Local Isn’t a Location. It’s a Point of View
Radio has one advantage no algorithm can copy or streaming service can manufacture: you’re from here.
But being local isn’t enough. The goal isn’t simply to talk about the community; it’s to sound like the community. Make listeners feel seen, understood, and connected to the people and places they call home. When listeners hear themselves on the show, it becomes something that belongs to them.
DBC Radio Programming VP Jason Goodman responded to Radio Ink’s article by Cameron Coats, We Live Here Too, with specific insights on radio being local:
“Listeners pick up on localism through conversations, assumptions, humor, and the way talent talks about everyday life.
In Greensboro-Winston-Salem-High Point, that could be certain Southern sayings, joking about rednecks in Archdale, talking about how one snowflake causes a run on bread and milk, or that the air conditioning is on one day and the heat is back on the next.
Talent in front of a big crowd is huge, but it can also mean simply telling a story about where you were in town and what happened that listeners relate to.
A big part of sounding local is giving off the feeling that we understand the concerns, humor, challenges, and identity of the people in our community.”
5 Ways to Up Your Local Game
- Emotional connection: WRMF’s KVJ Show‘s Little Smiles helps children in West Palm Beach hospitals, hospices, and shelters by providing joy, essential items like iPads and school supplies, and special experiences.
- Interaction: Interactive topics let listeners share experiences, agree or disagree, and tell stories. See more on interaction in last week’s blog, Get Interactive.
- Local contributors: Recurring characters expand your cast and add interaction and dynamics to your show. Local contributors are experts with a personality, like a movie/TV critic, chef, or therapist. It could be the police officer who’s a regular caller, the diner owner, or the high school or college coach.
- Information or point-of-view:
- “They finally opened the roundabout at that high accident location.” That’s just information.
- “I’ve now gone around it three times, and it’s still confusing.” That viewpoint leads to a story that invites listeners to share their experience.
5. Filter: The Local Test: Like all content segments, local content must be
entertaining. Run potential local content through four questions:
- Is there emotion?
- Is there conflict?
- Is there humor?
- Is there a story with a beginning, middle, and end?
If it has none of the four, it’s an announcement. Announcements belong on the website.
Photo by Mario Purisic on Unsplash
