Morning Show Content Filter

By Randy Lane

You have brainstormed an idea for your show. Now it’s time to determine if this idea is strong enough to air and if it is a fit for your audience and your brand. 

The Content Filter is an essential step in the planning process. We recommend that you run potential content through three stages to ensure that great ideas will come out of the speakers as great content. 

Here’s an abbreviated version of the content filter that we share with our clients.

If it doesn’t cover off on at least two of these, don’t do it!

• Is it RELEVANT to your target audience? For example, a story that is big to a single 26 year old female living in the city may not be relevant to a 40 year old male with kids living in the suburbs. Know your audience and be as specific as possible about who they are. 

• TOPICAL:  Is it something that has to be done today or is it old news? Determine the story cycle. Stories go from hot to warm to cold.

• EMOTION:  Does it make your listeners laugh, get mad, cry, empathize, feel anything?
• Does it reinforce your STATION and/or MORNING SHOW BRAND?  Here are some possible brand descriptors: edgy, hip, informative, family-friendly, trendy, cutting edge, funny, real, local, etc.   

Great shows consistently check content to make sure it is fully assembled before it goes airborne. The final stage is getting clear on the execution (setup, payoff/out, your POV, etc.). Broadcasting a brainstorm before it is clearly thought through is similar to serving cookies before they are baked!