WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM TV Chris Byrnes One of the few TV shows I try to watch each week is "The West Wing". Perhaps I like the show because my wife was the Mrs. Landingham of New Zealand politics, so I can relate to the characters and the plot. Or perhaps it’s because it is just a great show.
A few weeks ago I tuned in, and was amazed at the way they started the show. In just 30-seconds they re-introduced all the main characters, explained who they were, and what they did. Of course they did this, because they know every week new viewers who have not seen the show before, are tuning in. It struck me that a TV show was doing what most morning shows fail to do. I have a theory there is an ex-radio program director working somewhere on The West Wing TV show.
No matter how successful your morning show is, you need to re-introduce the characters and explain the show from time to time. Of course, before you can do this, you need to have defined the show, and the characters, in the first place. Sadly all too often I hear morning shows with two or more members, and as a new listener I have no idea of their roles, their characters or why they are there.
So before you fire up your morning show for 2001, I urge you to spend some time to really define each character and their role. There is a myriad of reasons why some TV shows succeed while others fail. One of them is character definition. In sitcoms they try and have a "Dick" a "Dork" and a "Dear". You don’t believe me; well take "Home Improvement" as an example. Tim was the Dick, Al played the Dork and of course Jill was the Dear. Now think about some of the other successful shows like Seinfeld and Becker. Each show has clearly defined characters, and even more importantly clearly defined roles. Only Cosmo Kramer could make the dramatic fumbling entrance into Jerry’s apartment. It would seem odd if Elaine did this.
Once you have clearly defined each character on the morning show, you need to agree on the role each person will play. The more defined the character the easier this task becomes. I worked with a morning show that had a straight man and a funny man. This made role definition easy, and the show worked because the straight man knew in his heart that he would never be funny, and we all knew it would sound odd if the funny man read a station liner about a remote coming up this weekend. Do you think we spent time watching early episodes of "The Tonight Show" to see how Johnny and Ed worked as we put that show together?
If you are blessed with a strong morning show with clearly defined characters that understand their role, all you have to do it reset the show and re-introduce the characters from time to time. As some morning shows start to find success they think that everyone knows them, and everyone has been listening to them for years. Take a moment and show them the Stats Canada figures of population movement in your market. Between 5% and 10% of the population move house each year, so do the math. |