It Silent Style
There are certain genres of films and TV that are immediately nostalgic for some people. “Conjunction Junction”? Xtreme in Hawaii did all of their imaging for a month as if it was TV sweeps: “Tomorrow it’s the most shocking Kimo show ever, followed by an all-new Island Boy!” Or the ads that ran between drive-in movies.
Or elementary school educational films.
And here is how to turn your next video promo into a silent film.
Tree Finder
With morning shows leaving for vacation this week, at some stations, that will be it for Christmas 2025.
You really need to do just one thing: find a reason to say “Christmas” over and over next week. You could do that with Tree Finder. This is simple and has no cost, and maybe someone in the next 72 hours could sell it.
There are a LOT of charities that raise funds by selling trees. Youth sports groups. Churches. Schools. And they’re competing against the big tree lots. So…why not throw the weight of the station behind them and have a listing of them on your site or social media. Help them move a few trees and raise some money.
The Classic Hits station in the Twin Cities did that with garage sales, which is such a Minnesota thing. List your garage sale on the station page. Midwest Family in South Bend did that with Girl Scout Cookies and helped market some girls’ sales.
This is something that you could totally overthink.
The Wheel…Of…HOLIDAY DEBT! (Peppy Upbeat Music)
Pay Your Bills is coming back at a lot of stations in the coming weeks. Editorial comment: Bills used to be this great, vibing contest. Now it’s just kind of meaningless wallpaper. It’s like sticking “Second Chance Prom” on a club gig.
DJ: What’s your name?
Paige: Paige.
DJ: Congrats! You won a thousand dollars.
Paige: Cool.
First, here is a ton of imaging.
Second, if you asked Monty Hall to do something with paying bills, it would involve a flash grenade and a wood chipper. (“Destroy Your Debt”?)
How about having people submit their bills, you put items on a prize wheel like $398 at The Yarn Barn, $762 from American Airlines, $678 car payment, and spin the wheel. That’s what you’re paying off or writing a check for.
