"Showprep Secrets" by Corey Deitz ©2003. May not be reprinted or distributed in any form without written permission from the author, subject to penalties under International Copyright Law

There's no better way to learn how to do something better than by picking the brain of somebody who's been doing it long enough to get it right. I've been in commercial radio for 25 years with gigs in market like Chicago, St. Louis, Cleveland, Toledo, Columbus, Richmond, Virginia Beach and Little Rock. In that time, I've learned a lot about putting a radio show together. Some of the things I stumbled on by blind luck. Some techniques I arrived at after achieving dazzling successes! Still others became part of my prep-psyche after contemplating disappointing failures.

I'm going to tell you everything I know about preparing a radio show. Some of it you may know already and my words will simply serve as reminders for knowledge and habits you may already be accustomed to. On the other hand, I'm sure a lot of what I will pass along will probably be new ways of thinking for you. Hopefully, I will present some new paradigms for you to consider. In the end, I am confident you will develop skills and processes that will help you do a better radio show.

In addition, I have included over 120 website links. Some of these point to useful utilities, software and other tools.

Thank you for visiting. I hope you find it as interesting to read as I did enjoyable to write. If it helps you, please recommend it to a friend.

- Corey Deitz
Originally completed, January 8, 2003
Placed online October 24, 2003

Chapter 1 - Who Are You Prepping For?

Splattering

Today, radio is so divided up into demographic splinters, there is probably no on-air job where the air-personality doesn't have to think of a very specific audience when putting together a radio show. Obviously, format dictates which direction you should go in preparing your shift. But, sometimes knowing your format doesn't necessarily dictate your demographic, or at least what demo you should be aiming at.

I have worked at stations where the Program Director thought we were targeting one demo and the General Sales Manager had a much wider impression. Who's right? That can be a problem. Generally, your PD wants to dominate his piece of the pie, as he sees it, in very specific modules: 18-34 males, 25-54 females, etc. On the other hand, your GSM would like to have not only what the PD wants, but wouldn't mind some extra listeners in overlapping areas. The more listeners in general, the more angles your sales department can play in garnering ad dollars.

Your Program Director is your boss BUT the General Sales Manager can be your friend, especially when you can pull in numbers that make money for him in more ways than expected. In any business, a “good earner” is a valued employee. If your numbers not only fit into the Program Director's vision but accentuate possibilities for the sales department, you are a “good earner” and you will be defended in your actions and worth.

That's a good place to be.

So, how do you please everyone? It can be done. I call it “Splattering”. Let me give you an example. When I first came to one station I worked at, our mission was to create a Modern Rock station aimed at men, 18-34. That was the original vision and that's who we went after on our morning show. We focused on those men for the first several years, building our base with consistency. It worked.

We knew these men wanted to hear their music, so we made sure to play at least 6 songs each hour. We also were very careful with our content, making sure it was totally male. After a couple of year of building and success, my partner and I felt we had “hooked” our males into a pretty admirable allegiance to the show. At that point, we very carefully and slowly backed away from so much music and eventually cut back to three songs. This allowed us to splatter our demo and pull in some 25-54 males who enjoyed our talk but not the music. The original demo didn't mind because they now felt we were “their guys”.

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