Do Listeners Care About Local Content?

Randy Lane • November 9, 2020

Syndicated shows have proven that great shows can succeed with zero local content. Radio is experiencing another burst in syndication this year. Concurrently, we see the appeal of local content rising.

Local farmer’s markets have popped up all over North America and Apps like  Next Door  are gaining in popularity. The 2020  Jacobs Media Tech Survey  revealed that local content continues to grow for the fourth straight year.

Don’t force local content.  The Randy Lane Company  recommends that our clients use the same content filter for local as with all content. It must be  relevant ,  entertaining , and/or  informative.

5 Quick and Easy Ways to Be Local

  1. Name and location:  Introduce all callers with their first name and the part of the metro they’re calling from. Hearing their location makes listeners in that area take notice, and it gives the audience more of a mental picture of the caller.
     
  2. Air more callers:  Caller interaction gives your station more emotion, dynamics, and localization. Yes, we know it’s harder to get callers on-air because it’s easier to text or post. Here are just a few of the ways to get more caller interaction:

  • Ask contest winners to go on your show’s topic discussion.
  • Create a “Be on the show page” like the syndicated  John Boy and Billy Show.
  • Ask listeners with entertaining texts and posts to go on-air.

  1. Local trivia games are big:  Games that listeners can play along with are scoring high TSL in Nielsen. Depending on your geographical market makeup, it could be “Battle of the Hoods”, “Eastside vs. Westside”, “Oregon vs. Washington”, etc.
     
  2. 24/7 call-in line:  Promote a voicemail number listeners can call anytime about any topic. You’ll get many entertaining and interesting callers to playback on your show.
     
  3. Help Covid struggling families and businesses : Star 101.5 has helped many Seattle area businesses with their  Operation Gift Card  promotion. Now their  Computers for Kids  promotion is helping families without computers in this virtual school year.

Share this article

Recent Posts

By Randy Lane • September 29, 2026
When I start coaching a show, talents often say:“Nobody calls anymore.” Or: “Listeners in this market don’t call radio shows.” My response is, “That’s interesting, because several of our shows get more calls than they need.” The difference isn’t necessarily the market. It’s often how the show invites people into the conversation.  Airing callers and text […]
By Randy Lane • September 21, 2026
Jerry Seinfeld wrote every episode of Seinfeld longhand, on a yellow legal pad, with a blue Bic pen. He still writes that way. He’s said the flashing cursor on a screen makes him anxious, like it’s asking, “So, whaddaya got?” Why Start With Pen and Paper?Writing by hand slows you down just enough for ideas to […]
By Randy Lane • September 15, 2026
In the era of loud, fast-talking announcer DJs, my radio mentor, Todd Wallace, asked my fellow DJs and me, “Would you talk to your neighbor over the back fence like a pukey DJ or just in natural conversation?” Of course we all said we’d talk to them conversationally. Todd concluded, “Talk to listeners on air like […]
Show More