A common challenge for programmers is differentiation of their news/information programs from those of the competition. There are a number of ways to do this.
- NAME IT. Many years ago, a station in New York State identified its news bulletins as “Action Central News.” Even though it did not necessarily mean anything, it suggested immediacy and authority. When listeners were asked, “What station has Action Central News” most of them were able to identify the station without hesitation. The same idea can be applied to traffic, weather and sport reports. By naming a report, it becomes proprietary to your station and associated with your brand.
- PERSONALISE IT. One of the most effective ways to associate your news, traffic, weather and sport reports with your station is to personalize them by linking them to specific reporters. If you are fortunate enough to find a talent with an engaging style, the station’s association with that type of report will be greatly enhanced. Listeners are more likely to trust a report if it presented by an individual whom they know and whom they feel can be relied upon to give them accurate information. Over the years, many sport reporters, including professional athletes, have gained renown as the “sport guy” on the station.
- GIVE IT A LOCAL FEEL. Associate your reports with the local community. This technique works especially well in large metropolitan areas or regions. For example, some stations have localized their weather reports by adding weather conditions for a specific area of town. Reporters can preface their news stories with lines such as, “Here is a report just in from the Kensington area…”
- OWN IT. Always link your reports with the name of your station. “Here are the latest headlines as compiled by the Hit Radio news team.” “And now for the latest traffic information from Hit Radio’s traffic guru Bob Jones.”
- PROMOTE IT. By promoting your reports throughout the day, you can raise listener awareness of your information programs. “Listen tomorrow morning at 7 to Hit Radio Radar Weather and be fully prepared for the day ahead.” “Tune in to Hit Radio before leaving the office to check on the latest road conditions.” We know that promotion works, so why not apply it to your information reports?
One of the realities of modern radio is that the information that we deliver to the audience usually comes from an external source. For example, weather information is often generated by a central meteorological agency. However, this does not prevent us from taking ownership of our reporting and linking it to our brand image.
By Andy Beaubien, BPR
The news bulletin's theme is also a way of identifying with a particular station or particular network.
To illustrate the ABC uses a short version and a long version of "Majestic Fanfare" for short and long bulletins respectively. "Majestic Fanfare" is identified with the ABC. Also there are the themes for "AM" and "PM". Promos for these programs use snippets of the theme to promote forthcoming episodes.
Similarly, Nine Radio uses the Nine TV News Theme for its news bulletins.
Sound effects in association with the news theme. Long before 2UE amalgamated with 2GB, 2UE started its bulletins with an announcement, "2UE News", a timpani drum roll, the Morse code of "CQ CQ CQ". A few decades ago music followed the intro, drum roll and Morse code and a "beep" was inserted between each story.
Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id3HXyQUozg
In addition, 2UE had a jingle for the half-past-the-hour and on-the-hour news bulletins before the "2UE News" announcement, timpani drum roll, and Morse code of "CQ CQ CQ".
Example 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RhNUvuqHE0
Example 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nutFTpw9JQ4
Various stations had news themes with a razza-mattaz. The following example has the heading "...themes to sing along with..."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_o10kLpnht0
Thank you,
Anthony of exciting and famous for Miss World 1972, Belinda Green of Belfield