Every football season I am reminded just how awful network television is. I’m sure I’m not alone. It doesn’t matter if you prefer college football or the NFL. Tune into CBS and you learn that there is a show named after some government agency that stars some smoking hot 30-something you’ve never heard of and a dude that was on 30 Something. Tune into NBC and you’re inundated with ads for something called Ordinary Joe starring the white supremacist congressman from Watchmen. On FOX it’s that dancing show that looks like someone said “Hey, you know that cartoon Sing? Let’s do that but with people!”.
The result is always the same (for me anyway). I have never once found myself saying “that looks awesome!” I am always left wondering “who the f*** is that show for?”.
Do your show promos do the same? It may be a tough question to answer, particularly if you produce the promos for your own show. We can be blinded by whether or not something is entertaining in a 15-30 second burst when the memory is that it made for a great 10 minute segment.
Matt Fishman, who now programs ESPN 850 in Cleveland, was a BSM writer in 2018. During that time, he wrote a piece describing the state of show promos as “grim” across the format.
In describing the promo format that includes a 20 second clip from the show surrounded by imaging, he wrote “It assumes the listener knows what the show is and the promo does nothing to highlight the show.”
What can we do better? What makes for a successful promo? I asked two programmers that have a history of success.
Kevin Graham, who has a history of success in mid and major markets and was recently named the new PD of KNBR in San Francisco, says the best promos are the ones that play into the identity of the show.
“In my opinion the best show promos sell that one listener benefit,” he told me in an email. “It can be funny, a strong opinion or promoting ahead with a tune-in opportunity. Keep it simple, short but most importantly make sure there is a payoff to the listener.”
This is classic marketing advice. What emotion do you want your brand or your content to elicit in your audience? How do you want them to identify you? Whatever your answer is, you have to take every opportunity to create and reinforce the answer you want them to give.
It’s not a surprise that Graham goes to the marketing well. Marketing budgets, if they even still exist, a pretty small nowadays, and who is most likely to listen to your show? The people already listening to other shows on your station. Those factors make promos the most common marketing tool a show uses.
John Mamola has been at WDAE in Tampa for more than a decade. If you’re a sports fan in the city, his station is your only option for local sports talk. That may give the station an advantage over others across the country, but Mamola knows it doesn’t guarantee anything.
He doesn’t want promos that give listeners a sense that they missed something special. His strategy is about giving the audience a reason to come in and check out what is going on.
“Focus on what connects your brand to your audience,” Mamola says. “The more topical, the better. The more creative, the more memorable but always give a reason why someone who doesn’t know you now can be your best friend tomorrow.”
John Mamola looks at promos as another part of the PPM numbers game. That means being memorable matters. If an audience remembers that something you said is coming up sounds interesting or if they remember that you branded a particular show in a way that resonates with them, it is more likely to motivate them to make the effort to find that content.
A lot of show promos use clips of the biggest moments from past shows. The content might be good, but a clip is a good way to hammer home the idea that the listener missed this. If it is spontaneously fun moment, there is no reason to think it will happen again. If it is a big name guest, what is the guarantee he/she or someone of that calibre is on tomorrow?
“Creative writing is better and high production value is necessary. Always try to frame all your shows as the party that everyone wants to be at, and you’ll win more quarter hours than you lose.”
Great promos aren’t great because they are funny or because they capture headline moments. They are great because they do their job and make people want to tune in tomorrow and all the days after that. Otherwise, they are no different from all of those commercials for 9-1-1 that Joe Buck has to read. They are just taking up space and standing in between me and what I turned this on to see in the first place.
Remember that as you are constructing promos. Is something new everyday a necessity? How long can a promo run before the audience burns out on it? The answers to those questions do not matter if the promo doesn’t give the audience a clear and compelling idea of what they will hear when they turn on your show.
Demetri Ravanos is a columnist and features writer for Barrett Media. He is also the creator of The Sports Podcast Festival, and a previous host on the Chewing Clock and Media Noise podcasts. He occasionally fills in on stations across the Carolinas in addition to hosting Panthers and College Football podcasts. His radio resume includes stops at WAVH and WZEW in Mobile, AL, WBPT in Birmingham, AL and WBBB, WPTK and WDNC in Raleigh, NC.
You can find him on Twitter @DemetriRavanos or reach him by email at DemetriTheGreek@gmail.com.
