I am not a hockey fan. I oversaw radio stations in New York for almost 30 years and saw the Yankees, Mets, Knicks, and Nets live and in person — but never the Rangers, Devils, or Islanders. Maybe it was the ice thing. I prefer it with a little vodka. But last Sunday, I was watching the epic contest between Canada and the USA on the Olympic rink. And, according to what I read in Barrett Media, I was part of a 26-million-person audience in that final overtime period. That number is particularly outstanding since it all happened before 8 a.m. on the West Coast.
Monday morning, I got up and did my usual — listening to morning shows all over the country. I heard very few mentions of this amazing win just 24 hours earlier. It shocked me for several reasons.
The morning after the Golden Globes, many shows talked about the movies that nobody saw getting awards. The Golden Globes broadcast had about one-third of the viewing audience of the Olympic hockey game. The Grammy audience was also down again this year. Under 14 million tuned in for the prime-time broadcast.
And yes, I found lots of Grammy audio on morning shows the day after. On some shows, there was way too much talking about songs their station would never play.
One morning show (targeting women) told me they didn’t make the hockey win a focus because women don’t care about sports. That, to me, was like saying male-targeted news radio shouldn’t have mentioned the Nancy Guthrie story because men don’t care about kidnappings. And how about the women’s Olympic hockey team, who also beat Canada and won gold? I dare you to tell me that women didn’t care about that victory.
Jack Hughes became the most famous Jack in America when he scored that winning goal. Smart pop music morning shows may have found the connection between him and Tate McRae. They were seen having dinner last year, and she even attended a New Jersey Devils game. What makes this potential romance great radio fodder is the fact that she is CANADIAN — and he scored the winning goal for AMERICA. Talk about drama.
Jack also lost some teeth in that match. There’s an entirely new angle on content for a fun show. Is there a dentist in the house?
But the bottom line here is even bigger than Jack Hughes. This was a story of adversity, much like the Miracle on Ice in Lake Placid 46 years earlier. The undermatched, underdog American team had far fewer shots on goal during the game but came on strong and won in the overtime period. David and Goliath. The unlikely heroes on a Sunday morning to end the Olympics.
This was human emotion at its finest. President Trump tapped into this immediately, and it became the biggest moment in his State of the Union address. Even Saturday Night Live featured players from both the men’s and women’s hockey teams to huge cheers.
The Monday morning after the hockey win, a major snowstorm did hit the Northeast. Another show mentioned that the snow was a much bigger event than the Olympics. Agreed. But everything was closed, and most people were going nowhere — so why not relive the victory and make people feel something good on a day the weather sucked?
I’ve always believed one of the best ways to grab an audience is to touch an emotion. In a world where the bad news comes fast and furious, this was the ultimate feel-good news story. This story of Olympic gold was audience gold. The path to success is always to make your audience FEEL something. NEVER miss these moments.
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