What To Do When The Show Goes On Vacation

"Something like that?"

PDs and morning shows often ask us how to handle things when their show goes on vacation. Now that most people are back from vacation, you might want to consider how to handle the situation next time. The more time there is for preparation, the better. There are almost as many options as there are morning shows, but here are some good guidelines:

General Rules

* Strive to have everyone on the show take vacation at the same time.

* Only take one week off at a time, with the exception of around the holidays at the end of the year, when listeners are distracted and everyone's schedules are out of whack with their own holiday vacations.

* Moving a player from another daypart disrupts two dayparts. We don't recommend this option unless the station wants to expose a personality to a different audience or try out a new player in the morning slot.

* When you have a two-person team show and one is gone, the show will most likely be an inferior one. Consider either running a "Best of..." show or adding a guest host.

* Play more music than you normally would.

When to do "Best of..." shows:

* When the vacation is only for one week, and everyone is off the show. You'll have solid content and consistency (it's the same show, the same dynamic).

* When the lead host of a multi-player show is gone. This happens because often the lead has more vacation time than the other players. The other players can continue to come in and be on the show for their regular features like Sports or Entertainment reports, minus the interaction. Or, they can sleep in and work during regular office hours and use the time to organize, plan, network, meet with sales, raid the prize closet, etc.

* When considering trying out another player on the morning show, either someone else from the station or from a local TV station, for example. Let them fill in to see how they sound.

* If the show has traffic and/or news, that keeps the topicality of that particular day intact during a week of "Best of..."

* When, in a three-person show, only one person is on vacation, but the other two players don't click. In this case, you will have a live and local show, but they won't enjoy it. Neither will the listeners.

How to produce "Best of..." shows:

* If you do go with a "Best of..." show, keep in mind that you don't have to remind the audience that they're listening to a repeat. The majority of people won't notice. Even we have been fooled by "rerun" shows.

* Compile and edit "Best of..." material all year so that the pre-production is manageable. Cramming when trying to get ready to leave town is no fun, and (shocker) doesn't create the highest quality shows.

* Avoid replaying topical material from six months ago. Jon Stewart handles Daily Show reruns by repeating shows that ran the previous week, since the news is fresh.

* Consider replaying your best material more than once, in different hours, to expose it to more of the audience.

* Edit, edit, edit. Raise the bar, since the shows are prerecorded. Pay extra attention to edit out timely references, like "Hey, did you see the season finale of American Idol last night?"

* Pre-record at least some content setups and/or teases. You don't have to say that it's a "Best of..." show, but quick interactive setups will hook people in, and teases for "A" level content will keep people around or get them to come back.

* Produce hourly tease promos for what's on the next day's show in that same hour. In a perfect world you would do this every day, but it's not every day that you know exactly what is coming up on the next day's show. Take advantage of the advance planning required to go on vacation and tease away!

When not to do a "Best of..." show:

* When you're in a market with a lot of syndicated/voicetracked shows and you're the "live and local" show. There's a case for remaining "live and local" by staying on live.

• Keep the remaining players on live.

• Consider bringing in a guest host -- a local TV celeb, artist or newsmaker.
• Bring in someone from another daypart to round out the show.

* When a show has been in the market for a long time. It could use a little freshness with a guest host.

* When one of the two lead hosts is on vacation and you have a new third player on the show. Have the remaining two on live. Encouraging that new player to step up will likely speed up their development and build their confidence.

* When you can predict there will be a big news or pop culture event that week. You would not want your morning show in New Orleans, for example, to be in "Best of..." shows during Mardi Gras.