Did we hear your station over the weekend?  Did we hear repetitive imaging playing between songs, no DJ, nothing local, and all music?  And did we hear that last night?  Lund Media created a system for radio stations to personalize these jock-less times and sound live and local.  The daytime talents already prep their shows by researching fun and interesting things to see or do in the area.  Have these talents personalize short announcements about local events and run them every hour when no talent is present – typically nights and weekends.

The goal of these inserts is to have an air talent talking about a local event, not unlike what they do when they do their show.  We call the concept “Local Focus.”  It helps make the station sound live and interesting when no talent is on the air.  Talents record these announcements for nights and any time when digital automation runs the station.  Depending on how many of these announcements are in rotation, consider airing them two to three times an hour, replacing produced imaging.  The goal is to sound like your local talent is on the air and rotate announcements by your personalities. Discussing fun events to see or do at all hours adds to the station’s brand.

Local Execution

Talents can take a PSA or press release and adlib around it with an informal style.  Rather than reading it verbatim, they should deliver facts in a conversational tone.  Edit extraneous details like ticket prices, hours, addresses, directions, phone numbers, etc.  These details take the “fun” out of the announcement.  Start with what’s interesting or fun to see or do locally.  Omit most details, stick to the main draw, and say where to get more info – the event sponsor or the station website.

Consider announcements about a park, hiking or biking trail, farmer’s market, museum, scenic garden, car show, a high school basketball or soccer game, a dog park, concert, and other activities to do or sites to see.  Create a list of things to see or do in your area and build a spot around each.  See Trip Advisors’ “the best 15 things to do” in your area and other websites, like “15 things to do with your kids,” “15 things to do with your dog,” etc.

The talent should start the announcement as if he’s on the air.  Begin with the station name and his name, and immediately engage the listener with content via the opening few words like a magazine cover or newspaper headline.  The copy should lead with what’s “in it for the listener” instead of the event’s name or organization sponsoring it.  The first sentence is the “fun factor” for the listener to create a verbal picture.

For length, shorter is better.  Consider 15-20 seconds. Abbreviate the details to pique interest. Close with where to get more info: the organization or your website – and repeat the station name.

Promote your “Local Focus” on the air and the website. Create a page on the website that lists the Local Focus events with details loaded by date or a link to other sites.  Sell this feature to a client whose name appears on the site and on-air.  The website listing will provide more information.

When talking about a concert or event coming to town, consider beginning with “(Station Name) welcomes (performer/event) to (City).”

Another way to reflect a local focus is to localize your liners with listener endorsements and imaging liners mentioning area cities and landmarks.

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John Lund is President of the Lund Media Group, a radio programming consulting firm with specialists in all mainstream radio formats. Did you find this article useful?  You can leave a comment below or email John at John@Lundradio.com.