What Is The Name Of Your Show? Probably Not What You Named It

By Jeff McHugh

  Shows often have names. The Morning Crew, the Morning Rush, The K-101 Morning Show, etc. Listeners usually do not use those names when referring to the morning show, but instead almost always refer to radio shows by the name of their personalities.

Think for a moment and try to recall as many radio shows that go by names like The Breakfast Flakes, The Waking Crew, etc. and you may struggle to come up with a few. Then, think of all the radio personalities by name that you can, and you may notice a flood coming to you easily.

Having a show name is fine, and if we happen to use the name of your show as an example here, don’t take it the wrong way. But we almost always advocate that show ID the names of the personalities (“Craig, Amy and Kankelfritz”) at least as often if not more as mentioning the name of the show (“The KLOVE Morning Show.”) 

Exceptions to that rule from radio and television include true ensemble casts, like the legendary “Z100 Morning Zoo” in New York City and “60 Minutes” on CBS. No one says “did you see Morley Safer last night?” However, almost everyone would say “did you watch Jon Stewart?”

It’s the human connection, the relationship between the audience and host that matters to the consumer and the emotional response that they feel when they tune in.

Demonstrating this point is a funny moment on “Late Night” when Jerry Seinfeld tells the host of that show what the name of his program is. Quick – before you watch, can you name the host of “Late Night?”