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Morning Shows Are Teamwork ...
April 9, 2019
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. I have always helped entertainment ensembles with what I call "Friday to Monday timing." Every Morning or Entertainment show is looser on Fridays because it's the end of the week; things seem to fall into place and flow well. Then comes Monday and the false sense of security as if two days being off would not have any effect. I always had my morning shows concentrate on their exchanges with each other on Mondays. I told them not to worry so much about the material, but their exchanges with one another. Surprisingly, by the ensemble working on their timing, the delivery of materials would fall into place. You need to get your co-host and your crew on the phone on Sunday and talk about the weekend -- personal things, stuff on TV, anything interesting that any of you observed, and social media trending. The conversation should take no longer than 10 to 15 minutes and since you are the show prep person, take notes. Between working on your verbal hand-offs and your brief Sunday conversations, your Mondays should go a lot easier on the air
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Teamwork is defined as "cooperative or coordinated effort on the part of a group of persons acting together as a team or in the interests of a common cause." Radio entertainment ensembles (morning or other dayparts) are like track & field relay teams, baseball double-play combinations, musical duos (The Eagles, City Girls, The Black Keys, Dan + Shay, Migos, Back Street Boys, Cypress Hill, The Beatles), and every couple in a relationship since the beginning of time.
The Cookie Crumbles ...
The best explanation I heard for teamwork came from Al Pacino's locker room speech in the movie Any Given Sunday: "Either we heal as a team or we're gonna crumble. Either we heal now as a team or we will die as individuals."
I've had an on-going conversation with an ensemble of a morning show, and we've discussed the ebb and flow of the on and off-air relationship.
Air Personality: Sam, something I'm dealing with is ### veering off topic during talk breaks and talking in circles. He doesn't seem to have a cut-off valve and talks too much sometimes. It causes me to constantly adjust to get us back on track. It really messes with the effectiveness of what we do. It happens too often and the PD has talked to us about it. He figures I'm the voice of reason within the group and I do the best I can with keeping us on target for a smooth morning, but it's hard.
Coach: The most important conversation is to the audience and not partners talking to each other with the listeners playing the role of spectator. The listener should feel as though you're engaging them. How's the show prep situation?
Air Personality: That's part of the problem; he feels as if its okay to show up in the morning, read over a couple of things and hit the air. He relies on me to do the prepping, I've tried to get him more into it, but he feels as though it affects his spontaneity. Many mornings, I feel more like I'm his mother rather than co-host. Mondays are extra hard.
Coach: I have always helped entertainment ensembles with what I call "Friday to Monday timing." Every Morning or Entertainment show is looser on Fridays because it's the end of the week; things seem to fall into place and flow well. Then comes Monday and the false sense of security as if two days being off would not have any effect. I always had my morning shows concentrate on their exchanges with each other on Mondays. I told them not to worry so much about the material, but their exchanges with one another. Surprisingly, by the ensemble working on their timing, the delivery of materials would fall into place. You need to get your co-host and your crew on the phone on Sunday and talk about the weekend -- personal things, stuff on TV, anything interesting that any of you observed, and social media trending. The conversation should take no longer than 10 to 15 minutes and since you are the show prep person, take notes. Between working on your verbal hand-offs and your brief Sunday conversations, your Mondays should go a lot easier on the air.
Air Personality: I will try that. I've also noticed that as the morning goes on, my co-host gets a little brisk with me off the air.
Coach: It could be several things, but I suspect it might be what he eats or doesn't eat in the morning. Morning folk should always put something in their stomach a couple of hours before taking to the air. Also, while on the air, do not eat a bunch of junk. I used to do morning with a co-host who would also get testy every morning around 8a. She was fine until the mic was off, she'd become a Tasmanian devil. One morning while shuffling in and out of the studio, I saw her gobble down Twizzlers and chug a coke. It dawned on me what the problem was, that junk was all she would eat between the time she woke up until the time she cracked the mic at 5:30a; all sugary stuff. She was crashing and burning and that's why she was so spastic about the same time every morning. I sat and talked with her and we came to an understanding about her early morning eating habits. Your morning co-host may have a similar issue with his morning food intake.
Air Personality: He drinks can after can of Coke during our show and takes his coffee with lots of cream and sugar. He's single, lives alone, and I don't know what he eats before coming to work.
Coach: How are your ratings?
Air personality: Pretty good in our target demo, but if people only knew all of what goes into pulling off a show every morning. My PD tells me to ride with the tide and stay on it with my co-host.
Coach: Your PD sounds experienced in working with morning shows, but no matter what he or she does, it comes down to the chemistry between you two. One of you must be the grown-up in the morning show relationship, and it's you. Don't take anything personal and try to have some fun. Your co-host sounds predictable, that should make it easier to work around his quirks.
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