Show prep: breaking through the clutter
In today's world of information overload, on-air talent has to be better than ever to entertain, inform and keep their audiences tuned in. Prep services cover the big picture, the world really, allowing the stations' personalities to focus on their local market, which they can do uniquely. Immediacy is more important than ever and the Internet has become the delivery tool of choice, replacing faxes, reel to reel, CDs and satellite for the most part. There have always been dozens of show prep providers in the US-many of which have a few set clients they work tirelessly for. While that's still the case, some of the larger providers have been picked up by the syndicators and are now big business.
In many cases, a prep service is considered added value for network affiliation. Good luck finding a staff who will work for peanuts, let alone allowing a budget to send reporters off to cover special events. Some offer their service for barter, some for cash. Whatever the case, we asked a few of them about the challenges, improvements and successes show prep has brought to the table.
Way beyond "give them something to talk about"
How have prep services changed to meet the needs of radio? What used to be faxes with jokes and interesting tidbits of information on artists and news of the day is now a compendium of audio clips, comedy bits and searchable liners, tailored to format.
Says United Stations' Launch Radio Networks Director of Programming Dia Stein: "In the big picture, we live in an age of information overload. Not even Superman could read every newspaper and magazine, log on to every Internet site, watch every TV show, catch every movie and listen to every CD that's released in a day. But, we turn on the radio and expect whoever is on the air to be on top of it all-which is impossible. I know there is a school of thought that says, "More is more." But at Launch, we believe in presenting stations with an efficient toolbox full of the most pertinent, topical, latest information, devoid of filler. All of our stories are written with the complete story in the first graph, with additional bullet points for the air talent to use if they so desire."
Adds Dr. Dave Kolin, EVP/United Stations, in charge of comedy: "The race for information on demand is a challenge that Launch meets every day in tailoring its prep to the individual needs of our client stations. Morning shows need an edge to stay fresh and sharp. It is no longer a luxury-it is a necessity. They get a staff of 50 people dedicated to their show each morning with Launch Prep. Our show prep services are custom designed to meet the specific needs and wants of our clients--no matter what the format or type of request comes in. We go out and get it."
Launch also provides soundbites, which are tracked down to go along with breaking stories. "It's another area I'm very sensitive to, because I cannot believe how some services continue to hoodwink their affiliates when they promise soundbites," Stein contends. "For example, I recently heard, "Ozzfest kicks off in two weeks with headliners... Meanwhile, Ozzy tells (insert other prep service name here) he loves peanut butter and jelly sandwiches." Yeesh."
Launch, which was formerly Sony Music's SW Networks, provides music news, entertainment news and show prep features for 11 formats. Content for radio websites is also available. Launch maintains news bureaus in New York, Los Angeles and Nashville, to gather and produce genre-specific content daily.
"Today's fast-paced world requires immediate response and reaction to our nation of radio listeners," explains Amy Austin, Senior Director Prep Operations, Premiere Radio Networks. "It's not the free-form AOR world of the 1970s. Listeners want instant gratification, the latest top news, the hottest gossip, quirkiest joke, most interesting fact, statistic or tidbit that they can share around the water cooler. Show prep provides the radio station with their own legion of prep writers providing them daily, topical information with a few clicks of their computer mouse."
"The development of format specific services is probably the biggest change," says ABC Radio Networks SVP/Affiliate Relations & Business Administration John Rosso about his E-Prep service. "Audio, audio, and more audio. Stations rely on ABC ePrep to provide them with access to relevant audio clips...in an easy to audition, select, and broadcast format. We now offer custom tailored services for Rock, AC, CHR, HOT AC, Country, and Talk stations. In addition, as part of the ePrep service we offer live custom reports from ABC talent during and after major events."
E-prep offers audio, music news, entertainment news and gossip, plus birthdays, music history, tour schedules, pre-produced quick drops and comedy. Because of its relationships with ABC-TV, the service also offers "Live From The Good Morning America Green Room," a one-minute produced feature based on exclusive interviews conducted at GMA's Green Room, "Soap Up With ABC Daytime" and exclusive interview clips from 20/20 and Primetime.
"First, the web itself became a rich source of material for personalities. Due to its immediacy, prep services could no longer live on a single story for a week; our services had to become fresher and more immediate themselves," explains Kirk Stirland, President X Radio Networks, who refers to his company's XPrep service. "When Marlon Brando died just as were heading out the door for the Fourth of July weekend, we were able to post a terrific package of text, audio and news, hours after his death was confirmed. The web also made a world of stuff available, but created yet another source to consider, and sometimes, less is more. Therefore, a valuable service we provided is a filter, based on our strategic positioning, providing a distilled product for the personalities to use, to remove the burden of surfing a hundred sites or reading ten newspapers at 5:00 am. Maybe we helped them get a little more rest! But most likely, we gave them more time to develop their own ideas and local stories."
XPrep takes a "market basket" approach with prep, with custom affiliations designed for each station depending on its needs. "Our XPrep service is designed for contemporary music stations, and we have two companion services, XPrep Gold and Country Kickers that include universal stories as well as format-specific music and lifestyle news. Our Urban Fun Factory is focused right at the Urban format, for both mainstream Urban and Urban AC. Our line-up is complete, with the highly-regarded Ross Brittain Report, written and edited by a working pro and new morning man at WOGL-FM/Philadelphia," adds Stirland.
Amy Austin, Senior Director Prep Operations, Premiere Radio Networks, tells RBR some of their most popular elements are overnight television drops, artist and celebrity interviews, up-to-the-minute music news, a simple-to-operate advanced search engine and daily delivery of topical bits and information: "Premiere Radio Networks has 20 prep services, 19 domestic and one international. Our MJI services concentrate on music news and information and provide peerless material covering various formats. Premiere's prep services are foremost in covering a wide variety of human interest prep. Our team of writers and producers create the prep on a daily basis and deliver topical material overnight."
Westwood One offers entertainment and music news prep services that include artist facts, one-on-one interviews, tour dates, audio feeds, new music previews and breaking news. Products include The MTV Morning Facts, The VH1 Morning Prep, CMT Radio, BET prep, The E! Radio Network, The CBS Morning Resource, Westwood One Prep, Entertainment Newsfeed and Westwood One One-On-One.
More in Thursday's RBR Daily Epaper.
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