Lessons from hit TV show running for 23 years

Look who’s 3-0 in their fantasy league🙋‍♂️. Hope you’re as brilliant and lucky as me.

To close out this week, I’m dropping some wisdom that comes via two old-school reporters who became an unlikely TV success story. 

These wise droppings will help you create content even when your brain has dried up for ideas. Five extra lessons from this hit show are included, too.

Then, we’ll clock out with This Week’s Marketing Wrap-Up.

Easy Content Creation

When you’re out of content ideas or up against a deadline or need to increase your creative output — just ASK questions.

That’s all Pardon the Interruption (PTI) does. 

And this two-host argument-style show has been a hit on ESPN since 2001 (23 years).

Five days a week, month after month, these two guys keep viewers watching simply by tossing out questions they debate with each other. 

Yeah, Wilbon and Kornheiser have solid or at least deeply-informed sports takes. They’ve been professional sports junkies way before they joined ESPN. 

But I could find 16 guys/gals with smart sports takes by hitting up a few barber shops and bars down the road in Athens. With PTI…

It’s All About Good Questions

Now, you could argue that eventually you might run out of great questions about stuff that matters to your audience.

No chance. 

PTI rolls right along even when nothing much is going on in sports - aka football’s offseason. No offense to other sports - football ratings smash everything else.

How does PTI keep viewer interest in slow seasons?

Hypotheticals

If nothing is hot in the sports world, they create heat with hypothetical questions about what could happen next week, next month, next season. 

You can wring a lotta content out of:

• What if?

• Why can’t?

• Who’s to blame?

• Should they fire him?

• Can she come back?

• Is it time to retire?

• Will this make him the GOAT?

• Does Tyreek Hill have brain damage?

• Will Saban dethrone Satan one day?

See how easy that is? And, I’m pretty hungover and distracted by a Black Lab aggravating me about a dog treat.

A prime example on PTI last week (I caught only due to having dinner at a bar):

“What will a 50 - 50 season mean for Shohei Ohtani?”

This question was about a future event that might not have happened for another week or two. 

But here the two old fellas were, going back and forth like it might happen any second! And they acted like the question was as important as protecting our precious democracy from… The Lobbyists (too late)…

Which is another way to use questions to create content — the past. 

GOAT discussions can carry an entire episode of PTI.

But past glory can provide tons of content for you too - no matter your niche. Just reach back in time to use all-time greats in your industry and highlight why they were so good, or…

Why they were overrated. If you can’t figure out how to take either side of a topic like that, I suggest you watch a few episodes of PTI or the old pretend arguments between Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless.

To be clear, I don’t suggest saying things or writing things you don’t believe. It’s hard to put any oomph behind content you don’t believe in. So, make an effort to see things from numerous angles so you can take a solid position.

Nothing wrong with setting up a strawman or steelman argument. It can make content ideas flow easier. 

The main point though…

Google’s full of questions. So is Reddit. Quora too. 

Scan these sites, and you’ll never worry about running low on content ideas again. BTW, PTI also keeps their audience watching with little hacks like:

• List of upcoming topics

• Countdown timer on each topic

• Sound effects alert viewers a new topic’s starting

• Themed game segments

• Humor

⭐Crucial note — it helps that PTI’s two hosts are legit friends (unlike Mike & Mike - who loathed each other and refused to talk with each other off air).

Maybe marketers need to find more marketer friends IRL to chat with? That could lead to fun debates that lead to more (and better) content ideas for us all.

Ok, time for…

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Inbox Hacking is read by dominating marketers like you and those at Nebraska University Sports and Allstate. Enjoy your weekend, and please share our newsletter with a buddy.

Shane McLendon, Copy Kingpin 

Bonus tip: Beware blinders. As smart as Jimmy Donaldson (MrBeast) is, he can’t imagine the possibility of losing access to a platform he doesn’t own (YouTube). It wouldn’t hurt him now, but upcoming YT stars should avoid tossing their eggs in ONE basket.