The Team
Morning shows fail because of chemistry. I�ve seen some great personalities get on the air at 6am and hit face first because no one in the room was compatible. You see this often when one member of the team just is not all there on any given morning. If you have a team, you need to have a team that listeners can listen to, relate to and honestly feel that the team hangs out together and are the best of friends. Listeners think they either get along so well or fight so well because they have known each other for so long. Examples of this are on TV every night. Most people probably feel that the friends on �Friends� are just that, best friends!
Localism
Being local is very important to a morning show. I have worked in markets with �syndicated mornings show�; in most situations I have seen the local show win. Why? The syndicated show is not visible to the market and talks about things in another community, county, city, or/and in most cases different states. An example of this: Who in Flint, Michigan cares about what happened in St. Louis yesterday, or where the best pizza place is in Dallas, Texas? Being local means you can hit the streets, market yourself, be involved in and talk about happenings in your community and shake hands with your listeners.
Music and Talk
I personally believe that most people want to hear music in the morning. (Unless you�re a talk station or Howard Stern). When you hear listeners saying �I want more music in the morning�, chances are there is just too much talk about nothing on the air. A morning host must understand the listeners will not sit through endless chatter about nothing during their busy morning routine or through their commute to work. Now I don�t believe in the �Shut up and Play the Hits� morning show. After all why would you have a morning show in that case? But I do believe in limiting your talk to allow the music to shine. Personally it has to be an unbelievable piece for me to talk for more than 3 minutes at a time. Every time the mic is open what is being said need to have relevance to the listeners.
Content and Show Prep
Be informative! In between the music, we need to be the listener�s information and talk about what is important to them. Many people do not have time in the morning to check out the news, the weather channel, grab a paper or go to the Internet. I like to do news and weather at the top of each our and an entertainment buzz at the bottom of the hour. Time checks and temp when the mic opens and traffic if the market requires it. I believe that every hour of everyday life is show prep. A argument with my wife, something the kids have done, the guy driving in front of me this morning going super slow. That is Prep. Of course �Water Cooler Talk�, watching the hottest TV shows and movies, the local newspaper, the internet, CNN/Headline news, USA Today, Maxim, Cosmo, Entertainment Weekly as well as many others. I also like Launch Radio show prep, I believe it�s the best out there. The content must relate to the target audience. If it�s a CHR station 18-34 female, I talk to the demo but target a 26-28 year old with a child. An AC station 24-54, the content is much more oriented to the older women possibly with older teens and grown children. If it�s a Rock station depending on the type of rock we are talking to men 18-34 or 24-54 about what is going on in their life and what men are talking about. Artist information, stunts, phones, promotions, bits and contesting are all included. You can take a simple concert ticket giveaway and use all the above mentioned to create HYPE, an EVENT! Listeners want to be entertained. Our hardcore P1�s will come out in droves to be involved, and those �who would never do anything like that� will be in their cars, home or at work going �I can�t believe That�! Once again, Every time the mic is open what is being said need to have relevance to the listeners.
Emotion
Whether it�s something to make the listener laugh or something as tragic as 9/11, we need to be passionate about whatever it is and evoke emotion. Exaggerate what we feel when needed. Making it bigger yet believable. We need to show the audience we are people to and feel what they feel. Letting the listener experience the emotion. Sometimes I personally can get very emotional, angry and defensive about a subject, while always understanding there is another side. We have the power to make someone laugh, cry, feel happy or sad, feel good or mad, and remember a specific time or event in his or her life.
Community
Being involved with the community can make or break the show as well as the station. I love to be involved in community events, whether it�s a remote, or a charity softball game. Because of our listeners and our involvement, we have been able to raised money for a local girl with Leukemia, had a women on the air 2 hours after her home caught fire. Our listeners gave money, clothing, food and shelter. The morning team lived on the roof of a local restaurant over the Thanksgiving holiday to raise toys for underprivileged children. We go out to every major community event.
My business to know
It is vitally important for me to know the business I am in, from knowing the audience and his or her wants and needs, to knowing their family�s needs and wants. So I gear the show content to those people. I communicate to the best of my ability on a one to one basis. Since the way most people use the radio is in their bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen, Walkman, car, or desktop, knowing whom my listeners are where they are and what they are doing during the morning hours is crucial to the content and focus. Knowing the are waking up, getting coffee, getting dressed, getting the kids of to school or fixing their breakfast, stopping by McDonalds and starting that difficult commute to work is my business. It�s also my business to entertain these people.
It�s my business to know how to be the jack-of-all-trades, bringing the Music, Artist Information, Local and Nation News, Weather, Celebrity Information, Show Prep, Contest, Phones, and the Listeners world all together is the business that I must know like the back of my hand
Overall
I believe that over all a morning show as well as the station should be the listener�s companion or friend. Companions need to be loyal and trustworthy, building relationships and connecting with the audience. The Morning show is the face of any radio station and is the lead in to the rest of the day.