This month the MPR’s of Programming continues as our focus turns to the second "M" on the list…the Morning Show. In review, the MPR’s are a programming checklist which include the Music, Morning Show, Marketing, Management/Morale, Promotions, Production, Positioning, Personalities, Research, Ratings, and Revenue.

Beyond the Music, the Morning Show is a critically important programming element. It’s radio’s "Prime Time" daypart. I’m particularly fond of great morning radio as I’ve had the privilege of working with some of the best morning shows in the country including Howard Stern, Mark and Brian, Stevens and Pruett, Lisle and Hahn, the "Lobster" breakfast show, Perry Stone, and upcoming talents Rob, Arnie, and Dawn who recently made a "one hundred" market jump from KDOT in Reno to 98 Rock in Sacramento.

This morning show checklist is intended to be used by programmers and morning talents of all market sizes as a basic overview of morning radio. With this concept of the "basics" as our foundation, there are two major areas that make up the fundamentals of programming the Morning Show…formatics and content.

The foundation of programming a morning show has to start with the formatics. How does your morning show do the basics?….delivering call letters, time checks, weather, and the basic presells and backsells. As a cornerstone of great radio, the basic formatics of the morning show need to be carved out in a user-friendly fashion that makes sense.

Initially, you’ll need to set up the spot breaks, news and sports breaks, where you put the produced elements and bumpers, and generally where the basic elements of the morning show fit on a clock.

For this reason, it’s essential to create a grid that maps out all of the elements of the show. This is your morning show road map. Most successful morning shows adhere to this kind of advanced planning because it keeps things focused while allowing for spontaneity when necessary.

Apart from doing an all talk morning show, a critical part of the formatics of a morning show is the type and amount of music that gets played. Keeping in mind the high cume available for this daypart, the music should always be mass appeal hit stuff or at the very least, nothing that will drive potential cume away.

But here’s a switch…..DON’T talk about the music with your morning show! Unless you’re programming a purely music intensive, liner card reading morning show, discussing the morning music nuances with your morning team will just confuse the issue. After all, how many morning radio talents really care about the music?

The music on the morning show needs to be treated as a programmer’s responsibility and a totally separate issue from the really important matters you and your morning show need to discuss…the Content! Use the amount of music played on the morning show as a reward for improved content…better content, less music. As your morning show improves, add content and subtract music in three minute increments.

The first area of content that needs to be discussed is what kind of "top of mind" image do you want your morning show to display? What kind of morning show do you intend to program?….a morning zoo? shock radio? good buddy/frat style radio? There are many ways you can go here.

Listeners in Focus Groups often come up with the best descriptions of what a morning show represents to them. Howard Stern is "the guy that says things we wish we had the guts to say". Mark and Brian are those "silly frat boys". Mancow sounds like an "angry white guy". Don Imus is "cynical, opinionated, and political".

Beyond the image that you want your morning show to display, how do you "define the individual roles" of your morning show players? A good rule of thumb is to treat the player’s roles like they’re on a sitcom TV show. Who’s your ultimate host (Seinfeld), the female presence (Elaine), and the funny character (Kramer) on the show?

The Howard Stern radio show is a classic example of clearly defined character roles which make up an incredible ensemble of personalities…but more on Howard later.

Finally, after you’ve defined the image and individual roles of your morning show and it’s players, are you doing everything you can to maximize appeal to your target demo? If your station’s target demo is 25-34 males and you have a morning show that appeals primarily to women, you’d better reevaluate the dynamics and focus of your content.

Once you’ve defined the elements noted above, it’ll help determine how you present your news and sports and how many and what types of games, bits, and features are necessary to get your point across. The ultimate goal here is to create morning show benchmarks.

A typical news profile for a rock or alternative format in the morning should stay away from "blood and guts" hard news and deal with a combination of major topical stories (Kosovo/Littleton shootings), stories of local interest, lifestyle events (Woodstock ’99), and news you can use (rate hikes for Internet usage). The key is to always keep the interests of your target demo in mind.

Deciding on what games, bit’s, and features to use are also part of the process. Here again, if you do Focus Groups, your listeners will tell you what they like. Rob, Arnie, and Dawn at 98 Rock in Sacramento have had great success with a game called "What’s on Your Dirty Mind?" as well as a produced bit called Rob and Arnie’s "Really, Really, Bad Impersonations."

Texas morning show legends Stevens and Pruett of KLOL in Houston have created a benchmark with a feature called Uncle Waldo and have also caused quite a stir with a daily feature called "The Sex Survey Hour."

Beyond the benchmark games, bits, and features noted above, Mark and Brian of KLOS Los Angeles have created benchmark morning show promotions like their much copied "What would you do for Super Bowl tickets?" and their popular "Pet Adoption Day".

Beyond a typical morning show goal of creating benchmarks out of games, bits, and features, the ultimate goal is to create an entire morning show which will become a benchmark of your radio station….you know, the kind of morning show you comfortably attach to your top of the hour legal id as being your personal property?

This is the ultimate Soap Opera….a morning show you have to tune in to so you won’t miss the "continuing adventures of". Howard Stern is the master of the morning show Soap Opera. He has created an environment where listeners really have grown to love him and his cast of characters and have actually adopted them as sort of a dysfunctional family they listen in on every morning.

The Ultimate Emotional Connection

What Howard has done is what any morning show ultimately needs to strive for…an emotional connection with their listeners! Howard has definitely created a strong bond between the show and it’s listeners…an audience that really loves and "understands" the show.

One of the best ways to create an emotional connection with an audience beyond the basic on-air content is getting involved with the community. In many cases, charitable and humanitarian efforts from a morning show are a good way of showing off their "good" side without losing their cutting edge on the air.

KLOL’s Stevens and Pruett have consistently exposed their charitable "soft white underbelly" via their Humane Ranch, which has rehabilitated thousands of abused animals. This sincere community involvement far overshadows any complaints they may have received for some of the "racy" content they’ve done over the years.

All of the "basic" parameters of morning show formatics and content noted above don’t necessarily account for basic talent. Pure talent as a morning show personality is an intangible that is hard to teach. There are, however, several keys to success beyond talent that will help keep morning shows at the top of their game.

A strong work ethic is first and foremost. The most successful morning shows spend hours of prep time focusing on constantly improving their product. A good rule of thumb is to spend at least an hour off the air for every hour you spend on the air. In many ways, creating and maintaining a great morning show is a 24/7 job.

John Wooden, the legendary former UCLA Basketball coach was a stickler for meticulous preparation which led him to coin this popular maxim…"failing to prepare is preparing to fail".

Besides a strong work ethic, keeping your ego in check and maintaining positive chemistry among your morning partners and the listeners is another major key to success beyond basic talent. I’ve seen many instances where successful morning air talents have self-destructed because they begin to believe their own hype.

A successful morning personality is like a politician running for office….you’ve got to constantly shake hands and kiss babies. Unlike politicians, your campaign for listeners never ends and your constituents have the ability to vote for you every day. Don’t forget the little things that will consistently keep your audience coming back for more.