This month the MPR’s of Programming continues with a look at the Morning Show "Beyond the Basics". As noted last time, the successful directing of a morning show is a critically important programming element. This is radio’s "prime time" daypart.

With this in mind, let’s take a closer look at some of the nuances that make morning radio great with insight from some top morning talents and producers. As mentioned last time, 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. As a cornerstone of great radio, the basic formatics of the morning show are necessary components. While these formatics may be necessary, several morning experts feel they’re not that important.

"To a ‘successful show’ all programming formatics are absolutely 100% useless" says Roger Wilko, former morning show producer of John DeBella and founder & CEO of Wilko Communications, which has a family of websites serving morning shows and the radio industry.

Mancow Muller, the successfully outrageous syndicated morning talent of Q101 in Chicago echoes these formatic sentiments. "There are NO CLOCKS! I have two commercial breaks, at :30 and :50, and that’s all I have to live by. That freedom is something I’ve always demanded….even if it meant settling for less money. I’ve had plenty of opportunities to play by the rules, but I’d rather do creative radio."

While formatics may not be important to the success of some morning shows, it’s essential to create a grid that maps out all of the elements of the show…the so-called morning show road map.

The weekend before each show, Rob Williams, host of 98 Rock, Sacramento’s Rob, Arnie, and Dawn show maps out the contests and features for the upcoming week. "Each day we have a grid for that day’s show which highlights each stopset and the material that’s planned for each break. We walk in to the studio with that sheet as a guide, but we adjust to the flow of the show and are willing to move things we have planned or throw them out all together in favor of stronger material."

While the music played on the morning show may be an important element in generating high cume, talking about the music with your morning show may not be. "If the morning show isn’t entertaining, then the music is a moot point", notes Rosemary Jimenez, morning show producer for Jamie, Frosty and Frank of Star 98.7 in Los Angeles. "The concentration should be on being funny, which is of paramount importance."

"Music becomes a problem in a successful morning show," adds Wilko. "The goal is to have absolutely no music and pure entertainment. You can not do a music intensive entertaining show and dominate a market for more than a single rating period. This is not enough time to generate substantial revenues from advertisers."

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!

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? Listeners in Focus Groups often come up with the best descriptions of what a morning show represents to them.

Mancow has an idea about how he wants his audience to perceive his morning show. "I don’t want the audience to think we’re on the cutting edge. I want ‘em to think we’re ahead of the curve. I have a good sense of what is going to be a hot issue."

Beyond the image that you want your morning show to display, how you "define the individual roles" of the other performers and develop them as characters is another key element to morning radio success.

"To the listener, any more than two or three voices is clutter, unless they are very well defined," notes Mancow. "My crew is very well defined, and we constantly reinforce their characters: Turd, the bartender; Freak the headbanger; Al Roker, the angry black man; Luv Cheese, the technical genius; Tara, the new girl; Brian, the corporate spy."

"Defining the individual roles of each character on the morning show is absolutely vital," states Williams. "It is important to have balanced, defined roles. On our show, I represent the wordly, sophisticated pompous ass who always seems to have things go his way; Arnie is the red-neck blue collar guy that’s the underdog in life, while Dawn is the strong woman presence that doesn’t back down from the guys….not your typical side-chick that sits and giggles."

Once you’ve defined the elements noted above, the ultimate goal here is to create morning show benchmarks. Many times your audience will create a benchmark for you by calling the station and simply asking for the order.

"It’s important to listen to your audience when they call you," says Williams. "Many times they’ll create a feature for you, as recently happened on our show when a listener sent a letter asking my advice on a relationship problem he was having. That has now turned into a twice-weekly feature called ‘Ask Dr. Rob’s Love Advice’."

Mancow has a different take on the morning show benchmark issue. "I don’t believe in benchmarks, which is probably unfortunate, because about the time I get sick of something the audience is just starting to recognize it."

Besides the benchmarks, 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.

According to Jimenez, this aspect of the morning show, is not only important, but crucial. "Participation in the community not only makes the morning show human, but shows them as being kind, compassionate, and caring, when many times their on-air content may be questionable."

All of the "basic" parameters of morning show formatics and content noted above don’t necessarily account for basic talent. There are several keys to success beyond talent that will help keep morning shows at the top of their game. First and foremost is a strong work ethic.

"Every hour of every day is show prep for me, " says Mancow. "I spend five hours researching, writing and meeting with staff members about the show. I’d say a strong work ethic is the most important thing, period. There have been guys, probably more talented than me, but they didn’t work at it."

Williams agrees that a strong work ethic is absolutely key to winning in today’s morning show landscape. "There are approximately 25 hours of show prep done per work week on our show. We have a phrase we use all the time which justifies our long hours: ‘It’s for the show.’ It takes that kind of commitment to win."

Besides a strong work ethic, good chemistry among the morning show players and their audience is another important intangible. "We are all very close and it shows on the air," claims Williams. "This closeness leads to full honesty and communication, and makes for a clean, tight, fun show. I have no idea how people that hate each other do a morning show together."

Overall, there are many factors involved in creating and maintaining a successful morning show. Jimenez feels that "the first and foremost key is finding and establishing talent that appeals directly to the target audience. The remaining keys are team effort, open communication, listener feedback, and shared vision and goals."

"As time goes on," concludes Jimenez, "the morning show has to become a part of the listener’s day in an emotional way, where the listener feels incomplete if they miss the show."

Wilko agrees that radio is an emotional connection to the listener. "Understand emotions. Get to know all of them….not just one! Understand your limits and you will find your strength. Give room for everyone involved in the show to be a star. Finally, have a life outside of radio and you’ll have a life on the radio!"

"Morning radio success doesn’t last forever," notes Wilko. "Done right a successful morning show will last between three to seven years. The listeners are always right…they’re the ones who create, maintain, buy, sell, and ultimately destroy all radio programs."

"The keys to morning show success are simple," concludes Williams. "Never let the audience know what’s next. We want people to feel like they’ll miss something if they don’t listen. And have fun. This is the greatest job in the world, and if you can’t have fun doing it, you’re a tool. If you have fun in the studio, the audience will have fun listening."

Mancow believes the keys to morning show success lie in hard work and a never say die attitude. "We try to make every show the best show, and not rest on our laurels. Luck is real, but when you get the breaks, you have to be able to do the job."