Getting The Pieces To Fit ... Ensemble Entertainment

There was a time music radio ensemble shows were strictly a morning thing -- two or more personalities sharing the mic on one show. Recently the same thought process has been applied to other dayparts. Nationally syndicated shows offering "content only" have played a large part in this expanded approach. It's been good for stations because they can edit in their playlist of music geared to the specific local target audience. Some of the syndicated shows offering content only include "On Air with Ryan Seacrest," John Tesh's "Intelligence for Your Life," and "Big Boy's Neighborhood."

All for One & One for All ...

Regardless of whether it's a national or local show, it takes a coordinated effort by show members to make things sound natural and in sync. There is a lot of work that goes into creating and maintaining a cast of personalities to share the microphone.

In Charge ...

The key to any of these ensemble situations is the group leader who is given the responsibility to keep the team on track in the studio. That person must be objective and be the final word for what goes out over the airwaves. Sometimes the person is the producer and/or the lead anchor of the show.

Team Play ....

The best advice I ever heard for coaching a morning show/ensemble entertainment show did not come from radio. It came from NBA basketball's Zen Master Phil Jackson.

"The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team."

A major part of Jackson's team philosophy was Winter's triangle offense strategy. It speaks to the needs of a radio entertainment ensemble.

"What attracted me to it was the way it empowers players and offers each a vital role to play as well as a high level of creativity within a clear well-defined structure. For it to work, all five players must be fully engaged every second or the system will fail."

My Advice

Programing and advising a radio ensemble team requires patience, attention to detail, and focus on the big picture. The leader of a current syndicated entertainment radio show asked me for a critique of their ensemble radio show. I will share our conversation and omit the name of the individual at their request.

Coach: The recorded opening of your show is topical, concise and funny. Based on the things I heard, I am assuming you update to stay fresh with your daily audience.

Jock: We update as often as possible

Coach: I was glad to hear you promote what was coming up within the next 20 minutes and not a rundown of the entire four-hour show. This is the smart approach. It was also nice to hear a group of individuals emphasize how great the music is on your show.

It really is all about the music and the way you accessorize it with the various ways you try and entertain your audience. I realize you do a live show and offer it as content only for those affiliates who want to edit in the music, which does best with their audience. Because of this, you cannot front or back-sell.

Jock: I have never sent you the content-only version we send to those stations that request it. I took to heart what you told me about how important it is to let the audience know what we are playing. On our live broadcasts we do back-sell artist and title, but I position it so my producer can edit it out for the content-only stations.

Coach: Thanks for letting me know that. The freestyle rap thing was a great idea, but I was a bit confused with your approach. First of all, your new cast member is energetic, quick on her feet, and naturally funny. With that said, what was the thought process of having her and D#### both do a freestyle rap during each talk break of the hour? You did an excellent job concisely resetting the stage each time, but the execution was off.

She was not as good at freestyling and would have been more effective just commenting on D####'s witty stuff. A leader has to distribute and highlight the strengths of individual cast members. That leader is you, my friend.

You are so good with phone calls; why wasn't this audience participation, with your cast giving the word and the situation? All I could think of was that you either had technical difficulties or you were busy recording and editing something else off-air at the same time. The listener should always be the focus.

Jock: The truth of the matter is we didn't ever consider doing it that way. The concept is there for fun, but if I do it again I will get the audience involved. And if I had to do it over, I would have let the two alternate their freestyle at breaks instead of having them both do one. It would have shortened things and made it tighter.

Coach: The whole thing is funny; you turned right around and redeemed yourself during the same show with the "I Love You" bit. It involved the audience and was funny to listen to. I loved the concept, in order for the caller to win concert tickets, H#### had to get one of her randomly selected friends from her cell directory to say "I Love You" back to her on the air during a brief casual call. That was hilarious and you plugged in the other way to win on your Facebook page. Your constant integration of social media is outstanding. Now this sort of thing plays to your team's strength.

Jock: Thanks, it worked so well, we plan on doing this game again. The listeners seemed to get a kick out of it and we had a lot of fun with it. I still cannot believe he did not say back to her, "I love you, too" at the end of the conversation ... how funny was that?

Coach: With the bit, you found a way to incorporate your crew and still make the listener the star. That was wonderful. By the way, I noticed your new person occasionally sounds like she is shouting into the mic; have her levels checked. I thought your show sounded great before your new arrival; I think she takes the show to an even higher level. As you prep and plan shows, always keep in mind the listener is your extra cast member ... involve them as often as possible.

Jock: I know you will find this hard to believe but with the exception of one mic in the room, the rest do not have processing. So with the way she works the mic sometimes, it sounds horrible. I have talked to the engineers three times and they keep telling me it is in the works. It has been several weeks now.

Coach: That is not good; this should go to the top of the priority list to fix. You guys do such great content, the last thing you need is for the show not to sound great. You don't need affiliates to notice; most PDs would make you think they have an ear for technical, but unless it is blatant, the average OM or PD can't tell. But shouting into the mic makes it obvious something is wrong. I suggest you go to a higher authority and have them get with the engineers do it ASAP.

Jock: Thanks man, I needed this. I am going to go relax and have some ice cream. Talk to you next week! I will let my new member know how much you like what she is doing.

Ensemble Entertainment Suggestions:

• Let the listeners in on the personal lives of the crew
• Reflect the lifestyle of the target audience
• Conduct interviews with timely and timeless guests
• Learn to present content without fluffy or inside humor.
• Talk to the audience and not at them
• Stay in perspective character lanes
• If you are a music station, talk about the music
• Always let the listener know the artist and title of songs
• Have fun and never take yourself too seriously
• Over-prep and observe life 24 hours a day

The Boss ...

It takes a PD (OM sometimes) a lot of patience on and off the air to successfully guide a team of individuals. If you can get the cast to lay aside egos, take direction, and stay focused, the outcome will produce ratings and profit.