Tag: Standard Time

By Holland Cooke
Consultant

Unless you live in Hawaii or most of Arizona (except the Navajo Nation) or American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, or the U.S. Virgin Islands, we “Fall-back” to Standard Time at 2:00 am Sunday morning… when, suddenly, it’s 1:00 am again.

This past July, the House passed proposal 308–117 which would make Daylight Saving (NOT “Savings”) Time permanent – which President Trump favors – and the Senate recessed without acting on it.

• Fun Fact: States can choose permanent Standard Time under federal law, but they cannot independently adopt permanent Daylight Time.
• Fun Fact: We already did that, under President Woodrow Wilson during World War I. President Franklin Roosevelt revived it as year-round “War Time” during World War II.
• Not-So-Fun Fact: During the 1973 oil crisis, Congress passed the Emergency Daylight Saving Time Energy Conservation Act, signed by President Richard Nixon, placing the USA on year-round Daylight Time in January 1974. Public backlash – especially over school kids at the bus stop in darkness – led Congress to restore Standard Time less than 10 months later.

Back to the future: It’s uncanny how just this one-hour shift impacts listeners’ lives. And if your dog eats at 5:00 pm, just TRY telling him it’s only 4:00 pm. Among humans, this change is a big topic of conversation. So, plan now to empathize with their emotional and practical adjustments.

• Bump with or play songs related to time (i.e., Cher’s “If I Could Turn Back Time”).
• Explain the history of DST. Your show prep is above.
• Ask listeners’ opinions on DST. Do they love it or hate it? You’ll hear both.
• “What’s the first thing you’ll miss doing after work when it gets dark earlier?” (This invites stories beyond the permanent DST debate.) Also: “How will you spend your extra hour?”
• Give away nostalgic items (like retro vinyl records or vintage tech).
• Sleep tips from health professionals and mental health experts.
• Coffee or breakfast gift card giveaways.
• Pertinent commercial copy hooks, i.e., “It’s time for a new ___!”

When listeners get an extra hour, give them a reason to spend it with you.

Holland Cooke (HollandCooke.com) is a consultant working the intersection of broadcasting and the Internet. Follow HC on Twitter @HollandCooke and connect on LinkedIn