CKNO (Now 102.3) Edmonton doesn’t really need to give away money to get callers. As the first and most enduring of Canada’s “join the conversation” stations, the Hot AC outlet can usually generate calls and text messages for any topic. But this week, it’s wrapping up a $1,000 buzzer contest — when it rings, the host chooses a winner from the day’s responses so far. (If the contestant doesn’t answer the phone, the host chooses another.)
When I listened to Now 102.3 on Wednesday, middayer Adam McKale’s topic was Halloween traditions. There was the caller who added new dinosaurs and dino-skeletons every year and gave away printed dinosaurs and glowsticks. Another caller took the kids to McDonalds, then home to eat the candy. One let the kids stay home the next day to eat all the candy, although that lost a little of its excitement with Alberta’s schools now on strike.
It’s no surprise that Now 102.3 can get lots of calls and texts about Halloween. The station’s own holiday tradition, a haunted house, was expanding to three nights this year. (Another listener is an actor every year at another haunted house, Deadmonton.) McKale said that his hope was to get 2,000 visitors this year; the house is free, but listeners bring food for a local pantry.
But McKale’s topic the next hour was the Ottawa city counselor who wanted to clamp down on bird feeders — lest they also attract less-wanted visitors. That one still got a half-dozen responses in the break I heard, including the feeder with peanut butter meant to lure woodpeckers away from the house itself, but which instead ended up drawing moose.
Getting topical callers (or texters) remains a fraught topic, Some PDs consider it impossible, at least without staged calls to prime the pump. But in the course of a few weeks’ listening, I’ve come across a surprising number of good volleys between hosts and listeners, mostly outside of morning drive. If any of the topics began with staged calls or actors, most sustained long enough to seem credible.
Morning-show coaches will not likely be surprised by most of these topics, but all were reasonably fresh to me in the same type of random listening where I can hear yesterday’s celebrity news three times in two days. None were about favorite cookies or whether pineapple was an acceptable pizza topping.
On Monday, I’d been listening to the AC station that Now 102.3 was modeled on, BBC Radio 2. That station, of course, has the advantage of a whole country and a huge audience to draw from. Fill-in middayer Gary Davies had a lot of answers for “what story will friends and family never let you live down?” There was the caller who was in a Porta-Potty that got turned over, the listener who misheard Michael Jackson’s trademark “come on” in “Bad” as the French word for ham and whose nickname is now “Jambon” as a result, and the woman who told her daughter to stop complaining about uncomfortable new shoes, then realized she hadn’t removed the tissue.
The week before, CHR sister BBC Radio 1 afternoon hosts Katie & Jamie asked, “What’s the one thing you should be able to do by now that you can’t?” (The question was prompted by a spouse who was unable to whistle for a taxi.) Interestingly, the topic was posted in advance on the station’s daily schedule. A conversation that began with “can’t float” and “can’t wink” quickly escalated to “I have a friend who thinks of Mr. Bean when he pees.”
On the morning before winning one of WMMR Philadelphia’s three Marconi awards, Preston & Steve solicited listener suggestions for two topics — one was possible activities for an upcoming campout for charity. (Previous years had apparently led to a listener’s marching band dropping by.) The one that made it to air first was items that were surprisingly expensive, starting with a barber’s $700 shears. But there was also the pizza-dough mixer that required a $700 ball bearing, or anything having to do with horses.
Nova 100 Melbourne midday host Chrissie Swan had the advantage of a cohost to warm up topics. She would never text a nude selfie, but cohost Jack Charles said his generation wasn’t shocked by it. Most younger callers agreed, although one older listener had sent at least a few to her husband.
Similarly, KALC (Alice 105.9) Denver’s afternoon Slacker Show had plenty of bad roommate stories of its own before listeners chimed in. (One had a roommate whose mother took it upon herself to rearrange the caller’s room without asking.) The topic lasted a half-hour. There were concert tickets as an incentive.
Country WKDF (103.3 Country) Nashville has been an enjoyable listen for a number of reasons lately. PD/p.m. driver Travis Daily had about four of the album cuts or other left-field choices that have created an industry buzz around the station. Last month, I heard him asking whether listeners would ever dumpster-dive for unused items. (My initial answer is no, but I’ve heard about a lot of station surveys and jingle packages being rescued that way.)
Ross on Radio Facebook friends contributed their own recent successful stories involving talk topics on music stations. WTBC (Throwback 100.3) Chicago APD/p.m. driver Rick Hall has a list of 200 questions at the ready, including “which song could save your relationship if you played it right now” and “what was the first concert you ever saved up for?”
This week alone, Mike Couchman, PD of the St.Louis-based KXBS (Boost Radio) network, has gotten usable topics out of “who has an endangered name?” “What was your age group’s version of ‘six seven’?” “How much will you spend on a wedding gift?” and “why are old people so grumpy?”
At sister KLJY (99.1 Joy FM) St. Louis, successful topics for p.m. driver John “Jordan” DeSocio have included “minor repairs that feel major,” “items that changed your life for under $100,” and “is your spouse your ‘in case of emergency’ contact or is it someone you know will actually answer when you call?”
The bit that generates calls for WDXB Birmingham, Ala./WDRM Huntsville, Ala., morning host Spencer Graves is “Snore Wars.” But a recent hit topic was “what is your pet obsessed with?”
“I get that people are busy, but we are currently doing a topic about scars, because my cohost has a ton from when she was a baby, and our phones have been going crazy.” – Dave Wheeler, Townsquare Utica N.Y.
“I [took calls] on a lark on a Sunday when I had the chance to be live. Phones are usually dead. I asked what was a good fake excuse to get Monday off. I took 20 calls in a town of 8,000 in 20 minutes.” – Mike Erickson, Orban
It’s worth noting that this topic sprung from random listening, rather than seeking out the increasing number of full-service shows outside of mornings. Some were from stations where I knew to expect interaction (the BBC outlets, Now 102.3, KALC). On others, like WKDF, it was a surprise. Although, there are more personality options outside mornings, part of what I enjoyed was that the personality seemed more like a natural outcropping of the format — not a choice between talk and music.
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