A Programming Lesson from an Unlikely Source

This is not an article about politics, or a political endorsement of any kind.  

Have you heard about Trump Country 93.7? (listen here, if you dare: 93.7 Trump Country)

It’s a new station launched in January in Ft. Myers, FL. - which apparently voted 64% for Trump in the last election. Their slogan is “Making Country Great Again”. The station is promoting features like The Cancel Bowl where listeners call to request things be “cancelled” for a chance to “win $5000 to buy whatever will annoy your liberal cousin the most”, and a cruise (on a “big, beautiful cruise ship” none the less). The station is filled with AI generated Trump VO’s and images, and plenty of cheeky references.

Right or wrong, the community that Trump Country 93.7 serves are proud of the role they played in Trump’s re-election in 2024. Indicators point to a lot of buzz and added listening to the station in the community.

Between you and me, I’m not sure how long the station will last. Currently, Trump Country 93.7 doesn’t have personalities, and musically, it is an average bro-country station… nothing special. The AI imaging is pretty fun and is the thing that I found myself listening for. (although, is it even legal?)

But - at least for the moment - Trump Country 93.7 has taken the collective energy of a community and capitalized on it for their own benefit. What can we learn from this?

There are moments taking place in all of our communities that everyone is talking about - moments in time that your station can go ALL IN on and ride the wave of excitement for a couple of days or weeks.  

For example, if your station goes all Christmas throughout the holidays, then you’re already doing this – when everyone is “in the holiday spirit” you’re right there with them.

Christmas aside, what other moments are happening in your community that you can capitalize on?

Here’s a few thoughts to get your mind going:  

High school / College sports: Depending on your location, high school and/or college football is a way of life. Can you engineer a local sports team “takeover” of the station for a few days or a week leading up to a huge rivalry game? One station I know encourages their listeners to watch the game on TV but turn the sound down and “listen” to the station’s morning show do the play-by-play. It’s pretty fun, because they’re definitely hometown fans first, and not sports announcers!

Professional Sports: If you’ve got a pro team in your city, can you do something to be a part of the excitement leading up to the first game of the season, or as they head into the playoffs, etc.? (you’ve got to be careful about licensing, copyrights, and name use – pro franchises come after people for unauthorized use of their name/logo) But, what CAN you do to be all in on showing your support when all your listeners are too?

Back-to-School:  For a format that caters so much to families, we could be doing more to “own” the Back-to-School season. Backpack drives are wonderful, but what about things like tongue-in-cheek “traffic reports” for car lines, school “news casts”, and station-sponsored coffee meetups for moms after drop-off?  

A Major Artist Release or Music Festival: Back in 2023, WTDY in Philadelphia flipped format to 96.5 TAY for a few days in advance of a Taylor Swift record drop. What could you do with a weekend to promote an upcoming music festival, big concert, or new record drop that your whole audience is anticipating?

A Big Community Festival: If your town hosts a big “Fall Colors Festival” or “Pioneer Days” or something similar that the whole community turns out for… what can you do to “join the parade”? Think bigger than just broadcasting live and inviting attendees to spin the prize wheel.

Gather some staff together and spend 60 minutes this week talking about stuff happening in your community that your tribe already cares about and brainstorm some ways to “ride the wave” of that public excitement to benefit your station. Ask the question, “if we were going to temporarily flip the format of the station in response to this special event, what would we do or create, and what would it sound like?”

In order for us to stay “top of mind” among our listeners, as well as attract new listeners, we’re going to need to make bigger waves in our programming and promotions. Getting noticed takes more effort and risk now than it ever did before. Capitalizing on what is already a big deal in your community and among your tribe mitigates some of that risk.

Want help brainstorming this? DM me anytime.