YOUR RATINGS ARE CALLING Chris Byrnes I listen to loads of air-checks and monitor numerous radio stations and what I notice more and more is that radio appears to be giving up one of its real benefits; the ability to instantly interact with the audience. The on-air phones are such powerful tools but I seldom hear them being used the way they used to be. The most likely reason for this is the increased tendency toward voice-tracking that results in large parts of the day when the control room is empty. Listeners become frustrated with dialing a number that is seldom answered. It is also possible that talent who are actually live in the control room either don't know how to get the most out of their phones or simply don't bother to answer those flashing lights because they are too busy. As an air talent before the digital age, I quickly developed my splicing skills and always had a reel of tape, a sharp razor blade and a splicing block in the control room. Today with digital editors it is so much easier to record, edit and replay a call on the air. Therefore I thought I'd share a few helpful hints for the improved usage of your on-air phones.
Relearn Skills: Learning how to listen to a caller, ask the right questions and keep it all flowing nicely to create an entertaining bit is a real skill. I find that most air talent will benefit from a refresher course on how to "give great phone". We frequently run a seminar for clients during which we show them some of the tips and tricks of how to make the most of the phones and how to make the show more interactive without adding to the amount of talk in an hour. One man who really understands how to work the phones is the drive jock at CJEZ in Toronto. "KJ" will work a sentence from a caller into a voice break, to make the break more interesting, or, use a line from a listener as an excuse to sell a station-liner or promo an event.
Always Record All Incoming Calls: This is such a simple trick but it's seldom utilized. Always roll tape over every incoming call. The announcer will have the option of airing only the best and most relevant parts of those calls. Get into this habit early and unlike my Nortel shares it will pay dividends for years to come!
Give the Phone Number: Most announcers make the assumption that everyone knows the contest line phone number and they only promo the numbers when they have a contest or give away. Then they wonder why only the "contest pigs" call the station! Find creative ways to drop the phone number into your normal talk breaks once or twice a show. Something as simple as "Hey, if you ever need to reach us at Radio XYZ our number is 777-9000."
Get To Know Your Equipment: Most jocks learn how to use equipment by talking to other talent on that radio station. Very seldom are they actually shown all the tools and tricks of the equipment. Jocks need to be shown the right way to use your equipment.
Bank Phone Calls: This is a simple trick that is really helpful if you do a daily request show. Monday's are often slow, so save one or two calls each day to kick start the slow day. It will give you more confidence going into the show and makes the show sound better. Remember good calls beget good calls.
Use Call-Forward: Very few radio stations are live all the time, and voice-tracking is a reality. The best radio stations work out ways to make sure that the phones are always answered even when there is no one in the control room. Some will call-forward their studio phones to the receptionist when the control room is running in robo-jock. Others work a trade deal with an answering service that will either e-mail or fax the information to the station. In the early 90's, I set up a system through an answering service that allowed our stations to run basic contesting overnights, since the markets I was programming all had a high shift-worker population.
Try Calling Larry: Air talent doesn’t seem to spend enough time producing callers before they put them on air. I don't understand this, given that most announcers no longer have to cue records and load cart machines with commercials. Technology has made it so much easier for them and given them additional time to produce a caller. One way to teach your air talent how to produce a caller is to challenge them to call one of the TV talk shows such as Larry King and see if they can actually get on the air. Try it and you will quickly find out why Larry never has bad calls. Do you notice his callers get to the point, are very clear in their remarks, and most times spend less than 20 seconds on the air?
Use New Technology: I see lots of radio stations using digital editors such as Vox Pro or 360 systems. I also see stations using Cool Edit Pro, which works just fine. Here's a free tip as a reward for reading this far: Have your engineer wire your phones into the left channel of your digital editor and the control room microphone into the right channel. That way you can edit out your voice, and edit the call a lot easier without having to sacrifice a great response from the caller because the talent talked over top of them. Remember that the output from the editor needs to be combined in mono for replay.
Be Creative: Top show hosts not only use material that comes in via the on-air phones, they also use this powerful tool to call out to gather information and entertainment bits. If you can reach him, you can create the impression that the city Mayor listens to your show, heard you talking and called your show. This is all part of show business.
Conclusion: The on-air phones are the windows to the world and tools that set us apart from the other media. Television stations are trying to use them more and more, but their time constraints will never permit them to use on-air phones the way radio does. We need to encourage and demand that talent use the phones smartly, effectively, and economically to make each day-part sound more interactive and connected with the audience. |