What’s in a (Show) Name?

Jeff McHugh • August 12, 2024

Listeners form an emotional bond with on-air hosts, and when a show is successful, it feels much the same as an in-person connection.  An early step in deep relationships is learning a name. Let’s consider what you name your show.

After years of research studies, ratings successes and failures, and listener panels, we have seen what works well when it comes to naming a new radio or podcast show.

  1. Name the show after the hosts . This strategy is most consistently successful based on the following suggestions on show names. Many more people will say, “I watched Jimmy Fallon” than “I saw it on  NBC’s The Tonight Show.  Think Oprah, Howard Stern, Kelly Clarkson. In  most  cases, that is what most people will call the show.
     
  2. Consider an abbreviated show name when you have many foreground hosts .  The Show  is easier for Rock 103.5 San Diego listeners to remember than “Eddie, Sky, Thor and Emily.”  The Bert Show  is known for a strong cast of characters, each talented enough to host their own show, in addition to Bert.
     
  3. Consider a show name when you have hosts with long names.  It is easier for fans to say  The Breakfast Club  instead of Charlamagne Tha God, DJ Envy and Jess Hilarious.
     
  4. Make your show name one-of-a-kind.  There is only one Shoboy on planet Earth (that we know of), and he hosts the  Shoboy Show. Ditto for  Ebro in the Morning  at Hot 97 New York. Alex Cooper hosts one of the world’s most popular podcasts, but most listeners remember the name of her show,  Call Her Daddy. A great golfing podcast hosted by Steve Goforth is called  Goforth and Golf.  More generic names like Morning Zoo, Morning Mess, Playhouse, Showgram, etc., do not stick and won’t highlight the host’s names. Few people seem to refer to  The Joe Rogan Experience  by that name.
     
  5. Big heritage shows can consider an acronym.  Think of how viewers refer to  Saturday Night Live  as SNL. In Baltimore, 98 Rock listeners abbreviate  Justin Scott and Spiegel  to  JSS , and in West Palm Beach, WRMF’s Kevin, Virginia,  and Jason  are known as The KVJ Show.
     
  6. Consider personas instead of names.  The Spanish language show  El Bueno, La Mala , and  El Feo  (The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly) are apt character descriptors for Raul Molinar, Sylvia del Valle, and Andres Maldonado.
     
  7. Consider name conflicts.  Your new show might begin in one market on one station today, but what about the future? Do an online search for the name you are considering for your show. Will there be listener confusion as your show expands into syndication, podcasts, streaming audio, and becomes a social media player? Think of what URL might go with your name, see if it is available, and grab it now.

Photo by  Samuel Regan-Asante  on  Unsplash

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