A question I get asked quite a bit is, “What’s the best way to run the show?”
And honestly, my default answer is always… whatever works best for your station.
But yeah, I know that’s not super helpful.
So here’s what I’ve found works really well.
I run the whatsaJosh Broadcast across three different formats: oldies, country, and 90s/2000s pop, and for all three, one break per quarter hour sounds GREAT. It spreads the content out naturally and keeps everything moving without feeling forced.
On the technical side, I use NextKast for all my stations, and one feature I’ve really leaned into is letting tracks “walk up” the song intros and stop at the intro marker. That alone gives you a tight, live sound and helps the voice tracks blend seamlessly with the music.
When I’m recording, I push my levels as high as possible without clipping. Even then, depending on the song, you may still want to use a ducking feature in your automation to bring the intro down slightly. Most of my music sits around -3 dB, which works well overall but bigger intros (like “Use Somebody” or “I Will Wait”) usually need just a little help.
As far as production goes, I don’t use beds on my country station but I love them on my 90s/2000s station. I keep them low in the mix and set them up inside NextKast, and they really help tie everything together. I was skeptical at first, but they sound great when used right.
One thing I don’t do is bake beds into the tracks themselves. That gives affiliates maximum flexibility to customize the sound for their station. And honestly, using your automation’s tools like this helps the show feel a lot less “canned.”
Another personal preference, I’ve never been a fan of long-form breaks leading into stopsets. So on my stations, all four tracks typically play between songs. That said, the beauty of this show is its flexibility. If you want to roll one of those breaks into a stopset, you absolutely can.
At the end of the day, these are just some of the tips and tricks I’ve picked up over the years. The goal is simple: make the show sound live, current, and connected.
If you ever have questions or want feedback on how you’re running things, feel free to reach out.
And keep an eye out… the new Saturday night show is coming soon.