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Crutch sentences during breaks

1: hit up our website and check out the...
2: download (insert corporate owner name) app and listen to us everywhere you go...
3: be sure to tune in to the (insert owner) festival on the (network TV station)
4: Alllllright! (Before the start of every segment)
5: be sure to tell Alexa “listen to K...”
6: on the way...
7: listen on demand by...

Yuck.

What other crutches do you hear?
 
Yup. All but a few of these would be encouraged or required by the PD (if indeed the PD role exists at the station in question)
 
1: hit up our website and check out the...
2: download (insert corporate owner name) app and listen to us everywhere you go...
3: be sure to tune in to the (insert owner) festival on the (network TV station)
4: Alllllright! (Before the start of every segment)
5: be sure to tell Alexa “listen to K...”
6: on the way...
7: listen on demand by...

Yuck.

What other crutches do you hear?
With AI and text to speech, we're rapidly approaching the point where there will be no need to pay someone to say those things.
 
Yup. All but a few of these would be encouraged or required by the PD (if indeed the PD role exists at the station in question)
Most of the PDs have little to no autonomy from reading here and just do what the upline of Vice President of programming and that persons boss tells them what to tell the underlying PDs what to do.
 
With AI and text to speech, we're rapidly approaching the point where there will be no need to pay someone to say those things.
You'll pay for the computer to say those things...once.

You'll also pay for the computer to come up with three to five variations of those same tired phrases.

Then, station management/owners will get their money's worth out of that AI software.
 
Most of the PDs have little to no autonomy from reading here and just do what the upline of Vice President of programming and that persons boss tells them what to tell the underlying PDs what to do.
Not sure where you get that idea. Why would most groups bother with a local PD, if the corporate PD is dealing with minutia like phrases from individual local personalities? BigA could elaborate further, but the corporate guy might set overall performance goals, but doesn't get down in the details of liners or phrasing.
 
BigA could elaborate further, but the corporate guy might set overall performance goals, but doesn't get down in the details of liners or phrasing.

Wow...where to begin on this subject?

If the view is that these are 'crutch sentences,' then it really doesn't matter where they come from, right? It doesn't matter if it comes from the PD, the corporate VP, or even the DJs themselves. You don't like them.

It gets back to this view that every radio station has to have live & local talent, and each of the DJs picks the music they play and has full autonomy over what they say. To me, that sounds like college radio. But OK. To some people, that's what radio should be.

As far as the phrases in the OP: What's wrong with DJs telling people about the website or the app or social media? Is that a bad thing to bring up? DJs are there to engage with the public. That's why they're there. There are lots of ways to do that, and the DJ is simply inviting people to engage. It's no different from any other line of work. I was just at the Buffalo Wild Wings, and the server told me they have a Buffalo Wild Wings app. Isn't that amazing? Not sure what I'd use it for. But every company I do business with has an app, a web site, and social media. So everybody, not just radio, uses these phrases.

What's wrong about the company promoting a festival or something it's doing? If you were a listener to a rock station, and one of your favorite artists was coming to town, wouldn't you want to know? Once again, isn't that why a station has live & local talent?

I really don't get the problem. It sounds like what the OP wants is a generic music service that just plays a bunch of songs and never talks or engages. What do you want them to talk about?
 
1: hit up our website and check out the...
2: download (insert corporate owner name) app and listen to us everywhere you go...
3: be sure to tune in to the (insert owner) festival on the (network TV station)
4: Alllllright! (Before the start of every segment)
5: be sure to tell Alexa “listen to K...”
6: on the way...
7: listen on demand by...

Yuck.

What other crutches do you hear?

I use alot of these.

hit up our website, download the app, tell your google or alexa device to play Hits 1.....

Theres a reason our standalone commercial FM beats our 6 competitors in Time spent listneing .. smashing our nearest competitor by 2x, and most of the market by 3 to 4x.

I do use some of the other non promotional crutches, i dont deny.... when im voicetracking a break, have a real good one going, momentarily lose my train of thought and dont wanna ditch the break and redo it

i'm also on in small markets and try to talk like the average person.

would i make it in a big market? nope.
and i dont want to.
 
Humor, local topics and an actual personality. (What a concept) Not just opening the mic with nothing to say other than what I posted up above. That stuff gets repetitive and robotic sounding after hearing it constantly. And if you’re going to direct people to a website every break, make sure it has pertinent content on it. Not a bunch of cookie cutter crap that’s on every other (insert corporate company here) website or useless click bait. When someone hears go to the website and they do and it hasn’t been updated recently or has too many pop up ads or subjects that aren’t in line with the station format, it gets disregarded. Most of the websites for corporate stations are identical from station to station. That sucks and shows a lack of creativity and effort.

Instead of an air talent relating to the listener they crack the mic and tell them to watch a festival on TV. That requires little to no creative effort. It’s okay sometimes but the listener doesn’t need to be beat over the head with it every other break and during the commercials. Also, why promote Taylor Swift on a rock station?

The air talent gets a forwarded print out of what to say on the air that comes from a corporate VP of programming source. How many times per hour it’s to be repeated and which ones when. The local PD schedules music so the PPM games work best and sometimes does an air shift. Many of them have been part of RIF because it can be handled by someone who oversees multiple markets. Regional VP of programming, Vice President of programming etc.

I wouldn’t download an app for a BBQ or radio group if you paid me, I don’t need anymore crap on my device. Tracking etc.
 
Humor, local topics and an actual personality. (What a concept) Not just opening the mic with nothing to say other than what I posted up above. That stuff gets repetitive and robotic sounding after hearing it constantly.

It depends on what you want. Lots of people like 'repetitive & robotic.' They want their fries to taste exactly the same wherever they go. Then there are lots of people who want something else. Those options exist in Seattle. If you don't like robotic, change the station. It's that simple. But if you get a job for any kind of company, other than being self-employed, you're going to be told by somebody what to say or do. A lot of people need that kind of direction. Nobody forces anyone to listen to the radio. They do it out of personal choice. If it hurts when you do that, don't do that.
 
I wouldn’t download an app for a BBQ or radio group if you paid me, I don’t need anymore crap on my device. Tracking etc.
So don't do it. Doesn't mean it isn't in the station's best interest to promote all their offerings - whether it is a job fair or an app, or an external sponsor.
 
WWhen someone hears go to the website and they do and it hasn’t been updated recently or has too many pop up ads or subjects that aren’t in line with the station format, it gets disregarded. Most of the websites for corporate stations are identical from station to station. That sucks and shows a lack of creativity and effort.
I agree. I do not go to a station website for breaking news and outdated artist info. But what can a station put on their site other than a "listen now" button that is fresh and engaging?
Instead of an air talent relating to the listener they crack the mic and tell them to watch a festival on TV. That requires little to no creative effort.
But radio talents who address mass appeal subjects are pretty much proven to be successful if their style and personality are also appealing.
It’s okay sometimes but the listener doesn’t need to be beat over the head with it every other break and during the commercials.
The average listening span is about 15 to 20 minutes, and we want people to come back and listen again. And again. And again.
Also, why promote Taylor Swift on a rock station?
Because the average person listens/hears 6 stations in a 7 day period; more over greater time.

I recall that one person on our KLVE in LA program team did not want to give away tickets to soccer games, as we were a female-oriented AC station and it sounded to "man cave" to her. I pulled the qualitative research from, then, Arbitron, and found that over 60% of the women in our audience followed at least one soccer team. We got terrific response to giving away 4-ticket family packs!
The air talent gets a forwarded print out of what to say on the air that comes from a corporate VP of programming source.
Usually, the positioning statements are worked out by the local PD who also makes sure the positioning does not overlap phrases used by other stations. Often the PD of a group station will get shared input of successful things from other company markets.

A lot of the positioning comes from qualitative listener research. Did you know that the term "smooth jazz" came from a listener in Chicago who said that they liked the research company's client station because it sounded easy to listen to, like "smooth jazz". The station picked up on the term and used it, and it became an industry standard.
How many times per hour it’s to be repeated and which ones when. The local PD schedules music so the PPM games work best and sometimes does an air shift. Many of them have been part of RIF because it can be handled by someone who oversees multiple markets. Regional VP of programming, Vice President of programming etc.
Radio revenue is off by 2/3, inflation adjusted, since Y2K. What do you think they are going to do? Nearly 60 years ago, I programmed stations in all of a whole country's larger markets right from my desk in the city where I owned the most stations. All were market leaders... there is no harm in programming for a whole country; TV networks seem to have enjoyed about 7 decades of success doing national programming for every local market.
I wouldn’t download an app for a BBQ or radio group if you paid me, I don’t need anymore crap on my device. Tracking etc.
Then don't. I only use the ones I need, also. There is one Chinese take-out with delivery I have an app for, as my work schedule is erratic and I love to have a big container of kung pao chicken in the fridge for a quick break when I am in computer geek mode at 4 AM. The app is convenient and helpful; if it weren't, I would quickly delete it. Different strokes for different folks and all that...
 
What do you want them to talk about?
Good question. I'd also like to hear what talent should talk about, knowing that listening occurs in "kibbles and bits" and every listener tunes in at different times and for different lengths of time.
 
Good question. I'd also like to hear what talent should talk about, knowing that listening occurs in "kibbles and bits" and every listener tunes in at different times and for different lengths of time.

Sometimes a little bit of structure is needed for a radio host. Here's an example of a NYC DJ who decided he could use his radio show to threaten other people:


I'm pretty sure no one in iHeart's corporate office told him what to say in this case.
 
Sometimes a little bit of structure is needed for a radio host. Here's an example of a NYC DJ who decided he could use his radio show to threaten other people:


I'm pretty sure no one in iHeart's corporate office told him what to say in this case.
A lot of us used that example to show that personal attacks on artists, famous people or competitors never lead to anything good. The audio was widely circulated and used in, I would imagine, a lot of staff meetings and morning show meetings as well.

All too often "spontaneous" means "stupid". The old and well beaten saying of "don't put your mouth in gear until your brain is warmed up" is very important to say, in some form or another, with a bit of frequency.
 
All too often "spontaneous" means "stupid". The old and well beaten saying of "don't put your mouth in gear until your brain is warmed up" is very important to say, in some form or another, with a bit of frequency.
One needs to look no further than the long list of radio personalities who got fired for going off via there social media accounts. Some don't have a learning curve.
Unfortunately, it seems like some radio hosts think it's also okay to essentially slander politicians, celebrities, and even related individual family members because some cable news hosts get away with it.
 
That's interesting... why do you not want to be in a bigger market?

Look at all the success im having here while having fun and not having to answer to a regional or corporate pd.. i get to truly get to know and serve my listeners, make a difference.. and its about relationships made.

Would i turn down a big market job? maybe maybe not... but they arent coming anytime soon, so thats neither here nor there.
 
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