We’ve all had “squirrel” moments when a conversation has been utterly derailed by a random thought. However, the other night at Comerica Park in Detroit, an entire major league baseball game had a moment created by an actual squirrel.
An article on Awful Announcing chronicled the mayhem at a recent Tigers game. It started when Orioles third base coach Buck Britton spotted a squirrel hanging out on the field and began tossing him seeds. Naturally, the furry critter wanted to stick around. The squirrel then staked out a spot on the field, just down the line past the coach’s box — a location Tiger’s announcer Jason Benetti noted fans would pay thousands of dollars for.
At some point, management decided that they couldn’t tolerate an animal on the field during a major league game. So they dispatched the ground crew to remove the squirrel. That’s when comedy ensued as nearly twenty members of the Tigers staff struggled for quite a while to actually corral the critter.
The Broadcast Comedy
During the chase, Benetti was inspired and energetically called the play-by-play of the debacle. Meanwhile, the Orioles broadcast team were in stitches laughing. By the time the ground crew caught the squirrel — at which point the crowd started booing — they were nearly in tears.
Beyond being an excuse to share a really funny story, there is a lot to learn from this Keystone Cops parody.
Creating Memorable Moments
You see, the 162-game baseball season is really long. I’m not exactly sure when this game was played, but as of right now both teams are playing sub-five hundred baseball — not exactly killing it. Yet on this night, the fans who attended what would otherwise have been a ho-hum game were treated to something unique. Additionally, the announcers, who have to make every game of the year sound interesting, were really engaged.
At our Classic Rock and Hits and Adult Hits stations, we play the same songs every day, year after year — which is a lot longer than a baseball season. We don’t have the luxury other stations have of exciting young artists keeping the station sounding fresh with new songs. So, I ask you: when was the last time your station had a true squirrel moment?
Now I realize the Tiger’s squirrel-chasing debacle was random. You can’t count on that happening, which is why stations like ours need to create moments like this. Specifically, we need unique deviations in programming that — even though they are planned — make it sound like things at your station have gone off the rails. Listeners who are tuned in at the right moment will leave with a story to tell.
Planning for Spontaneity
Plus, you also get the benefit of moments like this energizing your hosts, much like it did for the Tigers and Orioles broadcast teams. I’m willing to bet Benetti’s call of the squirrel chase — which included him saying, “hemmed in? No, I won’t be hemmed in! I have freedom on my mind!” — was possibly the most passionate moment of the season. Similarly, the joy and laughter from the Oriole’s crew was equally engaging to their listeners.
In many ways, creating squirrel moments like these is really the essence of programming a gold-based radio station. Sure, editing logs and interacting with sales are important tasks. But taking the time to create memorable moments on your station is what sets the medium apart from our competition.
The Art of Programming
I know being a Program Director is more complicated than ever. However, finding time to brainstorm ways to make your station stand out and your announcers sound great is the true art form — and the fun, creative part of the job we all signed up for originally.
Much like the squirrel, don’t let yourself and your station get hemmed in. Try to create some freedom on your station. It’ll make your listeners root for you just like Tiger’s fans did for the squirrel.
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Mike Stern is a Classic Rock columnist and Features writer for Barrett Media. He has been with Jacobs Media consulting stations in the Classic Rock, Rock, Alternative and AAA world for more than a decade. Prior to that he programmed stations in Chicago, Detroit, Denver Las Vegas and other markets. He also worked as News/Talk Editor for Radio and Records, wrote about Top 40 Radio for Billboard Magazine and had his own radio talent coaching business called Talent Mechanic.