NL Broadcasting Limited, operating three radio stations in Kamloops B.C. is looking for a newsperson.
The right person will ideally have some experience, above average writing, and reporting skills, and a solid on air presentation. We're looking for a self starter with a real nose for news.
Applicants should send a resume, writing sample, references, and an mp3 to:
Jim Harrison Please let Radio NL know you saw this ad on Puget Sound Radio.com
KVOS TV - Sales Rep Needed
KVOS TV has an opening in our Vancouver office for a self motivated Sales Representative. The successful candidate will have a proven sales track record with two or more years experience. The focus of this position is cold calling and developing new advertising clients for our TV station. Media experience is an asset. The individual must be highly driven, well organized with excellent communications skills.
Computer proficiency is essential. Reliable transportation and valid drivers license are required. Please send resume with cover letter to
janelson@kvos.com
Only those selected for interviews will be contacted.
Please let KVOS know you saw this ad on Puget Sound Radio.com
PSR has over 3,000 unique visitors each day. Advertise Here! Contact: Michael Easton
It's not only a delight, but our pleasure in welcoming British Broadcast Veteran Brian McColl to grace the pages of Puget Sound Radio dot com
"The Coaching Coach" with Brian McColl will be appearing on a regular basis here on PSR.
WE welcome your comments in helping us build our solid and growing communication centre within the Industry.
Happy Posting! and warmest regards, Mike Easton PSR
"Winner Calls"
British Broadcast Veteran Brian McColl Friday May the 2nd, 2008
I have spent my usual unhealthy amount of time over the past week, listening to different radio stations on the ‘net. Do you ever do this? It’s a great way to hear how other people around the world are presenting. The similarity between presentation styles is quite remarkable. Some stand out from the crowd (usually the ones that have conquered the Fear and Doubt part of their personalities). Others just blend into the background. This week though, I was keeping my ears open for how different presenters execute competition winners on air. For me, there is one golden rule when it comes to getting the most out of a winner. That is: know when to shut up! Really. Know when not to say anything. It’s as important as the information you give. Knowing when to say nothing and timing that ‘nothing’ is vital when you are creating an exciting atmosphere for a winner. How do you time’ nothing’? Very carefully…that’s how! Let me explain.
I heard two completely different methods in particular.
Method #1:
This station was giving away a holiday in Mexico. A nice prize and, I got the impression, one they had been building up to for a while. The DJ made the call and put the winner on air. “You’ve won the holiday”, shouts the DJ. Cue the usual prize pig reaction of, “Oh my God, Oh my God, I don’t believe it, thank you so much guys, I love you”, etc etc. So far so good. But wait. The DJ here just couldn’t resist taking the glory for this great prize. So what does he do? He starts to talk all over the winner reaction.
“Oh my God…”continues the winner. “That’s right you’re going off to Cancun Mexico for five nights, flying first class”. “Oh my God…” “You’ll stay at the blahdy blah hotel on the beach front”. “Oh my God…” “You have two grand spending money thanks to our friends at XYZ Bank and will be taken on an underwater dive with Underwater Tours of Cancun….” And so on. “Oh my God”.
Method #2:
This radio station was giving away a car. Again, nice prize. DJ calls winner and says: “You’ve won the car”! The conversation continued along these lines: “Oh my God, thank you. I don’t believe it. That’s unreal. I won I won. I can’t believe it”. “A brand new BMW”! “(Screaming) That’s amazing. That’s my favourite car. My old car broke down last week and I had no way of getting into work. This is so amazing. You guys are the greatest. I love you (Scream)”. “You’ll be driving into work in luxury now”. “I didn’t think I’d win. Thank you so much. This is so great”. “You’re the winner”! “You guys are the greatest. Thank you so much”!
Notice any difference between the two calls? Who was the star in each one? Who stole the show? Who did the link belong to in each one?
I guess you have it figured out.
In link number one, the DJ thought he should be the star of the show. He thought it was his job to talk all over the winner’s reaction and get in the right mentions for all of the sponsors. The winner only got to say “Oh my God” a few times!
In the second call, the winner was the star. Here, the presenter knew that his job was to back off and let the winner’s natural human reaction take over. Let’s face it; if you were given a new BMW for free, you’d probably be pretty excited. So was this winner. Here, the DJ allowed the listener to share in the winner’s happiness. He allowed the winner to be the star of this link. Allow the person winning to be the star of the link and you allow the listener to share in the excitement. He knew when to shut up. Occasionally he would throw in the odd comment like, “A brand new BMW”. The reason he did this was a) to re-emphasise the prize and b) to confirm to the winner that she had just won it and therefore provoke another reaction from her (in this case, the good ole Scream)!
What is the point of holding a big promotion if, at the end, you start talking all over the winner? Here are a few of reasons why the winner call is important.
You are showing your listeners that they can win great prizes with your station. Fair enough. You have a chance to put to air your perfect listener. The one that sums up your demo and will react in an excited manner. That’s why you will sometimes have five ‘unlucky’ Caller Number 8’s!! You’re looking for an exact fit (Oh come on – you’re telling me you’ve never trawled the phones for the perfect winner)?? It’s the payoff for the week’s worth of pre-tease and execution. A competition is basically a massive Hook and Tease. Like any Hook and Tease, there needs to be a payoff at the end. It’s a chance to show your listener as the star of the show. You’re telling the listeners that you value them. You cherish them. Let them freak out and we can all share in this good feeling created by your radio station. The sponsors get their mention – but not during the call. This happens later when the promo is aired. You don’t need to worry about it here. Anyway, it sounds too cumbersome saying, “With thanks to such and such” when a winner is screaming down the phone line at you!
Another big reason to keep quiet and just prompt the winner is the fact that your production guy will love you for it. When your call is done and has been aired, you know what happens to that audio then? It’s taken away from you. You no longer own it. It goes into that dark room at the end of the hall, where the Production Guy sits all day. You know the production Guy (or girl). Usually pasty faced, wearing the same clothes for three days at a time (because he had fifty seven promos to produce last night and decided to just sleep on the studio floor). He’s the one that reads magazines on Pro-Tools and finds it hard to hold a regular conversation with anyone because he’s waiting for the sound effects to kick in. Well, Production Guy is going to love you for staying quiet during the winner call, because now he has some beautiful clean audio to dissect and place into the doughnut part of his ‘ready to go’ promo. He doesn’t have to mess around and spend ages editing your voice out as you talk all over the winner’s reaction. You have done him and the station a favour because now there will be a great promo on air really quickly and your PD will notice this too and heap praise on everyone. We’re all happy!
Oh, and by the way – if being on the promo is important to you, then don’t worry. You will be. And if getting some glory for how you handled the call is also important to you – believe me, you will. You will get the glory just because you were a professional broadcaster who knew when to speak and what to say (and not say) in order to get the best out of a competition winner.
One of my favorite things to do before I head to bed a night is tuning in stations from the UK online. Their morning shows are starting as we're all going to bed in Canada... I've found it a good way to find out what will be on people's minds the next morning. It might sound silly that you're getting ideas from stations half way aroudn the world, but there are TV shows that are seen around the world and many events that are also talked about that happen right in our own back yards.
One of my fav stations is Virgin Radio, based in London... http://www.virginradio.co.uk It's one of Richard Bransons brands, definetly give the station a listen. They have a wide variety of shows throughout the weekends too. And their studio webcams are pretty cool too!
thanks for this great new feature with Brian McColl. Most helpful tips and information. The guy is a born teacher who has his finger on the pulse of communication. Congratulations Brian and thanks PSR, I for one look forward to future posts
Burger Station: The opposite of ManchesterRadioOnline.com - burger stations are superficially ‘local’ but are owned by national or international corporations. They do for radio what the burger chains do for high streets, i.e. create a national ‘averageness’ void of local character. Whichever city you’re in, the burger stations have the same playlists, the same logo, same style websites, even the same content.
The mouth is back and bigger than ever... Britain's Best Shock Jock, James Stannage
James Stannage deals with family and relationship issues and also takes a look at the everyday conflicts that affect our lives.
James Stannage has unique style of resolving issues. He's not afraid to speak his mind and believes the only way to solve a problem is through honesty and openness.
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