9-11-2013
Last week you might have read the post about "best practices" for using music beds to enhance your show. This week we tackle produced stagers for any regular or recurring benchmark, feature, or even guest.
Any regular feature on the show -- whether it's daily, weekly, monthly, or as needed -- will cut through more, be stickier, and have more impact if it has a produced intro to set it up for you...and, at times, a produced close as well.
Stagers get the listener's attention. Even if it's simply a music bed of some kind, it serves as a trigger that a popular feature is imminent. If you're a show that plays little music, a stager can also serve as "pattern disruption" to re-engage the listener's attention when you shift gears and change the subject.
Stagers are particularly helpful in PPM markets for two reasons. They establish the feature quickly by consolidating the description in the produced piece. Also, stagers allow for the host to come right in with the meat of the segment -- a hook headline for the top stupid news story, for example -- without having to give the station, show, and feature name first.
Here are some things to consider when adding production value to regular features:
-- Include the name of the station, show, and feature, along with a brief descriptor of the feature if necessary.
-- Resist the urge to constantly freshen or change the signature to established features. We get tired of production pieces long before the audience does.
-- On the other hand, if you use drops or topical clips in a stager, particularly for features that run regularly, update those regularly or they'll get annoying. Humor, in particular, burns faster than more "generic" material. (You know how a trailer for a comedy stops being funny after you've seen it several times?)
One last thing to consider: Produce a "close" that time-stamps any regular daily or weekly feature for appointment setting (e.g., "That's your Hollywood Buzz, weekday mornings at 6:30, 7:30, and 8:30.")
Angela Perelli is a SVP at the The Randy Lane Company (www.randylane.net). She can be reached at angela@randylane.net www.facebook.com/TheRandyLaneCompany www.twitter.com/TheRandyLaneCo
(9/13/2013 3:17:21 AM)
abquUi Wow, great blog post.Much thanks again. Want more.
(9/11/2013 8:04:34 AM)
I love that phrase "pattern disruption." I even shared your words with my pastor, saying "this is what most sermons need, some pattern disruptions to regain the attention of people who have settled in for the long haul and their mind has wandered."
Thanks for the wisdom.
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