Fifty years ago this year, when Frank Sinatra returned to performing after a brief self-imposed retirement, the first concert he did was largely the show he’d been doing previously, but held in New York’s Madison Square Garden, it was recorded as a live album and a tv special titled “The Main Event.” It was announced by Howard Cossell, no less! When Sinatra came on stage, it was an event, a history-making every performance each time.
Over the Thanksgiving holiday, with the “Glicked” phenomenon, the simultaneous release of the movies “Wicked,” “Gladiator II”’+ “Moana 2”, the box office saw its best Turkey holiday ticket sales in five years—an event. Meanwhile, on TV, network coverage of the Cowboys-Giants game averaged nearly 40 million viewers.
NBC’s telecast of the Macy’s parade was the highest rated ever, with 31 million tuning in. Event. Speaking on NBC, they have one of the few network shows where every episode is hyped and anticipated: “SNL.” Event. Forget broadcast for a minute and think newspaper. Conservatives all over America went out and got a paper with the Trump election victory headline as a historic keepsake, just as liberals did a year earlier when it read “Trump indicted.” Events.
So, it begs the question, with the ever-intense competition for ears, what are and what can radio content creators do to create event radio? We’ve seen traditional entertainment avenues, in TV, movie theaters, or papers, still draw huge numbers with the right moment; what about radio?
Of course, in many cases, creators are wearing multiple hats at a radio station, and many are navigating unfamiliar waters in building a social media and video footprint for their shows/content, some newly with the massive cuts inflicted by the bigger ownership groups (Hi Bob, Hi Mary, Hi Caroline! Don’t even think about it, David).
What can creators do to make every show an event? Can we raise expectations for the unexpected? Can we attract attention? Can we do things that truly matter in the community? Can we harness social assets to build cume? Sure, no one grand slams every at-bat, but can we strive to make every word choice matter every break?
Can we break some molds, take some chances, and try something fresh more often? We can and we should. Radio content should be an event at least some of the time to stay relevant and meaningful to consumers. Creators today should do everything they can to make that happen, and owners should give them every possible resource to do it. And now, on with the show….
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Robby Bridges works for Press Communications where he serves as the VP of Programming for 99.7 and 107.1 The Boss. He also hosts the morning show ‘Robby and Rochelle’ alongside his wife, Rochelle. He’s been with the company/stations since September, 2021.
Prior to arriving in New Jersey, Robby spent decades working across the country in many top markets for many highly successful brands. Among them include Z100, WPLJ and Q102. He has also worked in Detroit, Boston, Providence, Portsmouth, NH, and served as an exclusive guest host for Scott Shannon on the True Oldies Channel.
To get in touch, reach Robby by email at RobbyBridges@hotmail.com.
