And here’s the kicker

In my previous life as a breakfast radio newsreader, I mined for gold.

Each morning, my newsroom colleagues and I would trawl the daily papers and wires for those juicy little nuggets otherwise known as ‘kickers.’

In radio news, a kicker is typically a cute or quirky story which is run just before sport. It might be a human-interest piece. It could be weird, wacky or plain ridiculous.

It could be all of the above.

If it were TikTok or Instagram, it would be a cat video.

The objective is to provide the listener with some light relief from the ‘hard news’ stories of the day and introduce sport on a positive note.

And trust me, the kicker is appreciated just as much by the sports presenter as it is the listener. Just ask them how hard it is to follow news of a human tragedy with the latest live scores from the Masters.

But in this world of instant gratification where we can scroll up whatever we want, whenever we want it … has the kicker has lost its relevance in the modern-day radio news bulletin?

The answer to that is a resounding NO.

I like to think of the kicker as the cockroach of the news bulletin. It can survive nuclear holocausts, automation, networking … even AI.

Whether it’s competitive eater Joey Chestnut wolfing down 70 hotdogs in ten minutes or the woman breaking land speed records on a Penny Farthing bike, a well-crafted kicker can be the story that sets your bulletin apart from the rest and makes it truly memorable.

It could also be the difference between your audience dialling up another cat video or sticking around to see what’s next.

If you have a great piece of audio to run with your kicker, then you’re laughing … and hopefully, so is your audience.

Kickers can be a particularly effective when you have separate people reading news and sport and the reaction is spontaneous, not contrived.

This has the capacity to engage the whole on-air team.

He ate HOW MANY hotdogs??

But the best bit, from this writer’s point of view? Kickers give the newsreader an opportunity to let their own personality shine through.

I admit I used to be a shocker for losing the plot and giggling mid-read.

Inappropriate? No. Human? Yes.

Show me an AI robot that can do that.

This article is brought to you by Radio Release