On Facebook Tuesday night, Julie Gates from “The Gene & Julie Show” wrote a devastatingly sad post about her husband and radio partner, Gene:
“The Gene & Julie Show” was a staple on AC stations in some of the country’s biggest markets for years and years. It seemed like everybody knew about this show, frequently covered in the radio trades. They had a great sense for pop culture and the stories that get people talking. But as a Rock guy, our paths never crossed.
That is, until I met Gene and Julie Gates at a Morning Show Boot Camp many years ago. And we immediately connected. At that conference, I watched Gene stand up in front of hundreds of Boot Camp attendees and tell a great story about a promotional opportunity that presented itself when they worked in Dallas/Ft. Worth while doing mornings at the legendary KVIL.
The pair had been asked to speak at a women’s lunch in the area. In those days, shows like this were more interested in making the local 6pm TV newscast, or the ultimate goal, getting a shoutout on “Oprah.” But as Gene explained, what seemed like just another ordinary speaking gig turned into a massive opportunity for the show. For starters, this local women’s group was actually a huge network throughout the Metroplex – and they had a strong email database and promotional machine.
Bottom line? Gene and Julie realized the endorsement and promotion they received as a result of this opportunity to speak at a lunch was infinitely more valuable to their brand than a :20 clip on the TV news where they probably would be identified as “a local morning show.”
There were great lessons here about the power of word-of-mouth, the reach of email databases, and the value of getting a great recommendation from trusted members of their community. I let Gene and Julie know just how impressed I was with this important story. We continued to stay in touch, and I related Gene’s story often in my own presentations, giving the show kudos for connecting these important dots.
In 2016, we started a “Guest List” feature on this blog where I invited talented and interesting people to create a 5-item list. Early on, I reached out to Gene and Julie who immediately jumped at the opportunity to write the post you see below: “5 Morning Show Bits That Always Work.” Who else but Gene and Julie Gates to write this insightful post? It provides insight into the way Gene’s promotional, marketing, and morning show instinct worked.
Gene’s passing gives us all reason to pause and remember that life and the people close to us are fragile; that the pressures we endure and put on ourselves can easily get overwhelming, and that we simply don’t always see signs of trouble before it’s too late. Interestingly, consultant Angela Perelli (pictured) moderated a panel at Gene’s favorite conference last week, Morning Show Boot Camp, that addressed the struggles us humans go through as we cope with the never-ending demands of a high-pressure life. “Managing Your Mental Well-Being” got great reviews from the Boot Camp crowd, and for good reason: everybody hurts and everyone can relate.
Angela knew Gene, and she offered this observation about this session:
“The major theme in the feedback from our panel at Boot Camp was ‘I felt seen…’ Finally someone had the courage to rip off the band-aid and show their pain, pain that so many of us are walking around with. And for radio people who wake up at 3am to uplift their communities, regardless of their own personal struggles, the toll on their wellbeing is even greater. The stories I personally heard after the session were devastating. This is not the first suicide in our radio community this year. We need to do better.”
Hearing the news of Gene’s suicide only makes this session more resonant for all of us in this business. We need to do a better job of recognizing depression, and urging our friends and colleagues to seek help. Julie’s post delivers that message better than I can.
Our thoughts are with the Gates family. We send them healing vibes and let’s vow to look out for those we love and care about. And remember, everybody hurts. – FJ
Gene & Julie: 5 Morning Show Bits That Always Work
February 2017
Dynamic married duo Gene & Julie Gates host the award-winning Gene & Julie Show which has aired in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, Atlanta and Raleigh. They’ve been featured on “American Idol,” HuffPost Live, CNN, Country Music Television, ABC’s “Nightline,” NBC Nightly News, Oprah Winfrey and in The Wall Street Journal and New York Times.
As the parents of a young daughter, Gene & Julie have a soft spot in their hearts for kids: they’ve helped raise over $4.5 million for children’s hospitals and have been honored with two Wishmaker Awards from the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Last year, the couple was recognized with the “Large Market Personality of the Year” Marconi Award from the National Association of Broadcasters.
Gene and Julie have always had the knack of identifying those can’t-miss bits, but not every one works to perfection. Great bits continue to drive personality radio – especially the AC, Hot AC, and CHR formats – as evidenced by the always compelling “Battle of the Bits” which takes place each year at Don Anthony’s Morning Show Boot Camp.
Most recently at WRAL (Raleigh), Gene & Julie are searching for their next home. They love radio, and are seeking a permanent home to lay down roots for their family, win big for a great media brand, and become fixtures in a new community.
We wish them well in their quest, and thank them for writing today’s “Guest List.” – FJ
We wish we could say we always have great shows, but we’ve done bits that just plain sucked. Some epic fails. Today we’re grateful for those failures because from them, we learned that when a bit succeeds it passes these three simple test questions:
- Is it MEMORABLE? Will people remember it… or will it be forgotten as soon as the next shiny object comes along?
- Is it CONTAGIOUS? Do fans HAVE to share it with their friends?
Is it ADDICTING? Do fans have to come back for more? Do they set an appointment to return tomorrow?
Now, all our bits are held to that litmus test. And using this easy formula, here are 5 bits that created big buzz, fun images and multiple tune-ins for The Gene & Julie Show.
1. Long Lost Love
Do you ever wonder what happened to that guy you used to date? Is he a CEO or living in his mama’s basement? A private investigator joins us for our Long Lost Love segment—he finds out what your ex is up to without him knowing you had him checked out.
This benchmark has two-day serial content (Day one: the listener tells her story. Day two: the private investigator comes back with the results). This has great relationship drama as it plays upon our voyeuristic tendencies, the “what could have been” fantasies, and our “should I have let him go?” regrets. No one ever said relationships were easy, and most of us wonder what happened to the one that got away.
2. I’d Give My Right Arm for Justin Bieber Tickets
When a star comes to town, the fandom will do anything to see the show, including “giving their right arm.” For a chance to win meet-and-greets, we had five superfans come to the studio on a .Monday to share their celebrity obsession. Then an orthopedic technician put their right arms in a plaster cast. Our contestants had until Friday to see who could get the most celebrity autographs on their cast (as evidence they took selfies of the autographs in progress).
Throughout the week, the contestants gave us updates during the show and we posted their photos on social. On Friday morning, all the contestants came back in the studio, we reviewed the celebrity signatures, listeners voted on who should win, and the winner was crowned.
The bit took on a life of its own because our contestants were running all over town creating buzz for the show by chatting us up to sports stars, coaches, actors, CEOs, clients, musicians and television personalities… plus, they were annoying our competition by telling them how much they love our show while seeking their autographs. It was easy to get TV news, bloggers and fan clubs to cover the bit… plus, our contestants were sharing it with every one of THEIR followers. In the end, we surprised the contestants and gave all of them meet-and-greet passes, so everyone won.
3. Marching Band Wake-Up Call
Parents were complaining about how difficult it was to get their kids out of bed in the morning for school, so we enlisted the help of the North Carolina State University Marching Band for a surprise wake-up call. Live during the show, the band marched through the unsuspecting kid’s bedroom in full uniform with horns and drumlines blaring.
This bit worked on a variety of levels: it was serial content for three days encouraging multiple tune-ins, it produced great audio on location, and it provided funny and shareable video for the station website and social. But most of all, the bit was extraordinarily viral, as the marching band has 325 members and NC State has over 33,000 students who were sharing and retweeting about the bit for days.
4. We’re Paying For Your Entire Christmas and Handing Out Envelopes of Christmas Cash
We tell our listeners we will be handing out envelopes stuffed with Christmas Cash and prizes at a secret location on Monday morning… and in one of those envelopes we’ll be paying for a FAMILY’S ENTIRE CHRISTMAS ($1,000). We let them know we’ll announce the secret location Monday morning at 6 a.m. and that listeners can drive by to get an envelope while supplies last—OR if they want the location texted to them the night before, they can sign-up for the station’s texting platform and we’ll text it to them at 8 p.m. Sunday night.
We’ve done this bit in multiple markets and it always has an enormous response. We do our morning show live from the location and have fun on the air with listeners as they rip open the envelopes to find anything from $20 to concert tickets, Cirque du Soleil passes and a few $1,000 envelopes.
Clients play an important partnership role in this bit, receiving mentions in recorded promos on the station. We also bring recording artists, special guests and local celebrities on location to make it a big holiday show.
Warning: this bit can get really big, really fast… the police might have shown up to try to shut us down because the highway was jammed. News helicopters might have been reporting it. Just sayin.’
5. Big Fat Liar
How good are you at figuring out who’s telling the truth and who’s telling a lie? The four cast members of The Gene & Julie Show share a short revealing personal story; however, one of the stories is a lie. Figure out who the Big Fat Liar is and you win. This game is an opportunity to showcase funny, entertaining stories and help define cast members’ characters. The bit also can be developed into an online quiz on the station website so listeners can connect with the show once they get to work.
If you have any questions about these bits or their implementation– feel free to reach out to us. And may 2017 be your best year yet!
All of us at Jacobs Media send our condolences to Julie, Des, and Gene’s friends, relatives, and colleagues. May their memories be a blessing. – FJ
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CLARK SMIDT says
Personable, local radio does so much for the communities served. Thanks for all the hard work, show prep and continued strength from the people who make it happen.