The Morning Show Flight Plan

Drive Time morning show DJ’s and high flying airplane pilots have one critical element in common; “Flight Plan.” Without it, it is best summarized by this simple but profound old saying, “if you don’t know where you are going any road will get you there.”

An airplane pilot never leaves the ground without, first, filling out his Flight Plan: destination, weather conditions, fuel considerations, airplane serviced, weight on board, emergency measures, etc. This vital and important procedure is critical to the pilot, crew and everyone on board to assure that the plane takes-off and arrives safely.

What if you were to hear this just before take-off: “ladies and gentlemen this is your pilot speaking. Our destination today is California and I don’t have a clue how we’re going to get there. We don’t have a map or a compass so we’ll be flying by the seat of our pants, so to speak. I’m not sure if the instrument panel is working properly, I haven’t checked to see if the plane has been neither serviced nor fueled. But just sit back, relax and enjoy the flight. And by the way, don’t worry. I do this every day and so far so good. Goood Luck.” How many passengers do you think would be left on the plane if this message were to be broadcast? Surprise! None.

How about the Morning Show Flight Plan? Has the pilot and crew prepared the audience for 5:30 am takeoff? It’ll be a long 4 1/2-hour flight. The only difference between the airplane flight plan and the morning show flight plan, is, the morning show flight plan is filled out the day before take-off and fine tuned the morning of take-off.

What is your destination? Have you prepared every break along the way? What is the topic for every break; how will you get in? What do you want to accomplish in the middle? How will you get out and promote the next element? Or, are you and your partners so talented that you always know where you’re going and arrive at your destination safely. NO YOU WON’T! You’ll crash and burn and everyone on board will go down with you. When you play to your own desires and well being and don’t prepare your show and every stop-down break along the way, you put every member of your radio station at risk; management, programming, sales, etc. When you lose, everybody loses.

Radio station CKLW, the Big 8, in Windsor, Ontario, was a 50,000-watt top 40 powerhouse. One day, our program director, Hugh Frazzle, asked all of the jocks, individually, “How we prepared our daily shows?” Everyone responded, as we pointed to our heads, “ Hey Hugh, it’s all up here.” Well, he gathered us all together for an afternoon jock meeting and indicated the findings to his question. He said, “I’m proud of all of you for having the ability to ad lib your way through four hours of a show with no prep.” You see, we confidently believed the better you could ad lib your way through an entire show, make you a better performer. But Hugh knew better. We were suffering from diminished expectations. He said, “Isn’t it something that famous night time television host, Johnny Carson spends 4-hours per day working on his 6-minute monologue. Bob Hope works 3 months on a 15-minute monologue for his television special. The greatest international orator of the twentieth century, Winston Churchill, tirelessly, spent almost 24 hours rehearsing a 5-minute speech including special attention to pauses for effect.” He asked all of us to hand in a prep sheet one-hour before airtime and write down one thought, per break. We never sounded better and within a 6-month period, owned the fifth largest market in America, the Detroit-Windsor area, with number one ratings.

CKLW was the beginning of my very first Flight Plan. I never went on the air again, ever, without a fully thought-out flight plan, with every break scrutinized for a special result. It kept me in the hearts and the minds of our listeners and at the top of the ratings for over 30 years.

When young Michelangelo was working in his study, his teacher, Bethalto came up behind him and smashed the piece he was working on. The startled young talent was taken aback by this unimaginable event. Bethalto looked at Michelangelo and said, “Talent is cheap-dedication is costly.” It opened the eyes of Michelangelo and he went on to be the best ever. What about you? Can you fly by the seat of your pants, day in and day out without crashing? It’ll never fly! Just ask Carson, Hope, Churchill and Michelangelo.

When you don’t prepare your show and every stop-down break,you put every member of your radio station at risk: management, programming, and sales. When you lose, everybody loses!

Morning Show “Flight Plan” For Every Break

1. The Big story? What will be on the front page tomorrow? News, Sports, Entertainment, Weather? What’s the water cooler story? What do we need to know? Is it serious, entertaining or informative?
2. What’s our angle? How should we react to the story? Do we need an interview? If we do, whom do we call for the segment? Execute it live or tape it and make it sound live? Will our audience participate?
3. What’s our strategy? Once you’ve decided on the topic for that break, how do we get in? Who will say what? How do we exit? Have we covered every important aspect of the break? Finally, keep it short, to the point, descriptive, engaging!
4. Frequency. Do we thread it all morning as a topic? Do it once per hour? Only once and move on?
5. Critical element. Have we hit our core listener and what do we want them to be left with?
6. Next break.
   

Next week: Part 2: Executing the Plan
Larry Morrow delves into the minds of the morning show listener. What do they think of when they get up? What is it they need to know as they begin their day? Learn what they want to hear, why, and then give it to them.