New Ways To Be Local

Last fall we wrote about the rising appeal of local content. The Jacobs Media Tech Survey revealed that local content’s appeal was increasing before COVID and continues to grow in 2021.

Traditional tactics like identifying caller locations and trivia games like “Battle of the Burbs” and “Oregon vs. Washington” remain popular. But what are some new ways shows are connecting locally?

KDWB Minneapolis’ Dave Ryan Show does a feature called “Loon Riddle” named after a Minnesota bird.

“Why Should We Call You Monday” is an episodic bit set up on Friday and paid off on Monday. Localize a feature like this with names such as “Colorado Check-In” or “Wisconsin Weekend.”

If you’re doing the “Secret Sound” contest, tie into your city or state with names like the “Seattle Secret Sound” or the “South Carolina Secret Sound.” The contest produced intro or one of the contest sounds could be localized with a familiar sound like a local bridge alarm sound or the sound of a public transportation announcement.

Your station ID could be localized with a familiar sound or could include a snippet of a local sports team theme song.

Tie a feature into local public transportation like Chicago’s “L-Train Trivia” or Atlanta’s “Smarta Marta.”

When Shoboy was at AMP LA, he did "The LA Freeway Battle," a trivia contest between two commuters on different freeways.

Trending segments could be named after your city or state such as Trending In Tulsa or Texas. Be sure to select stories that appeal to your target audience so the local connection makes sense.

It is more important to be entertaining than local, but it is powerful to be entertaining and local.