Oday Contests

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© 2007 by Dan O’Day

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www.danoday.com/contests



GREAT RADIO PROMOTIONS & CONTESTS 2

by Dan O’Day

HOW YOU CAN LEGALLY

USE THIS BOOK.

GREAT RADIO PROMOTIONS AND CONTESTS is a copyrighted

work.

Please do not skip over the following details.

They are important!

YOU MAY NOT DO THESE:

Digital Reproduction: You may not duplicate or distribute any type of

digital copy of this work to any third party.

For example, it is illegal to e-mail a copy of this e-book to a third party. It

also is illegal to post any portion of this on a website, an Internet newsgroup,

or an Internet-based newsletter. Faxing pages to a third party also would be

illegal.

We have deliberately priced this book low enough for any radio professional

to afford.

Every copy of this e-book is encoded with an identifying “watermark.” In

the event that your digital copy is made available to any third party (as

described herein), the value of our copyright will be damaged. Therefore, we

have enacted a mandatory distribution fee of $500 per incident.

Physical Reproduction: You may not distribute or make available printedcopies of any portion of this document to anyone who does not work for


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by Dan O’Day

your company in the same physical location as you.You also may not reprint

any portion of this document in any type of mass circulated form (for

example, a newsletter, magazine, or journal).

If someone asks for a copy of this book, the only legal and ethical response

would be for you to direct that person to our website

(www.danoday.com/contests), where he or she can order a “legal” copy at

a very low price.

BUT YOU MAY DO THESE...

If you have purchased this e-book, then you do have our permission to print

as many “hard copies” of any and all pages for your own individual use andfor anyone else who works at your company and is employed at the same

physical location (i.e., office) as you.

“Legal” examples:

• Printing the entire book (or portions thereof) and giving the pages to

every member of your promotion team.

• Printing individual pages for staff members to use at promotionmeetings.

“Illegal” examples:

• Providing a copy of all or part of the digital file that contains this

e-book.

• Printing any portion of this book and distributing it to any otherbusiness (or individual employed at another business).


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by Dan O’Day

• Printing any portion of this book and distributing it to another property

(e.g., radio station) owned by your company (or by the company that

owns your company) that is located at a different physical address than

yours. (They need to buy their own copies....And we’ve priced this so

low that they can afford to do just that.)

We also recommend:

• Immediately make a “back-up” copy — a digital file — of this e-

book. We recommend that you keep one copy on your computer at

work and another on your home computer. You’ll want to have that

“back-up” copy in case something happens to your original, because

we won’t be able to replace “lost” copies for you.

And now....

Need a terrific promotional idea?

Just start flipping through these pages.....


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GREAT RADIO PROMOTIONS & CONTESTS 5 by Dan O’Day

PREFACE

You won’t love every idea in this book.

Some are completely wrong for your station. Or your market. Or your own

personal tastes.

Don’t use those.

On the other hand, some of these ideas will be ones you do like.

Use those.

I’m not trying to be flippant here. It’s just that over the years I’ve discovered

that when confronted with a resource like this that is so chocked full of ideas,

there are two kinds of people:

1. Those who make a list of all the ideas they can’t use.

2. Those who make a list of all the ideas that can use.

People in the first group will be disappointed by this book.

After all, each radio station has its own personality. So does each program

director and each promotion director. It’s just silly to think a collection of

hundreds of ideas would fit all of them.

But people in the second group will immediately grasp the value of this book.

Remember your worksheet on Page 320!


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They’ll scribble down the page numbers of the ideas they like, so they can

return to them when they need fresh inspiration.

At each new page they’ll find themselves thinking, “Well, here’s how wewould do this one....”

I hope you’re among the people in the second group.

Chase’s Calendar of Events

Many radio personalities and producers refer to a publication entitled

Chase’s Calendar Of Events.

Chase’s lists various birthdays and anniversaries. It also contains lots of

“events” that didn’t exist until someone submitted them to Chase’s for

inclusion.

A few of those “new holidays” — e.g., “Abet & Aid Punsters Day” — are

referred to in this book. But the references consist only of the name and

either the date or the approximate time of the year the “event” is held.

I have identified all items that I believe originated in Chase’s with a red

asterisk ( * ). A red asterisk before an event name indicates that if you want

more information on the event, you should consult Chase’s.

(To reprint the details here would constitute a violation of their copyright.)



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Websites, E-Mail, Texting....

For simplicity’s sake, many of the contests refer to “entering via postcard.”

Obviously, you can choose an alternative method. But be aware of thechallenges (and potential problems) of allowing online contest entries.

Promotion Jump-Start Worksheet

On Page 320, you’ll find a Promotion Jump-Start Worksheet.

When you’ve selected a promotion or contest, print the page(s) devoted to

it....

And print out your Promotion Jump-Start Worksheet.

Gather one or two contributing creative minds and take no more than five

minutes to fill in the Worksheet.

For example, you might be able to come up with a better title than I’ve given

it. (I chose titles for ease of use by readers of this book. But you’ll choose

promotional titles designed to sell the promotion to your audience.)

Printing your worksheet and then taking just five minutes to fill it in will give

you a running head start on turning the promotional “idea” into a reality.

Note: On Page 321, I’ve filled in a sample version of the Promotion Jump-

Start Worksheet — so you can see how it’s intended to be used.



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* NATIONAL AARDVARK WEEK (March)

Here’s a natural prize:

Give away passes for the entire family (not for just two people) to your local

zoo.

Possible Sponsor(s): Local zoo; nature-themed TV channel.



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* ABET & AID PUNSTERS DAY (November)

Give away prizes to callers who offer puns on-the-air.

Suggested Prizes:

• Comedy albums

• Tickets to a hot movie comedy

• Fun-oriented prizes like free miniature golf, dinner for two at a fast-

food joint, etc.

Suggested Gimmick:

• The “Pun Meter,” which measures the “groan level” of each

contestant’s pun.

Possible Sponsor(s): Comedy club; comedy-themed TV channel.



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ACADEMY AWARDS

Week-long or day-long series of trivia questions centered on previous award

winners.

(You’ll find tons of that kind of trivia online, as well as in various trivia

books.)

Prize: Movie passes or DVDs

Hint: Make it passes for four people, not just two.

Possible Sponsor(s): Video rental store (or online service); video download

service; movie theatre chain.



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ACADEMY AWARDS: OSCAR PREDICTIONS

Contestants pick up forms at sponsor locations.

Forms list nominees for each of the major categories: Best Motion Picture,

Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress,

Best Director, Best Original Screenplay.

Note:

Be sure to have the rules clearly limit entries to one per person. Otherwise,

some sharpie will fill out a few dozen forms, mixing & matching the favorites

until one of the forms has to be correct.

(If it were entirely random, they’d need to fill out thousands of forms. But

usually each category is narrowed down to one or two favorite nominees

...and some years it’s very easy to predict all major winners.)

First Prize for the person who picks all the winners might be a trip to

Hollywood.

Ties: In case more than one correct entry is received, the ultimate winner is

chosen by a drawing.

Possible Sponsor(s): Multiple businesses that want increased in-store traffic.



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ACADEMY AWARDS: OSCAR PREDICTIONS (2)

Have people fill out their selections on a printed form (or online) that lists all

the nominees in the categories listed in the promotion on Page 11.

Entries are filled out and deposited at sponsor locations (be sure to include at

least one big shopping mall to insure many entries).

During the week prior to the awards ceremony, draw one entry per hour,

reading the contestant’s name on-air.

That person automatically wins two movie passes.

If they call within 20 minutes, they also win dinner for two to go with the

movie.

Either way, though, that person’s name goes into a final drawing after the

awards:

For each category, one winner is selected. But to win, the person must have

correctly predicted the Academy Award winner for that category. (Keep

selecting names until each category has a winner.)

Each of your final six winners gets $500. Or, perhaps, a year’s worth of DVD

rentals.



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* ADOPT A CAT MONTH (June)

Work with your locale Humane Society and each hour give a detailed

description of a particular cat available for adoption.

Upload photos of each cat to your website, along with pertinent info (age,

sex, breed, disposition, size).

Listeners can call the jock “to apply for adoption.”

You’ll want to stipulate 18 years or older for callers.

After you’ve gotten a caller who definitely wants the cat, announce the

person’s name on the air.

Make sure each callers winds up getting a pet without charge; your station

should take care of any fees for shots, etc.

Hint: Get a pet supply store to provide a 90-day supply of kitty litter and

cat food for each new cat owner.



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* ADOPT-A-DOG MONTH (October)

See previous page for the basics of this promotion.



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ADVERTISING: FREE BUSINESS WINDOW ADVERTISING

Your Cash Spotters roam the city, looking for storefronts that feature

homemade signs saying, “RADIO X IS MY FAVORITE RADIOSTATION!”

The spotter awards $50 to the person who put up the sign, t-shirts to

everyone else in the store or place of business (i.e., t-shirts to employees and

customers alike).



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ALBUMS: THE GREAT ALBUM RUSH

An oldie but a goodie.

Contestant has ten seconds (or some time limit tied to your frequency) to

name all the titles & artists of all albums currently on your playlist.

The contestant is awarded all the CDs she manages to name within the time

limit.



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AMUSEMENT PARK: TAKE OVER AN AMUSEMENT PARK

Everything is free to the pubic, except for the food and souvenir concessions.

Your station picks up the tab for the day — perhaps by trading a spot

schedule with the park.

Or you can charge a canned good or two for admission — and benefit

charity without discouraging listeners from attending.



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JOHNNY APPLESEED’S BIRTHDAY (September 26)

Prizes: Apple pies are an obvious choice.

So are Apple computer products (including iPods and iTunes downloads).



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APRIL FOOL’S DAY (April 1)

Various stations have pulled stunts like trading airshifts with another station in

town.

This can work regardless of the two formats.

Two head-on competitors exchanging jocks can reveal to the public an

attractive spirit of friendly competition.

On the other hand, completely different formats (rock vs. classical, rap vs.

country) offer irresistible contrasts for your listeners.

A Different Twist:

Feature guest jocks from within your own station, i.e., your non-air staff.

Have salespeople, traffic people, clerical people do their own shows, with the

regular jocks “sitting in” to provide technical expertise and lots of kibbutzing.



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APRIL FOOL’S DAY (2)

Feature a selection of April Fools’ Songs, i.e., novelty hits from the past.

Prior to playing each one, announce that it’s an April Fools’ Song and open

the phone lines, awarding a cream pie (as in a pie in the face) to the first

person to correctly identify the song by title.

(Don’t require them to name the artists, as most novelty songs are recorded

by obscure artists and you want the contest to be winnable by a large

segment of your audience.)



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APRIL FOOL’S DAY (3)

You pick the prize.

The contest requires callers to identify that hour’s April Fool.

Use recorded voice excerpts from famous TV and movie clowns:

Three Stooges, Jerry Lewis, Jim Carrey, Will Ferrell, etc.



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APRIL FOOL’S DAY: WE’RE NOT FOOLIN’!

Each hourly contestant is told a supposed little-known fact, offbeat in nature.

The contestant must decide if “you’re foolin’ ” or “you’re not foolin’.”

Consolation prize if he’s wrong, bigger prize if he’s correct.

Go to your trivia books to find relatively little-known facts, and make up your

own phonies.

Example of a Phony Fact:

“Russian scientists claim to have trained a chipmunk that can recite selected

passages from Shakespeare.”



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ARM WRESTLING CONTEST

Another natural contest to hold in a shopping mall, fairground, etc.

Have your jocks emcee the events, cutting into programming to cover the

finals.

Hint: Have all your contestants sign waivers assuring that they’re in good

health and relieving you of all claims arising from injuries.



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ASTROLOGY: THE ONLY PARTY WHERE NO ONE ASKS,

“WHAT’S YOUR SIGN?”

A monthly party for listeners who are born under that month’s sign.

Each party can feature an astrologer who’ll do personalized horoscopes.

Hint: Use the party to do a little listener research, utilizing a not-too-wordy

questionnaire.



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FIRST ATOMIC EXPLOSION, ANNIVERSARY (July 16, 1945)

This contest requires callers to identify great bombs of history from their

descriptions.

Example:

“ ‘Looks right! Built right! Priced right!’ That’s what the Ford Motor

Company had to say about the new automobile they introduced in late 1957.

But it didn’t sell well at all. In fact, it went on to become the most famous

‘bomb’ in automotive history. Name that bomb.”

The bomb in question: The Edsel.

Other Potential Bombs:

“Heaven’s Gate” (movie)

“Turn-On” (a one-episode flop TV show of the 1960s)

The IBM PCjr (aka “peanut”) — IBM’s hugely unsuccessful attempt to sell a

person computer.



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AUCTION: T-SHIRT AUCTION

KGU gathered up hundreds of radio and record company t-shirts and

auctioned them off, with all proceeds going to an agency that benefits abusedchildren.

If you tie in to a cause as worthy as that, people will be likely to bid quite

high for unusual, distinctive, or especially attractive shirts.

Hint: Gather a supply of super-special items by having recording stars

personally autograph their shirts.



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BAGEL BREAK

The prize given by WCAO is similar to that given by many other stations:

Bagels & lox catered to a business selected weekly from mailed or e-mailedentries.

Other stations might use other breakfast menus.

But what makes this promotion unique is how local businesses enter.

Each company tailors its entry to the type of business it’s in.

The County Clerk’s office might enter with a facsimile summons; a real estate

firm might write its entry on a cardboard cut-out house, etc.

You’ll probably get everyone in the office (that is, in many offices) working

together on the project to come up with the week’s most creative, unusual

entry — thereby reinforcing your station’s presence in the minds of each and

every one of them.

Hint: Winning entries also go on your website, giving an extra incentive for

the businesses to participate (for the additional exposure).



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BALLOONS: DIRECT MAIL BALLOONS

This is your basic direct mailing with individualized serial numbers (see

“Direct Mailing of Sweepstakes Numbers,” Page 96), but the numbers areprinted on a custom designed balloon.

The recipient has to inflate the balloon in order to read the number.

It’s a proven fact in direct mail that getting the recipient actively involved in

the promotion greatly improves your response rate.

And balloons connote fun for almost everyone — not a bad connotation for

your station’s image.



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BAND:

THE RADIO X IMAGINARY LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND

This is a fun one.

Many people imitate one musical instrument or another (usually when no

one’s watching).

A la playing “air guitar.”

Put together your own band or orchestra, auditioning members throughout a

week or two over the telephone.

One day might be devoted to guitarists, another to drummers.

The contestants“play” the instrument by making the noises strictly by using

the resources of their bodies.

When you’ve assembled your musical group, give a public concert.

No prizes, but lots of fun.

(You should, however, award some sort of certificate to the “musicians”

selected.)



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* BARBECUE: NATIONAL BARBECUE MONTH (May)

Prizes:

• Barbecue grills

• Hibachis

• Steaks

• Charcoal

• Chef’s hats

• Barbecue aprons



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BARBECUE:

WIN A STATION BARBECUE IN YOUR OWN BACKYARD

This one is self-explanatory, with the added bonus that each winner gets tokeep all the barbecue equipment (grill, charcoal, aprons, starter fluid, etc.).



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BASEBALL: HOME RUN INNING

WHIO came up with a clever baseball promotion.

Entrants sent in postcards guessing how many hits the Cincinnati Reds would

compile during a specific month.

A good way to involve sports fans.

Suggested Prizes:

FIRST PRIZE: A weekend for two in some faraway city to catch the team

during an important doubleheader — with the station paying for all

transportation (including from hotel to game), hotel meals, ballpark admission,

etc.

SECOND PRIZE: Wide-screen TV to watch the rest of the season with



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BASEBALL: SPRING TRAINING TRIPS

If your area has a major league baseball team, they probably preface their

regular season with spring training in either Florida or Arizona beginning inMarch — when the weather around the rest of the country is lousy.

A good prize would be a vacation to the team’s spring training city, hotel &

food, sightseeing money — and, of course, daily passes to the team’s games.

(This is especially good if your station broadcasts the team’s regular season

games.)



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BASKETBALL: HOW MANY FREE THROWS?

During the morning of your nearest professional (or college) basketball

team’s game, take entries by phone — with each caller guessing how manyfree throws the team will make during the entire game.

Each caller wins a pair of tickets to the next home game.

Anyone guessing the exact amount wins season tickets.

Limit each caller to a number that hasn’t already been chosen by another

contestant, to preclude multiple winners.



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BATHTUB RACE

This can be held on land (pushed by contestants, each tub holding one or

more passengers) or on water (with prizes going to the fastest rowers).



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BATHTUB REGATTA

This was an annual event for one San Francisco radio station, with tens of

thousands of spectators showing up to watch hundreds of bathtubs beingrowed down a waterway.

Awards can be given in the same manner that prizes are awarded to parade

floats.



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* BE KIND TO ANIMALS WEEK (May)

The Prize: A $50 gift certificate at a local pet supply store

To Win: Callers guess which pet will pop out of the Radio X Menagerie —

dog, cat, parakeet, parrot (all prerecorded, of course). If they guess correctly,

they win the gift certificate.

Hint: People love to talk about their pets. Be sure to chat briefly with the

contestants about their own pets.



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BEACH PATROL

Most people like to think of themselves as being at the forefront of

contemporary fashion and taste, which is why many will listen to the radiostation that everyone else seems to be listening to.

If they go the beach and all the radios seem to be tuned to your station,

they’ll start to wonder if maybe they’ve been missing something by not

listening to you.

How do you get those radio dials set to your frequency?

Simply announce that the Radio X Beach Patrol will be at (Local) Beach this

weekend, randomly handing out $20 bills to people who have their radios

tuned to Radio X.



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BEAT THE BOMB

This requires a healthy budget, but it’d make a terrific contest. (Contests with

this name have been done, but I’m not aware of any that have beenstructured just like this one.)

Your caller hears a computerized voice that lists individual dollar amounts,

each separated by five seconds of silence.

The amounts begin at $5 and increase in $5 increments to $50; then in $10

increments to $100; then $25 increments to $250; then $50 increments to

$500; then $100 increments to $1,000.

The five seconds of silence between each amount is the period when the caller

can choose to say “Stop!” and be awarded the amount of money last named.

The catch is that somewhere (except for the $1,000 prize) there is a mine

planted, and if the contestant reaches that mine a bomb will go off after the 5-

second silence and the caller with receive nothing.

(This is one of the few times I don’t recommend a consolation prize. Thedrama comes from the all-or-nothing situation.)

This would be a contest people would listen to even if they don’t play; it’ll be

exciting to hear — with the tension mounting after each dollar plateau is

reached.

Note: Make sure you’ve got the budget to do this one right; you can’t

have a preponderance of $5 and $10 winners. Remember, though, that the

callers win only if they beat the bomb. Many will throw caution to the windand sacrifice a nice prize of, say, $100, in the hopes of winning more.



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BED RACE

Just what the name says.

Contestants push beds over a prescribed course, each bed carrying a

partner/passenger.

Do it for charity and you’ll get the local police to cooperate by blocking off a

major street for the race, which should generate plenty of local media

coverage.

Charge entry fees and get local merchants to donate attractive prizes (to

justify the entry fees, which go to charity) for the winners.



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BEER CAN SMASHING CONTEST

WKKN gave each contestant a mallet and two beer cans.

The winner was the person who — with one smash — could make the

flattest can.

You can set up different divisions according to age, sex, weight.



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THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE

Your contestant guesses which of several categories is that hour’s winning

category.

If she guesses correctly, she wins a prize within the category.

Examples: Categories might include Food, Sports, Transportation, Modern

Living, Communications, Clothing.

Sample Prizes: (These vary from small but good prizes to one or two super

prizes per category.)

Food: Free lunch at a hotdog stand, dinner for four at a fancy restaurant,

six-pack or case of soda, $100 worth of groceries, $100 (or tie the amount to

your frequency) of groceries per week for a year, four ounces of caviar.

Sports: Frisbees, tickets to local or regional professional or collegiate

sporting events, tennis rackets, racquetball equipment, bowling balls, jogging

outfits, ski equipment.

Transportation: Bicycles, unicycles, skateboards, roller blades, roller

skates, 15 gallons of gas, one year’s pass on a local mass transit system, one

day’s limousine service complete with chauffeur, motorcycles, and — if you

can afford it — a grand prize of an automobile (you might also feature a

lesser prize of a good but less expensive used car).

Modern Living: The latest home entertainment devices, telephones,



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BINGO: RADIO BINGO

Variations of this have been done for decades.

WROV printed and distributed (at advertiser locations) bingo cards with 16

squares.

The four vertical columns were identified by the four letters in the station’s

call letters.

The contestants labelled the four rows with each of the last four digits of their

telephone numbers.

Each hour the jock would call out a letter/number combination, e.g., “W-3,”

“R-6,” etc.

The first listener to phone in with a card that has four boxes in a row marked

on the card would win.

The jock would call the listener back at the phone number on the card, to

verify that the contestant indeed did have the last four digits he used on that

card.

As an alternative, you can offer the cards for download on your website —

perhaps with a merchant coupon or offer embedded in it.

Hint: Be sure to identify each game to avoid confusion — e.g., “The next combination in KKED’s Bingo Game #6 is....”



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BINGO: SUPERSTARS BINGO

Here’s a clever bingo adaptation used by KEWI.

They came out with a bingo card consisting of 25 squares, each containing

the name of a popular recording artist. Each card’s configuration was

different.

Contestants covered the artist’s name each time his/her song was played.

The first person to cover a column, row, or diagonal called the station and

became a winner.

(Naturally, you’ll need to have the winner bring in the card for verification.)

A cash prize should be offered to justify both the diligent listening required to

win and the extra effort of bringing the winning card to the station.

This should be excellent for quarter-hour maintenance during ratings periods.



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BINGO NIGHT

This was used by KJQY, and it’s a new twist on an old and simple promotion

— the “mystery song.”

Four times a day, it was announced that the “Mystery Song” was about to

be played.

Listeners were told to mail in their names & addresses along with the name

of the Mystery Song.

(Obviously, you can have people enter online — but you’d need to set up a

mechanism to prevent multiple entry fraud.)

Each correct entry became eligible for the daily drawing of 104 winners,

which then were put on a mailing list and notified that they’d been selected.

These winners won the right to compete at “Bingo Night,” a huge gathering

attended by most of the station staff.

KJQY pulled over 1,000 people to a single Bingo Night, but you might want

to limit it to, say, 500.

Trade out some great prizes (automobile, microwave ovens, wide-screen TVs,

iPods, vacations) and throw in a couple of large cash prizes, too.

And make sure everyone attending leaves with something — a t-shirt, coffeemug, etc.



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BIRTHDAY GAME

Listeners send in postcards listing their name, address, phone number and

birth date.

Each hour, the jock spins two wheels. One wheel contains the 12 months, the

other contains the numbers 1 through 31.

Together, the wheels come up with a birth date for that hour.

When a birth date is chosen — say, for example, January 10 — the jock goes

to the container that holds all of the entries with January 10 birthdays and

withdraws one.

The station immediately awards a cash prize to that person and doubles the

prize if the person calls the station within the next 30 minutes.

Note: In order to insure that the months & days truly are randomly

selected, you should not use any kind of prerecorded device. Use an actual

wheel, a keno-type ball hopper, or a computerized random number generator.

If you use some random method in advance and then record the results prior

to airing the contest, you must announce the fact that the winning dates have

been pre-selected.



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BLACKJACK: COMPUTER BLACKJACK

KQDI tied in with Apple Computer and called it “Apple Jack.”

The contest featured production based on the Apple computer program for

blackjack. Contestants who were dealt a hand of 17 to 20 received gift

certificates from sponsoring businesses.

Sponsors rotated with each game.

A score of 21 won the jackpot, which grew each time a contestant failed to

reach 21.

Approximately half the contestants won either a gift certificate or a cash

jackpot, but that left enough “busts” to maintain a sense of tension.



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BLACKJACK: RADIO BLACKJACK

The title is self-explanatory, and there are many variations possible.

The most likely would be to pre-record (with a computerized voice) card

values and have them dealt to the jock and to the contestant.

The jock must draw to any 17 (must “hit” a 16 or a “soft 17” -- a total of 17

that includes an Ace being counted as “1”).

The contestant can stand or draw where she wishes.

If the contestant goes over 21, she loses without the jock having to complete

his own hand.



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* BLAME SOMEONE ELSE DAY

Award prizes for people calling in with alibis.

All they have to do is blame someone or something for their own misdeed or

mistakes.

Example: “The reason I was late for work is my calendar is wrong.”



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BLOCK PARTY: WIN A BLOCK PARTY

The winning entry can be decided by a drawing — or, even better, by the

best performance in some public spirited adventure (e.g., the block that turnsin the most aluminum cans for recycling, with profits going to a camp for

handicapped children).

You send the station’s most popular personality out to the winning block one

Saturday afternoon for a live remove broadcast — and he brings along tons

of free food and beverages.



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BOAT: THE RADIO X LOVE BOAT

Here’s an intriguing switch on your basic cruise prize. Offer two cruises.

One ship is for singles only; the other is for marrieds only.

Qualify married callers by asking trivia questions about famous married

partners, wedding trivia, anniversary trivia.

Qualify singles by having contestants identify famous eligible bachelors/

bachelorettes of the past & present.



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BUMPER STICKERS WITH A TWIST

WQIC gave away station bumper stickers with their call letters on top and no

printing on the bottom.

Everyone who had a bumper sticker could bring it to the station and have

their names applied — in letters that matched the call letters — on the

bottom half.

You can bet people proudly displayed those stickers.



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CALL LETTERS: THE MISSING CALL LETTER

This one’s been done a few times over the years.

The idea is that some dastardly demon has stolen the “W” or “K” (or “C” if

you’re in Canada, or your first number if you’re Down Under), and clues are

given to help some lucky listener locate it and win some really big prize.

The idea is to pick out a “W” somewhere in the area (perhaps as part of a

bank’s big building sign, for example) and give clues that gradually focus in

on it.

Meanwhile, of course, you have to edit the “W” from all your jingles and

liners and have your personalities refrain from using the first letter of your

call letters — except, of course, for legal I.D.s.

A good tongue-in-cheek promotion.



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CANNED GOODS:

ANOTHER RADIO X (PITTSBURGH) CAN CONCERT

Fill in your station name and city.

The station sponsors a concert or a series of concerts.

Book acts that normally would command a $10 to $20 admission, and charge

that amount per person — unless the person brings with him/her a can of

food to donate at the door, in which case admission costs only a dollar.

Naturally, the canned goods go to an appropriate charity.



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CARS: THE AUTOGRAPHMOBILE

Your station sends its van around town all summer, inviting listeners to sign

their names somewhere on the vehicle.

It makes a fun sight and a silly promotion.

But then, after the car is covered with signatures, you announce a contest in

which the person coming closest to guessing the exact number of signatures

wins the van.



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CARS: A FREE RIDE FROM RADIO X

KRSP’s Prize Cruiser pulled over cars bearing station bumper stickers and

awarded the driver the exact amount of his or her monthly car payment.

If the car already was paid for in full, the driver received an amount equal to

his age plus the year of the car — with the four digits of the year

representing a four-digit dollar amount, with decimal point.

Example: A 25-year old driving a 2004 auto would receive $25 + $20.04

for a total of $45.04.



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CARS: GUESS THE MILEAGE, WIN THE CAR

This one is pretty self-explanatory.

The station jocks drive the flashy new car around town for a month.

For the first two or three weeks, regular updates are given on the latest

mileage.

Postcard entries are accepted during the final week, and the guess closest to

the actual final mileage wins the car.

Meanwhile, the car is driven all over town to various sponsor locations for

contestants to gaze upon wishfully.

And non-listeners seeing the car might be motivated to listen to your station

(or visit your website) for rules and mileage update hints.



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CARS: SPEEDOMETER TESTING STATION

Set this up on successive weekends at various locations around town,

working with local police.

The street is blocked off and citizens can drive at a steady speed while being

checked by police radar.



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CASH FLASHER

This is basically your old on-the-street money giveaway, with a catchy twist.

WCPI called its representative a Cash Flasher, because when he found his

winners (by asking people on the street what radio station they listen to and

receiving the proper response), he opened his overcoat “flasher style” and

displayed six packs of money.

Each had a dollar bill on top, and the winner was allowed to choose one pack.

Each pack, however, contained an amount of money different from each of

the other five.



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CASH HOURS

A clever idea (and somewhat cynical manipulation of listeners’ habits during

ratings sweeps) was used at K59 in Honolulu.

At a certain time in a given hour, listeners were told to start counting the

number of times the station’s call letters were said during the next 60

minutes.

When the hour was up, the first caller with the correct answer won a hundred

bucks.

The idea is attractive for several reasons:

1. It’s easy to enter.

2. It’s easy to win (i.e., you don’t have to be particularly smart or

knowledgeable).

3. An attractive prize is offered frequently.

4. It’s a sure way to keep your audience through four consecutive quarter-

hours.

Warning: You’d better set up some fail-safe method of ensuring a

correction station count of call letters, perhaps going as far as having

someone monitor the jock and keep a separate tally while the jocks keep oneof their own.



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CHRISTMAS: CHRISTMAS AT HOME

Prize: Your station flies the winner’s family to your city for the holidays.



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CHRISTMAS PRIZES

• Christmas trees

• Station-personalized Christmas stockings

• Trip to the North Pole

• Christmas tree ornaments designed by local artists



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CHRISTMAS SPIRIT AWARDS

You can do this very cheaply and please many members of your community.

Have listeners submit nominations for local citizens who deserve to be

publicly commended for keeping the holiday spirit alive through their acts

and deeds.

Examples of Nominees: Dedicated schoolteachers, charity volunteers, Big

Brothers/Sisters, etc.

Have all entrants include their names & phone numbers and the names &

phone numbers of the nominees. You’ll want to have a staff member verify

(e.g., by calling the employer or organization the nominee reportedly serves)

each nominee to weed out any “sucker” entries — i.e., nominees who in

reality sell drugs, are in prison, etc.

Award each of them, by mail, a fancy certificate prominently featuring three

things:

1. Your station name

2. The winner’s name

3. The winner’s good deed.

Make them fancy enough, and you can be sure they’ll be prominently

displayed on walls throughout your town for years to come. Oh, and be sure

to announce the winners through periodic — and brief — on-air “roll calls.”



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CHRISTMAS SPONSOR PROMOTION

The basic premise for this promotion was used by WRAR. It’s a good way to

get an extra large holiday schedule from a big local retailer.

Run (paid) spots for the merchant, asking listeners to write in with their own

commercial scripts, created around the theme of “A (Johnson Brothers)

Christmas.”

Spots should convey the message that holidays are made merrier with gifts

from Johnson Brothers.

Instruct entrants to include the name and sponsor location in each spot

entered.

Guarantee at least three winners (with the prize being, say, a $500 in-store

gift certificate) and select more than your minimum if there are enough

deserving entrants.

Winning spots are recorded by the radio station — and voiced by the writer,

if the writer sounds good enough — and entered into regular spot rotation.

Or you can have entrants submit their own, finished mp3 versions.

Note: Make sure your rules clearly state that “winning entries will be aired

on Radio X.” Do not say they’ll also be voiced by the winner; leave yourself

the option to choose without disappointing or insulting the winners by sayingthey’re not good enough to do the voicing.



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CHRISTMAS SWAP SHOP

This is simply an old-fashioned on-air swap shop, with the gimmick being that

listeners can call in to sell or trade holiday gifts they’re not too thrilled abouthaving received.



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CHRISTMAS: THE RADIO X CHRISTMAS TREE LIGHTS

Remember the TV game show, “Concentration”?” That’s the game in which

there are rows of boxes, and contestants score points by matching two boxes.

That’s the idea here, only we’re using 100 Christmas tree lights (in our

imaginations, that is). The 100 lights represent 50 pairs of prizes, large &

small — but no clunkers.

Each telephone contestant gets to choose two lights, by number. If the two

match, the caller wins that prize.

Example:

CONTESTANT: I’ll try Number 7 and Number 33.

JOCK: Okay, let’s see if those lights match. First, Number 7.

RECORDED VOICE: Light Number 7: A Sony PlayStation.

JOCK: Wow, what a prize! If Light Number 33 matches, you’ve won

yourself a new PlayStation. Good luck!

RECORDED VOICE: Light Number 33: A Minolta digital camera.

JOCK: Gee, (CONTESTANT), I’m sorry you didn’t win. But try again,

because we’ll be giving another lucky listener a shot at the 100 Lights of Christmas very soon....



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CHRISTMAS WISHES

During the week prior to Christmas Day, have listeners call in to record their

Christmas wishes (one per caller), along with their name, address andtelephone number.

Play them back during the week prior to Christmas, backing each one with

Christmas music.

Callers have X-number of minutes to call in after hearing their own wishes

replayed on-the-air.

Suggested Prizes: Cameras to record their holiday celebrations



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CHRISTMAS: THE AUTOMATIC SANTA

The winner of your contest gets to make an undetermined $ withdrawal from

a local bank’s automatic teller.

The amount is based on how many withdrawals the winner can accomplish

within, say, a five-minute period.

Each individual withdrawal will be limited to a specified amount, probably

keyed to your station frequency — $5.70, $57.00, etc.

You should be able to figure out the maximum cost to your station by

determining the minimum length of time it takes to complete a transaction.



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CHRISTMAS: A CHILDREN’S CHRISTMAS

Record the voices of local “disadvantaged” children, saying what they would

like to receive for Christmas.

Air the spots individually, and invite listeners to call in and donate the item in

question.

Naturally, you won’t identify the children by name, and there won’t be any

kind of contest tie-in — but you will acknowledge the generous person or

business who contributes the donation.

Arrange in advance to donate all excess gifts (and there should be quite a

few) to a local charity.



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CHRISTMAS: A FAMILY CHRISTMAS

KIKX allotted one on-air hour per personality on Christmas Eve.

Each jock had his or her family there in the studio, and they spent the hour

talking about their favorite holiday memories, playing their favorite holiday

songs, and relating what they hoped the new year would bring.

This aired from 7PM until midnight and was rebroadcast from midnight until

5AM.



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CHRISTMAS: MERRY CHRISTMAS FOR CASH

This one is simple but effective.

Go around town recording people-on-the-street saying “Merry Christmas” or

“Happy New Year.”

Announce your locations in advance, and really cover the city for a week or

so in advance.

Carefully note the name & number of each audio greeting.

Then the following week play them back, once per quarter-hour.

When people recognize themselves on-the-air, they have X-number of

minutes to call the station to win, say, $100.



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CIRCUS

This is one of the finest “oldies but goodies,” especially when it’s handled in a

very low-key manner.

Station personalities escort a group of blind children (there’s bound to be a

school for the blind in your area) to a local performance of the circus, getting

seats for them at ringside.

Each jock sits with perhaps five kids, describing in detail the events as they

unfold.

The kids will respond both to the descriptions and to the crowd’s reactions to

the circus, and they can follow the proceedings with the braille programs you

had specially printed for them.

If you do this one right, when you’re finished you’ll have a hard time going

back to cash calls and wet t-shirt contests.

Note: If you’re really smart, you won’t blast it out at every opportunity,

telling your audience how wonderful you are to be so nice to the kids. In fact,

don’t even mention it on-the-air by way of promotion.

(Don’t ask parents to enter their kids to go with the jocks, because you’ll end

up causing a lot of kids to be terribly disappointed when their names aren’t

chosen.)

There’s nothing wrong with having the circus acknowledge your presence



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during or just before the performance — especially because the children

themselves will be thrilled to hear the circus publicly “welcome the children

from the ( ) School for the Blind, along with their own personal ringside

announcers from Radio X.”

And if they don’t overdo it, an honest reference by the jocks to the event the

day after wouldn’t be in bad taste.



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CIRCUS: PLAY-BY-PLAY

This is basically the promotion described on the previous page, with a twist.

WKIX provided a running commentary for 30 blind children who attended

the circus in their area.

The “twist” lies in the fact that the commentary was delivered through

individual headphones worn by the students.



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COCONUTS: CREATIVE COCONUT CONTEST

Here’s an off-the-wall way to give away a Hawaiian vacation, used by

KAKE.

Fifty finalists appeared at a shopping mall.

Each was given a coconut, and the winner was chosen on the basis of who

came up with the most creative coconut design.

Contestants were allowed to use knives, drills and paint.

Hint: To avoid claims of bias, round up some celebrity judges for this one.



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COLUMBUS DAY (October)

The Prize: A cruise in the waters where Columbus reached the New World

— Bahamas, Jamaica, etc.

Another Prize: A sailboat.

Another Prize: A trip to the Columbus of the winner’s choice: Columbus,

Ohio; Columbus, Georgia; etc.



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COMPLETE THE SONG

Your jock reads part of a song lyric, and the call-in contestant has to complete

the line.

Example:

JOCK: “When you’re down and troubled...”

CONTESTANT: “...and you need a helping hand.” (From “You’ve Got A

Friend”)

Of course, you’ll choose songs that are well-known to your audience.

But don’t leave the title as the mystery line; don’t make it too easy.

And don’t name the song before having the contestant try to complete the

line.

Hint: Follow up on the call by playing the song.



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COMPUTER: THE MUSIC COMPUTER

You’ve seen those arcade-type computer quiz machines:

Put in a quarter and take a five-question test. Get them all right and you’re

proclaimed a genius and you get to play again.

WZZQ had a machine specially programmed with rock & roll questions and

stationed it at a sponsor location.

Obviously, this would work for any music format.



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COMPUTER: THE PRIZE COMPUTER

Your on-air computerized voice names a series of prizes, large and small, with

each prize separated by three seconds of silence.

The contestant decides when to stop the computer.

After the contestant says “stop,” the prize awarded is the very next prize

announced by the computer.



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CONCERT HALL SEATING GUIDE

Here’s a promotional idea that can be updated annually.

Publish a little booklet featuring complete seating charts of every local concert

hall, arena, stadium, etc., in your area.

The more detail you can include (individual seat numbers, location, access,

prices of parking, etc.), the better.

It should be easy to sell enough print advertising within the booklet to entirely

pay for its publication.

With your call letters & logo prominently displayed on the cover and

throughout the booklet, you can be sure your station will continually be

reinforced as people refer to the booklet throughout the year.

Bonus Tip: Tag spots for local concerts by saying, “Remember, if you’d

like to see exactly where your seat is before you buy your ticket, pick up a

copy of the RADIO X CONCERT GUIDE at the following locations....”

You can include these promos in the cost to the sponsors who purchase print

ads and feature those sponsor locations for people to pick up their guides.



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COOKBOOK: RADIO X’S (CITY) COOKBOOK

Solicit family recipes from your listeners.

Have a panel of experts (or some well-known gourmet) select the best

recipes, and put them all in a book.

Tie in with your local Chamber of Commerce, which will be responsible for

seeing to it that stores all over town sell the book at a reasonable price (e.g.,

$2.95).

Your station (and the Chamber of Commerce, if you can swing it) pays for

the printing, and all proceeds go to a local charity.

Featured recipes include the names of the persons who contribute them,

along with any “history” of each recipe (e.g., “My great grandmother

learned this from an Army chef back in 1903....”).



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COOKING CARNIVAL

KWON called theirs the Cooking Classic.

The station solicited listeners’ recipes, the best of which were compiled in a

station cookbook.

Sponsorships were sold for the Cooking Classic itself — a big event at a local

fairground.

Sponsors were included in the promo spots and got booth space during the

event.

Your sponsors don’t have to be related to cooking; anything related to the

home fits right in.

Everyone who comes to the event gets a free copy of the cookbook, which

includes sponsors’ credits.

Festivities are climaxed by a cooking demonstration by an expert gourmet

chef, making some of the recipes from the book.

Hint: You’ll need lots of folding chairs for people to view the demonstration

from, plus appropriate demonstration kitchen equipment with good lighting,

overhead mirrors, etc. Your chef should be able to tell you what you’ll need.



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COOK-OFF: LOCAL FOOD SPECIALTY COOK-OFF

Every area has at least one ethnic cooking specialty.

In Fresno, California, it’s Armenian food. In San Francisco, it might be

Mandarin. In parts of Pennsylvania it’s German, while in Texas it might be

chili. You get the idea.

Anyway, you figure out a way to qualify contestants (drawing, rasing the

most donations for charity, etc.) and gather them all at a local restaurant that

specializes in that kind of food.

Qualify as many contestants as the place can handle, and invite listeners to

come watch and taste.

A panel of “experts” judges the entries.

The experts might be a station personality, the local mayor, and the owner of

the restaurant.

After the judging, samples are passed around to the spectators.

Suggested First Prize: A “kitchen-full” of appliances: refrigerator, freezer,

microwave oven, small appliances.

Second Prize: Microwave oven.

Third Prize: Assortment of small appliances like toasters, blenders, etc.



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COUNT THE MINUTES

If your station severely limits the number & frequency of commercials,

emphasize that fact by having listeners count the number of minutes thatelapse between “the last commercial” and the next one.

Promote it heavily on-air so everyone knows the rules.

At pre-selected times, follow the last spot aired with an announcement to the

effect of:

“You just have just heard Radio X’s Last Commercial. Count the number

of minutes that pass until our Next One and enjoy your favorite Radio X

music without interruption. As soon as you hear our Next Commercial, stop

counting and start dialing. The first person to call us at 555-5555 with the

correct number of minutes that elapsed between our Last Commercial and

our Next Commercial will win $100 cash. The clock starts now.”

A bit wordy, but with the proper dramatic inflection it’ll work well.

Hint: Give the official time at the start and finish (that is, after saying “the

clock starts now” and then before going into the Next Commercial.



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COUNT THE SONGS

This one is simply, direct, and effective.

At the top of each hour, listeners begin counting the number of songs played

in that hour.

During the next hour, calls are taken — with the first caller with the correct

answer being paid $5 or $10 per song.

This one is excellent for quarter-hour maintenance.



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COUNT THE SONGS (Alternate Version)

This essentially is the same contest as the previous one, only this time prizes

aren’t awarded every hour.

A flat cash prize — several hundred dollars, at least — is awarded for the

correct numbered caller who calls in with the exact number of songs played

since a given starting point — over a period of time anywhere from 1.5 to

three hours.



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CRAB RACES

Or turtle races. Or frog jumps. Or gerbil races.

All jocks have their own entries, which they coach.

This can be the highlight of a station picnic, half-time entertainment, etc.

Note: This is a fun promotion, as long as you don’t choose an animal that

shouldn’t be subjected to such an event, e.g., chickens scurrying fearfully

about make for a pathetic sight.



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CROSSWORD PUZZLE

Crossword puzzles — numbered but blank, and without clues — are

distributed at sponsor locations and/or downloaded for free off your websitebut with sponsor ads on the puzzle cards.

During the period of a week, the jocks announce clues for each of the specific

puzzle numbers.

Example: “12 Across: Comedian who had a hit TV show with his name on

it.” (Answer: “Seinfeld”)

The first person to submit a correctly completed puzzle wins a large cash

prize.

(Your station can decide the methods of submission: fax...postal mail....e-mail,

etc.)

If more than one correct entry is received the same day, the winner is

selected via a drawing.

This one is excellent for quarter-hour maintenance.



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DAY OFF WITH PAY

This one pretty much is self-explanatory.

A drawing is held weekly or monthly to select someone who’ll be allowed to

take a day off from work, with the station paying the person’s salary for the

day (and smoothing it over with the winner’s employer, of course).



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DIAMOND MINE

KWYZ put a box filled with four tons of sand on the bed of a truck.

Scattered throughout all that sand were 40 diamonds, worth $150 to $175

each.

Contestants were given three minutes each — one person at a time — to

search through the sand for a diamond (limit one per person).

KWYZ gave contestants a sifter to use, but instead you might choose to have

them search by hand.

The promotion made money for the station by being sold to various sponsor

locations (shopping malls, car dealerships, etc.), with paid spots announcing

where the diamond mine would be.

A very exciting, attention-getting promotion.



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DINNER IN A PARKING LOT

KFMB awarded a dinner in the parking lot of a 7-11 store, completely

catered with selections from the 7-11 menu (i.e., “Hot To Go” sandwiches,soft drinks, etc.).

The winner was driven to the parking lot in a limousine.

Live coverage of the dinner — with a special report on the menu as selected

by the winners — should prove to be lots of fun.



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DIRECT MAILING OF PERSONALIZED CHECKS

Each household receives four separate, non-negotiable checks made out by

the name to the head(s) of the household.

When KSSK ran this promotion, the four checks were in amounts of $50,

$500, $1,000 and $5,000.

Serial numbers are read on-the-air, and winners calling in with the correct

serial numbers are verified on the phone by having them identify the person

to whom the check is made out.

Obviously, everything will need to be cross-referenced on a computer, and

the personalized mass mailing will help drive up the cost of this promotion.

But the response should be tremendous.



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DIRECT MAILING OF “SWEEPSTAKES” NUMBERS

Direct mail can be an effective way of reaching large numbers of your target

audience.

Typically, each household receives a sweepstakes number, along with an

exciting sales pitch listing the prizes up for grabs and urging them to listen.

Each household gets a different number, and numbers are read on-the-air

once or more each hour.

The person who has the number that’s read on-air calls in within a specified

time limit to win.

Obviously, you’ll need to have each winner prove possession of the winning

number.

Some stations have allowed small prize winners to come to the station within

the next week to verify a winning number, while sending station personnel

out to the locations of big winners (so the big prizes aren’t tied up for days,

only to have it turn out they’ve got a bogus winner).



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DOLLARS: THE SUPER DOLLAR

Each Thursday during the run of this promotion, WMYK would read one

serial number per hour of a dollar bill circulating in their listening area.

(Presumably the station had managed to put a number of such bills into

circulation anonymously some time previous to the day in question.)

Any listener who happened to have that dollar bill could call in within the

specified time period — and win $25,000.

The prize was doubled ($50,000) if the caller also had one of the station’s

listener/member cards.

Finally, any $50,000 winner also received an all-expense paid trip to Las

Vegas to gamble away some of the prize money.

Note: Obviously, you can use this basic idea for smaller amounts, if your

market can’t sustain such a large cash prize. $5,000 probably will garner

almost as much rapt listener attention.



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DOUBLE OR NOTHING

The odds against correctly predicting nine consecutive 50/50 events are 512

to 1.

A 50/50 event is a coin flip, odd or even digit, black or white, up or down,

etc.

The radio station spins one of two wheels (at the contestant’s choice), and the

contestant picks either A or B on the wheel.

The wheel lands on A or B; if the contestant predicted “A” and wheel lands

on “A,” the contestant win $5.

The contestant is given the choice of keeping the $5 or going for “double or

nothing.”

If she wins again, the prize is $10; a loss nets the contestant zero dollars.

After each win, the contestant again is given the choice of double or nothing.

The maximum win is nine in a row; nine consecutive wins nets the contestant

$2,560.

If every contestant “goes for broke” each time, you can expect to give away

$2,560 once out of every 512 times (on average).

But how many will stop at, say, $1,280? Or at $640?



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DRAG RACE

Your station jocks race against each other in a special event at the local track.

Meanwhile, the station gives away passes to the races as prizes or sets up a

charity tie-in whereby half the proceeds of all tickets sold go to charity.

Once a winner emerges from your staff, you can continue the idea by

challenging other local personalities, again for charity.

You might want to include the local hotshot newspaper columnist and invite a

newscaster from each local TV station to ensure lots of coverage before and

after the event.



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DRAG RACE: IN DRAG

Your male station jocks run a race against each other.

At a local racetrack.

“In drag” — wearing women’s clothing: Evening gown, high heels, etc.



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DIET: RADIO X DROPS A TON

WBRD held a month-long promotion in which all overweight station

employees went on diets.

The listener who guessed the total weight loss — or came closest — won a

bunch of prizes, most of which were related in some way to weight or weight

loss: resort vacation (where they can swim & golf & play tennis for exercise),

health spa membership, fancy home scales, etc.

Extra: As a side bet, you can have listeners guess which person will lose the

most weight (either in pounds or in percentage of total body weight) — and

how much. (In that case, you’ll want to offer statistics for each employee.)

Hint: All during the month, offer sensible, well-researched tips for dieters,

encouraging listeners to join you in shedding unwanted pounds.

You might even see if your city’s mayor wants to take part.



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DREAM MACHINE

Listeners submit their most unusual dreams, which then are analyzed by a

dream expert (or by a jock who consults a dream interpretation book).

Winning dreams are awarded mattress & box springs.



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THE EASIEST CONTEST IN THE WORLD

This is a basic quarter-hour maintenance, “audience recycling” gimmick

that’s been done by a few stations.

To win, the caller must know both the question and the answer — both of

which are aired on the station.

The answer might be giving during the morning show, while the question is

given during mid-days.

Both are clearly identified, so it’s just a matter of sticking to the radio until

they’re given and then scrambling for the phone when the jock asks for the

question & answer.

To make this worth the listener’s while, you’ve got to give away something

solid — probably a $500 cash prize.



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EASTER: BLIND CHILDREN’S EASTER EGG HUNT

Here’s a great idea from KVOC.

They fitted electronic “chirping” devices (which your local society for the

blind probably can lend you) into plastic “eggs” (the kind that pantyhose or

Silly Putty comes in), which were spread over an area marked off for the

hunt.



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EASTER BUNNIES

The Prize: Huge chocolate bunnies, traded out with and picked up by the

winners at the sponsor’s location.

But remember, these need to be huge to be worth the winner’s while.



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EASTER EGG FIGHT

The object of this egg fight is not to throw it but to tap it — against your

opponent’s own hardboiled egg.

Contestants are provided eggs, then mingle amongst themselves (with judges

mingling, too, to ensure fair play), tapping one egg against another.

The object is to determine whose hardboiled egg is hardest.

Of each pair of tapped eggs, the one that cracks drops out while the

victorious, non-cracked egg remains to meet a new challenger.

To guard against trickery, the winning egg is cracked open and eaten by the

winner & the judges, and the judges examine the shell to make sure no

cement dust (for example) was added.

Hint: To avoid suspicions about the winning egg, all eggs are provided &

boiled by or under the supervision of station personnel.

Hint: To make sure people don’t sneak in their own eggs, paint a code

number on each egg.



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EASTER EGG HUNT — IN A SHOPPING MALL

You shouldn’t have any trouble selling sponsorship in this promotion used by

WRCQ.

They took over the mall from the morning hours before the mall normally

opened.

(Malls typically open at 10AM; you could do it at 8AM Saturday) and hid

thousands of eggs up & down the corridors.

Mix chocolate eggs with special ones redeemable for toys, ice cream, etc., at

mall merchants.

WRCQ had a special section for very little children — probably five and

under — in which parents could help.

The rest of the mall was set aside for kids 12 and younger.

Why should this be so easy to sell?

When 10AM rolls around, the mall already will be filled with people — and if

many of them have eggs to redeem for prizes in the stores, in-store traffic will

be tremendous.



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EASTER OMELETTES

If there’s a local restaurant that specializes in omelettes — or just in great

breakfasts — give away Easter Egg Omelettes For Two at the restaurant,redeemable any time during Easter week.



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EGG DROP

Contestants attempt to catch raw eggs dropped from the top of a local

building — without, of course, allowing the eggs to break.

They can use whatever they wish to help catch the eggs, as long as you

approve it first.

(Your printed rules will need to explain what types of equipment will not be

allowed.)

The winner is the person who catches the most unbroken eggs.

If all the eggs break, the cash prize is split among the contestants...or

drawings are held to split it up among three winners in three different

amounts.

Hint: Protect your station by protecting all participants with protective head

gear and face gear.



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EGG DROP #2

Unlike the previous promotion, in which a limited number of contestants vies

to see who can catch the most eggs, in this one you get a huge crowd toshow up — with each member of the crowd getting one chance to catch an

egg.

Catching an egg intact wins, say, five CDs or a $20 gift certificate or a $20

bill.

Plus, certain eggs will be marked for special cash awards of say, $100 to

$500 if they remain intact.

Inasmuch as this event is sure to attract lots of media coverage, it shouldn’t

be at all hard to tie this in with a local shopping mall and have them pick up

all the costs in exchange for the publicity and the spectators.

Hint: Again, protect yourself legally. Require all entrants to wear helmets,

gloves, and padded coats. And have them all sign liability release forms.



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EGG FRYING CONTEST

“It was so hot you could’ve friend an egg on the sidewalk.”

Why not validate your next heat wave with a contest to prove it?

Contestants are allowed to use magnifying glasses, mirrors, anything short of

a primary heat source (e.g., flame, heater, etc.) — as long as the egg touches

nothing but the sidewalk.

The person with the fastest-cooking eggs wins.

This should garner lots of newspaper and TV coverage.



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ELECTIONS: POST-ELECTION ADVERTISING CLEAN-UP

After a local election, offer listeners 25 cents for every political sign they

bring into the station within a specified time period (a couple of days).

The idea is to rid the area of what most people consider to be an eyesore: all

those “Vote for Mr. Whosis” signs plastered on telephone poles, walls, trees,

etc.

Alternative Prize: Offer movie passes, CDs, etc., for a minimum number of

posters (e.g., two movie passes for ten posters).



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ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE

Publish a handy, pocket-sized guide listing phone numbers, addresses and

websites for local movie theaters, “legitimate” theaters, concert halls, sportingparks & arenas, bowling alleys, skating rinks, etc.

Sell advertising (either to generic clients or to entertainment-oriented clients)

to pay for the printing and possibly to provide a modest profit — and give

the guides away at public appearances, distribute via retail outlets, etc.



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EXPERTS: THE RADIO X PANEL OF EXPERTS

Listeners are invited to join your panel of experts by being the right caller, at

which time they’re given — without prior notice — a particular subject.

Their task then is to talk about that subject for a specific length of time

without pausing: no ums, uhs, etc.

Don’t judge for content.

As long as they keep talking about something having to do with the subject,

they win.

You’re not looking for losers.

All winners get a certificate proclaiming them as A Member of Radio X’s

Panel of Experts, along with two free meals at a local restaurant.



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FAMOUS FACES

During the three weeks that KNIX ran this promotion, all listeners who

thought they resembled famous people were urged to submit a photo toprove it.

Finalists, as selected by station personnel, were invited to an evening at a local

nightclub, where local media personalities served on the panel that chose

three winners.

Prizes were $500, $250, and $100...plus a trip to Hollywood for each.



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FATHER’S DAY: FATHERS ON-THE-AIR

Station hosts share their airshifts with their own fathers.

The fathers get to pick their own music (or field their own talk topics),

reminisce about the jocks’ childhoods, answer “personal” questions about

their DJ children by taking on-air phone calls from listeners.

Hint: Promote the event a few days in advance with recorded teasers from

the jocks’ fathers:

“Hi, I’m Mike Jock. Did you ever wonder what Wild Willy Jock was like as

a kid? Well, I’ll tell you all about it Friday at 3PM. I’m Willy’s dad —

and I’ll be running things during his show this Friday!”



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FATHER’S DAY: NAME THAT DAD

Listeners hear a recording of a man, telling all about what his son/daughter

was like as a child.

To win the contestant must correctly guess which jock’s father it is.



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FATHER’S DAY: WIVES ON-THE-AIR

This is another idea that never gets old, and it applies to all formats.

On the Friday before Father’s Day, the male jocks’ wives help them celebrate

by coming in and doing most of the show for them, with the male jocks there

just to help out when needed.

(For your female jocks, see this same idea listed under Mother’s Day.)



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FIFTY PER CENT OFF FAIR

Here’s a great idea brought to life by WKIX.

They rounded up a diverse group of sponsors to sell their merchandise in a

single location, with all goods sold at 50% off the regular retail price.

The eight-hour event was heavily promoted with spots purchased by the

participating merchants.

Hint: Promote the event as Radio X’s way of fighting inflation.

Estimate the total retail value of all merchandise that will be for sale, and

feature that figure in your promos (e.g., “over half a million dollars worth

of merchandise, all at 50% off the regular price — Saturday from 10AM

’til 6PM only!”)



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FISHING: THE $25,000 FISH

Your choice as to how to select contestants, but once you’ve got ’em you

load them on chartered boats to fish a local lake for, say, 2 hours at a time.

You’ve “seeded” the lake with specially banded or marked fish, worth (for

example) $25,000, $10,000, $5,000 and (several) $1,000.

Anyone who catches the right fish wins the cash — but only if the fish is

caught during the specified time period.

To maintain some of the interest after the day is over, however, offer a $50

reward for each of the remaining specially marked fish, whenever they’re

brought in.

Put those “belated” winners on-the-air, too.



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FISHING TOURNAMENT

If you’re in a lake area with lots of avid fishermen, tie in with a local sporting

goods store to sponsor an area-wide fishing tournament.

Entry fees go to make up the cash awards for the first fish caught, largest

fish, etc.

Largest prize might be a $500 gift certificate from the store, with other prizes

being cash awards of $50 to $100.



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FM MEANS FREE MILES

FM102 coined that phrase, with daily drawings awarding chauffeur-driven

limousines to and from work (or school) to the winners for a day.

You can expand this idea specifically to include secretaries (the limo drives the

winner and her co-workers to lunch at some fancy restaurant, waits while

they dine, and returns them to work) or to housewives (the limo drives them

to the supermarket and the chauffeur pushes the grocery cart inside the

store).

Hint: For maximum effect, use the longest, sleekest, limousine in town.



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FOOTBALL: GRUDGE BETS

This has been done by many air personalities with great success.

Simply call a counterpart at a radio station in the city where your home team

is going to be playing and make some outrageous bet with him/her on the

outcome of the game.

Standard bet is for the loser to fly to the winner’s city and do the show for a

day.

Others involve the loser marching down Main Street in the winner’s town,

bearing some humiliating sign making reference to the loss.

Still others involve regional stakes, e.g., a jock in Maine might bet a crate of

live Maine lobsters against a Texan’s vat of fresh Texas chili.



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FOOTBALL HANDICAPPER

Once a week, a lucky listener gets to match wits with your station’s expert

handicapper in picking the week’s winners in pro or college football.

The guest “expert” is chosen by some type of contest, probably a drawing.

Prizes to the finalists might be hand-held electronic football games.

Finalists qualify either by random phone selection or by answering some

football-related trivia question.

Then a week’s end drawing is held to determine the winner, who appears live

in the studio the following Wednesday (in time for Thursday through Sunday

games) to compare selections with your resident expert’s.

If the contestant beats your expert in correct selections, she wins a football-

related prize — season tickets to a local popular football team’s games (pro

or college, as long as it’s popular)...or four tickets to an upcoming big game.

At the end of the season, the contestant who picked the highest percentage of

winners receives an additional big prize: How about a huge plasma TV to

watch next season’s games on?



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FOOTBALL PREDICTIONS: MALES vs. FEMALE

Select a male and a female contestant each week of the football season to

come on the show and pick the winners in the upcoming weekend’s progames — each explaining their choices and, hopefully, engaging in good-

natured disagreement over their respective choices.

Each contestant gets some prize for trying, but the winner receives something

football oriented: a big TV to watch the games on, season passes, etc.



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FOOTBALL WIDOWS

During the football season, award movie passes to female listeners, with the

passes good for Monday night (or whatever weekday night football airs inyour market), while their spouses/boyfriends are glued to the tube.

Or award bowling passes, etc.



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4TH OF JULY: AMERICAN TRIVIA

For correctly answering American trivia questions, award your listeners with

America-oriented prizes: apple pies, tickets to baseball games, ice cream, etc.

Don’t make the questions too easy, or it’ll be boring.



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4TH OF JULY FIREWORKS SIMULCAST

M105 simulcasted a locally televised fireworks display.

They used one channel for the missiles being fired off (with a mic planted at

the launching area).

The other channel was used to pick up the explosions in the air — via a wired

weather balloon stationed above the grounds.

A very clever idea.



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FROM SEA TO SHINING SEA

KRAK referred to this as their “Cities Game.”

Each hour sees a new clue given on-air.

The clues lead to the identity of the mystery city, and the clues are tough.

(Examples of clues — but of obvious ones that you’d be unlikely to use:

“cable cars” for San Francisco or “Astrodome” for Houston.)

KRAK featured 10 different cities with 10 winners, each of whom won a trip

for two to any city served by a particular airline that was tied into the

promotion.



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GARAGE SALE: DRIVE-IN GARAGE SALE

KELO worked with a local drive-in movie on this one.

Anyone with anything to sell pays $5 to rent a drive-in space (where cars

usually park for the movie), selling items from the trunk of the car.

Admission for bargain hunters is free, and the station’s programming is piped

in through the speakers.

KELO split the profits with the drive-in, but you’ll generate a lot more

goodwill by letting the drive-in settle for concession stand profits while you

donate 100% of the sellers’ fees to charity.

(No drive-in theater near you? Use a huge parking lot that’s empty on

weekends.)



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GARAGE SALE: WORLD’S LARGEST INDOOR GARAGE SALE

Quite a few stations build annual promotions around that claim.

The idea is simple:

The station gathers together many local charitable groups under one roof

(e.g., an arena), lets them sell their goods and keep all their own profits,

throws in live entertainment, has air personalities mingling in the crowd, and

perhaps attempts to break a Guinness world record.

Many people love garage sales but don’t like driving all over town, only to

discover the particular sale is a wash-out.

With 100 or more groups selling their rummage, candies, cakes, refreshments,

antiques, etc., there should be something for everyone.



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GARBAGE: LIVE GARBAGE REPORTER

KRMG’s John Erling checked out his city’s new garbage pickup system by

spending a morning riding with one of the municipal trucks, radioing infrequent reports.

This should be a fun idea — especially if you invite listeners to meet you

along the way for (very short) on-air conversations.



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GOLD: FREE GOLD

The Prize: An ounce (or some other weight, chosen perhaps to reflect your

station’s frequency) of gold.

The Contest: Make the closest guess as to the exact value of that amount of

gold on a certain date, according to a pre-determined gold market (e.g., the

London market).

To give each entrant two chances to win, you could also have them guess the

value of a certain amount of silver on that date, too.



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GOLD: OWN PART OF A GOLD MINE

Or uranium.

Or silver.

Or an oil well.

The key here is to give away shares of stock in a highly speculative venture

that might actually pay off big.

By giving away shares of the stock, you’re allowing your winners to take

part in a risk-free gamble — risk-free because you’ve put up the money for

the stock in the first place.



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GOLF: WINTER GOLF TOURNAMENT

What makes this golf tournament special is that it’s held on a snow-covered

golf course.

Use red golf balls for visibility.

Should be lots of fun, and if you do your PR work it also should generate lots

of outside publicity — up to and including national TV network news.



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* GRANDPARENTS DAY (September)

The Prize: A complete photographic studio sitting for your children.

The hook is that sets of prints are made for you and for both sets of your

kids’ grandparents — three sets of prints, complete with three photo albums.



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GROCERIES: THE GREAT GROCERY GIVEAWAY

This one is a simple drawing/response promotion.

Listeners send in grocery receipts with their names, addresses & phone

numbers on the back.

Once or twice an hour a receipt is drawn, the person’s name is read, then the

person has X-number of minutes to call in and win the amount of the receipt

in cash.



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GROCERIES: THE GREAT GROCERY GRAB

Your winner is allowed a set amount of time (usually tied to your broadcast

frequency) to grab all the food he can.

Variations on Rules: The winner has to carry the groceries to a certain spot

(finish line) in the store, making as many trips as he can.

The winner may or may not be allowed to use a grocery cart.



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* GROUCH DAY (October)

Listeners call in to describe the grouch in their lives — spouses, boyfriends,

girlfriends, etc.

They’re required to share at least one example of the person’s grouchiness.

The Prize: A station t-shirt with the words, “MY SPOUSE IS A

GROUCH” or “MY LOVER IS A GROUCH.”

(Give them a choice — or just go with the second one. You don’t want to

freeze out all of your non-married listeners.)

Additional Prize: A “grouch pouch,” a little pouch-type bag of chocolate

candy to sweeten the grouch’s disposition.



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GROUNDHOG’S DAY (February 2)

Your telephone caller has to predict whether the (recorded) groundhog will

see his shadow.

You might use a speeded up (or otherwise humorous) voice for the

groundhog, coming out of his hole and looking around.

Incorrect guesses win a small prize — say, a pint of ice cream.

Correct guesses win a bigger prize — say, a restaurant dinner for four.



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GROUNDHOG’S DAY PARADE

Here’s a chance to spoof the traditional parade scene.

Sponsor a Mister & Miss Groundhog competition, parade down some city

street (broadcasting live), see if the mayor will issue a proclamation honoring

all local groundhogs, award prizes for the prettiest, ugliest, most talented

groundhogs in the parade.

Treat the entire promotion with a tone of mock solemnity.



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GROUNDHOG’S DAY PRIZE

WLW awarded listeners genuine ground hog — that is, pork sausage.

Ten pounds for each winner’s freezer makes for a nice prize.



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Cranston?”

With at most one exception, none of them will be, and most can be expected

to ask what the heck the other person is talking about.

And the other person will proceed to explain your contest and talk about

your station — and when the customer/client leaves the place of business, she

might well give you a listen!



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HALLOWEEN: BLOODMOBILE

Jocks dress as vampires and accompany the local Red Cross bloodmobile as

they seek blood donors.

Interviews with donors are broadcast live.

Promote upcoming locations, offering hit CDs or movie passes to donors.

This promotion can run all during Halloween week.



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HALLOWEEN: HAUNTED HOUSE

An oldie but a goodie.

Don’t charge admission, but have someone stationed at the entrance to

accept donations to UNICEF.

Have your personalities dress up in costumes and try out their character

voices.

Have your production people work up some great sound effects, and

challenge your engineer to rig up the place for maximum auditory effects.

Also have plenty of cider, candy, cookies (and — to please the more strict

parents — some fruit and sugarless gum) on hand.



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HALLOWEEN: MY SCARIEST MOMENT

Invite listeners to share their scariest scenarios, having them begin with:

“My scariest moment would be....”

To start the ball rolling, give a couple of your own examples, such as:

“My scariest moment would be checking into a motel with my wife and

having the desk clerk say, ‘Nice to see you again, Mr. Smith!’ ”



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HALLOWEEN PARTY FOR KIDS

These days many parents are afraid to let their children go trick-or-treating,

but they don’t want to deprive their kids of fun.

Why not take over a large section of a shopping mall‚ the way malls do with

Santa Clauses for children’s pictures, only 10 or 20 times the covered area —

and put on a safe, supervised Halloween party for young children?

Offer refreshments, bobbing for apples, prize for everyone.

Parents or station personnel can lead the children through the enclosed area,

and the kids can come dressed in costume.



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HEALTH FAIR

Gather specialists from all possible areas of health care at one weekend

location.

Listeners will be able to be tested for blood pressure, vision, hearing, and

other other health concerns.

Booths will be provided for established non-profit health groups to offer free

literature and/or demonstrations.

Line up sponsors to pay for the booths and for promotional materials

(including signs identifying the booths).

Give limited sponsorship credits within your station promos:

“...sponsored in part by your friends at People’s Bank, City Pharmacy,

and XYZ Department Store.”

All sponsors are credited at various times on a rotating schedule.

No admission is charged.

Naturally, your station name will be prominently displayed everywhere.

You can call it “The Radio X Health Fair.”

Have station employees spread throughout the grounds, wearing distinctive



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garb or easy identifiables such as straw hats, to answer questions and be of

service to the public.

(Make sure all employees understand they are expected to act in a totallypleasant, friendly manner.)



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HIGH-LOW

This is an old radio classic.

Essentially what happens is callers try to guess the exact amount of the

station’s cash jackpot.

Each wrong guess is met by the jock saying, “No, that’s too high” or “No,

that’s too low.”

The idea is to keep listeners tuned to your station long enough to home in on

the exact amount in question.

Whoever correctly guesses the exact amount first wins that amount in cash.



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HOME SHOW

Put together a fairground deal with merchants’ booths, free admission, free

entertainment, etc.

The theme is “merchandise and services that have to do with the home.”

Merchants include furniture, gardening, carpet cleaning, paint, appliances, etc.

A good Spring promotion.

If some of the merchants give free demonstrations of handyman techniques,

you’re assured of a good turnout.



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HORSE RACE: HUMAN HORSE RACE

If your area has a race track, promote a race among station personalities,

news people, etc., held between two regular races at the track — with thecontestants riding not horses but bicycles (or roller skates, roller blades, or

adult tricycles).

During the week of the promotion, you qualify phone-in “bettors” who

choose the personality they think will win the race around the track.

All qualifying bettors automatically win free admission to the track that night.

After the race is run, a drawing is held from among the names of the bettors

who chose the winning personality.

The winner of the drawing gets a 10-speed bike (or a motorcycle or a car)

plus two season tickets to the track...with two runners-up also receiving

season tickets.

The drawing is held live at the track immediately after the race, with the

winner announced over the P.A. system.



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HOW DO YOU SPELL MUSIC?

Just like the class Rolaids commercial. (“I spell relief R-O-L-A-I-D-S.”)

Your station representatives hit the streets, asking people, “How do you spell

music?”

People who answer with your call letters win cash prizes.

Obviously, you can substitute “sports” or “talk” or “conversation” or

“news” for “music.”



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* HUMOR MONTH (varies)

Every day for the entire month, take one caller per hour to share a favorite

joke.

It must be clean enough to be aired, and it can’t be one that’s already been

aired during the contest.

To insure a relatively fresh batch of jokes, you might require the jokes to be

new to you.

If you know the joke already (not if you simply figure out the punchline),

interrupt the caller with a buzzer and finish it for him, thank him for trying,

and immediately go for another contestant.

Hourly winners get some handy, small electronic prize.

At the end of each week a drawing is held from the week’s winners to give

away a bigger prize.

At the end of the month, all hourly winners who haven’t won a weekly prize

go into a final drawing for an even bigger prize.



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I LOVE YOU (CITY)

This is another version of the block party idea.

Contestants say why they love your city, and the station comes out to the

winner’s home, sets up a barbecue, brings plenty of food & beverage, and

cooks for the winners and 40 neighbors.

They also bring picnic tables, a badminton set, croquet set, etc. — all of which

they leave with the winner when the party’s over.

And before they leave, they CLEAN UP everything — including scrubbing

down the grill.



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I LOVE YOU (CITY) MONTH

Get the mayor or city council to declare a month as “I Love You (City)

Month.”

Throughout the month, your station airs little vignettes spotlighting all the

reasons why people love your city.

Distribute t-shirts that spell out that message, right above your call letters.



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INCOME TAX: FREE INCOME TAX SERVICE

Tie in with a local accounting firm to award free calculating of income tax

returns to five winners (announcing one each day for a week).

Winners should be announced by early March, so there’ll be plenty of time to

get it done.

The accounting firm benefits from the free publicity as its name is constantly

being mentioned.

Note: Make sure the firm understands that:

1. There is to be no charge whatsoever to the winners.

2. Winners will not be hustled in & out. Full, complete attention will be paid

to their returns. (Explain to the firm that the goal is for each winner to

tell all their friends how wonderful their service was.)

3. Other than limiting it to personal returns (not business returns), there are

no other restrictions on eligibility. All five winners might file the 1040A

Short Form. On the other hand, one or more might have many

investments, property, etc. No matter how involved a winner’s return is,

though, it’s to be given a completely thorough preparation.



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INCOME TAXES: I.R.S. SPELLS DOLLARS

Your phone contestant must predict the order in which the letters “I,” “R,”

and “S” will come up in a prerecorded rotation.

(I, R and S, of course, stand for “Internal Revenue Service.”)

Winners get, say, $500 to help pay their taxes.

You’ll average one winner out of every six callers, assuming you select your

letter orders randomly.



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INCOME TAXES: LAST-MINUTE INCOME TAX RETURNERS

WRIE had station personnel at the local Post Office late on the afternoon of

April 15 — the last day for postmarking income tax returns.

They gave out coffee and donuts and commiserated with the people standing

in line, waiting to make sure their returns were postmarked April 15.

A trophy was given to the last person to mail a return before the Post Office

closed.



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THE “I’VE NEVER WON ANYTHING IN MY LIFE” CONTEST

KWST came up with a simple, fun contest.

To enter, the listener simply had to send in a postcard with a guess as to how

many total entries would be received.

The closest guess won.



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JAIL: GET ME OUT OF JAIL

Perhaps the most common variation on this promotion is for the local sheriff

to haul away the jock from her on-air show, lock her up in jail, and refuse torelease the jock until “bail” has been posted in the form of a minimum total

of charitable donations from listeners.

But KDON had a jock incarcerated in a “jail” formed by six-packs of soft

drinks.

When all the sodas were purchased by listeners, the jock was set free.

Presumably, the soda was donated by the bottler (most bottlers are eager to

build public image, due to the extreme competitiveness of their business), and

the total proceeds (not profits) were donated to some charity.



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JOB: I LOVE MY JOB BECAUSE....

WBMS’ Bobby O’Jay had listeners call in to say why they love their jobs.

A drawing was held among qualifiers to select a winner.

The Prize: A five-course candlelight lunch for the winner and nine co-

workers — complete with hostess, waiters, silver service, and a gourmet

menu selected by the winner.

Note: Be flexible with the nine co-workers rule: If there are ten or eleven

co-workers in the immediate office or plant area, it’s better to include them

than to create bad feeling among the fellow employees.



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JOKE-TELLING CHAMPIONSHIPS

You can tie this in with *National Joke Telling Week or simply hold it

whenever the fancy strikes you.

Take one or two telephone contestants each hour, with each contestant telling

a joke, and record each joke for use in the championship’s “finals.”

After each new entry, open the phone lines for five minutes and have listeners

call in and rate the preceding joke on a scale of 1 to 10.

Have someone field the calls, jotting down each numerical score for that

particular joke.

Accept entries for a week.

Your five highest scoring entries become your five finalists.

With a little ingenuity, you should be able to find some well-known comedian

or comic actor (e.g., one who comes from your part of the country) to pick

the winning entry on-air, with all five finalists being played for him on your

show.

If you can’t land a “big” celebrity, you always can put together a local

celebrity panel — the mayor, a local TV weathercaster, the local car dealer

whose commercials everyone hates, etc.

Have them assign each joke a score from 1 to 10, then tally up the votes and



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declare your winner.

Suggested Prizes:

1. Fly the winner & guest to the taping of a hit TV comedy.

2. Feature the winner’s photograph and winning joke on your website...and

in a full-page newspaper ad.

3. Put together a package of joke-oriented prizes: whoopee cushions,

dribble glasses, etc.



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CASEY JONES’ BIRTHDAY (March 14)

The Contest: Callers are asked to fill in the blank, each being given a

railroad-related question.

Example: “The wreck of the old _______.”

A) 19

B) 97

C) Grey Mare

D) Mississippi

(The answer, of course, is “97.”)

The Prize: An exotic train journey...or an electric train set!



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JUKEBOX

Here’s a way to build quarter-hours by putting a twist to the old favorite of

giving away a jukebox filled with oldies.

A typical old (circa 1960s) jukebox holds 40 records. Convert that to 40 CDs

-- either oldies or current hit artists.

Assign each CD a specific jukebox number (e.g., A12, B3, etc.).

Over the course of a week, every hour play a cut from one of the Jukebox

CDs and announce its Jukebox Number.

This will allow each CD to be identified several times during the week, along

with many promos for the following week.

During the second week, schedule giveaways based on the correct caller

identifying the jukebox number of the following song — which comes from

one of the Jukebox CDs.

At the end of the second week, hold a drawing from faxed or e-mailed

entries, giving the first contestant who identifies all 40 (title & artist) in order

the jukebox, fully stocked with CDs.



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KITE FLY IN THE PARK

Just what it says.

Your station provides free food, parking, and entertainment one Sunday

afternoon for a family kite flying event, with prizes for the highest flyer, most

original, prettiest, biggest, smallest, youngest flyer, oldest flyer.



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K-TEL STYLE PROMO SPOT

WNRS produced some promo spots that imitate the classic K-Tel style of

record advertising, using the types of hit songs the station programs.

At the end of the spots — just when the listeners were expecting to hear

where they should send their money — came the tag line that they could get

all that music for free, “right here on WNRS.”

WNRS made two different spots: “Country Gold” (highlighting their oldies)

and “Million Dollar Music” (highlighting current hits).

A clever idea.

Just don’t overexpose the bogus spots (to avoid the annoyance factor of the

real ones on which they’re based).



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LET’S MAKE A DEAL

Your telephone contestant selects one of a dozen envelopes.

The jock opens the envelope and reveals the prize that is contained within.

The caller then can choose to keep the prize or to trade it for another

envelope.

Throughout the run of the contest, the big prizes are heavily promoted on-air,

which gives the callers an incentive to give up a smaller prize in the hopes of

trading for a bigger one.

Naturally, some callers will trade a modest prize for what turns out to be a

real clunker — which just adds to the fun.



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LISTENER PROFILES

Promote your station by profiling interesting & respected persons in your

community who listen regularly.

Create audio spots along the lines of:

“Jim Smith loves a challenge. That’s probably why he became a cop, and

that’s probably why he spends his weekends racing formula cars. His life is

never dull, and he doesn’t expect his radio station to be dull, either...which

is why he listens to Radio X.”

Back this up with ads in your local newspaper and space on your website,

featuring much the same copy and a photo of the listener.

Feature a new profile once or twice each week, with earlier ones going into a

slower rotation.



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MAPS: ROAD MAPS

In the old days, road maps were given away for free by gas stations

everywhere.

Now, of course, those maps cost two or three bucks each — and many

people resist paying for something they formerly received for free.

Why not print up your own city road maps, complete with plenty of

promotional advertising for your station and, if you wish, paid advertising

from participating clients?

Do it for profit, or sell just enough advertising to pay for the printing....and

give the maps away to listeners.



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MARBLES TOURNAMENT

KVOO sponsored a tournament among the mayors of five area towns.

During the week preceding the contest, you can broadcast recorded “trash

talk” predictions from the competing mayors, boasting about how they’ll

demolish their foes.

Before the big match, you might interview each opponent to learn about any

secret strategies they might have.

Play-by-play broadcast should be fun, too.



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MARCHING BAND: THE RADIO X MARCHING BAND

This has been done many times over the years, but it’s still new to many

markets.

The idea is to hold an official parade (complete with parade permits) to

celebrate either a well-known holiday or one of your own device.

Anyone who wants to can join the parade — on the condition that each

person carries a transistor radio tuned to your station’s frequency...which

plays march music especially for the parade.



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MASCOT: THE SECRET MASCOT

This is for stations trying to sew up the teen audience.

It’s a typical prerecorded sounds set-up, with the telephone (or live, in-studio)

contestant attempting to guess which high school mascot will come up next.

The prerecordings are of appropriate sound effects for all the local school

mascots (tigers, bulldogs, etc.).

Teen interest should be piqued by the “school spirit” competitive aspect of it.



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MAYOR: HAVE THE MAYOR CO-HOST YOUR SHOW

The idea is the mayor actually plays disc jockey — reading commercials,

selecting the music (some of which he might even bring in from home),giving sports scores, taking calls on-air.

You’re there too, of course, to handle any emergencies and to kibbutz the

mayor’s handling of your show.

This will be a nice change of pace for you, fun for your audience, and

(hopefully) both fun and good PR for the mayor.

Hint: Be sure to notify the newspapers in advance, so they can send a

photographer.



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MAYOR: IF THE MAYOR HAS CO-HOSTED

THE COMPETITION’S SHOW...

...Then it would be silly for you simply to repeat the concept.

But you can use that fact to create a very funny event:

Have some less exalted office-holder co-host your show — for example, the

head of the city’s Sanitation Department.

Explain to your audience that another station in town had the mayor on, but

this was the best you could do.

In honor of your guest, you might even have a ready supply of garbage

related songs (“Don’t Throw Your Love Away,” “I Gave My Heart To The

Junkman,” “Come And Get It,” etc.).



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MINIATURE GOLF TOURNAMENT

Here’s another promotion which can benefit a charity, this time using the

facilities of a local miniature golf course.

Charge a $5 entry fee, and have divisions such as male, female, senior

citizens, etc., with a winner (low score) for each division.

Offer each division winner a choice of three good prizes (e.g., set of golf

clubs, weekend vacation for two, home entertainment center) plus an extra

prize for the grand prize winner (the person with the single lowest score of all

divisions) — perhaps $500 cash.

You also can throw in a free Coke for everyone who finishes, a station t-shirt

for everyone who shoots par or better, and a free CD a week for a year from

a local music store for anyone who makes a hole-in-one.



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THE MISSING BEATLES (or substitute your artist) SONG

For a weekend, your format is going to be ignored.

WHCN played every Beatles song — except one — in alphabetical order.

The first listener to call in and identify the missing song won an entire Beatles

library.

Don’t take calls, though, until all the songs have been played.

The great thing here is your quarter-hours will be strengthened by long-term

listening (which is necessary to win, unless a listener just happens to hear the

two songs that surround the missing one).

If you pick the right superstar for your format, your non-playing listeners also

should enjoy it.

Bonus Tip: You might also throw in a fancy sound system for your winner

to play her new CD library on.



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MOBILE SEA CRUISER

WYRE purchased a 53-foot yacht that is used for reports on weather & water

conditions, covers boating events, hosts remote broadcasts, and simply is seenby the considerable segment of their audience that indulges in boating.



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THE RADIO X MONEY MACHINE

Here’s a very original idea used by WKY.

They qualified contestants all week long.

(The method doesn’t matter; they used a variation of identifying the last three

songs played.)

On Saturday, all qualifiers met at a local bank’s automated teller machine.

Each contestant was given a differently coded ATM card, which he then

inserted and waited for the cash payoff.

Minimum amount was $20; maximum was $5,000.

If your budget is smaller, use a $20 minimum and one $500 maximum each

Saturday.

Hint: Tie in with a multi-branch bank and spend each successive Saturday

at a different branch, making for a multi-week promotion.



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MONEY MELTDOWN

A couple of hundred silver dollars are frozen in a huge block of ice, which is

put on display at a sponsor location.

Contestants register by filling out forms at the sponsor’s location, guessing

exactly when the ice will be totally melted.

The contestant with the closest correct guess wins the silver dollars.

The runner-up gets the melted ice!



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MONEY MOUTH

The rules are simple:

Each telephone contestant is assigned a topic to talk about for a set length of

time (one minute, or your frequency translated into seconds, etc.).

For each second the contestant talks without saying “uh,” “um, “and” (and

any other conversational crutches you’d care to identify), the contestant gets

one dollar.

The topic isn’t announced until the contestant is on-air.

Choose offbeat, fun topics that will test the imaginativeness of your

contestants — e.g., housebreaking a water buffalo, building things out of

seaweed, etc.



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MONEY TUBE

Another retail traffic builder.

A typical money tube is made of plastic, measures 7 feet tall, and is mounted

on a 2-foot base.

Your contestant enters the tube, and a fan blows several hundred dollar bills

all around her.

She has X-number of minutes (or seconds) to shove as many bills as possible

through a six-inch hole in front of her.

She keeps however much she manages to push outside of the tube.

Sure, it sounds crazy.

But wouldn’t you go down to your local shopping mall to see it?



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MOTHER’S DAY: MOMS ON-THE-AIR

Your jocks share their air shifts with their own mothers.

The mothers get to pick their own music, reminisce about the jocks’

childhoods, answer “personal” questions about their DJ children by taking

on-air phone calls from listeners....



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MOTHER’S DAY: NAME THAT MOM

Your listeners hear the recorded voice of a woman, telling all about what her

son/daughter was like as a child.

To win, the contestant must correctly guess which jock’s mother it is.



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MOVIES: CHEAP MONDAY NIGHT MOVIES

Arrange with a local theater to charge half-price (or a cheaper price built

around your frequency) all evening long, showing the regularly scheduledmovie.

The theater profits by filling the house on its slowest evening of the week —

and raking in the profits at the concession counter.



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MOVIES: MIDNIGHT MOVIES FOR CHARITY

WQZI featured classic movies at a couple of local theaters on weekends, with

the proceeds going to local charities.

You should be able to get the theaters free for the on-air mentions, with the

theater keeping the concession profits.

Charge just a few dollars to get in (or a small amount tied to your frequency,

of course).



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MOVIES: MORNING MOVIE PREMIERE

Lots of stations promote movie premieres.

But here’s a way to have lots of people talking about your event all day long.

Arrange for a special “premiere” of a new movie the morning of the day the

film opens locally.

By “morning,” I mean as early as 6:00AM!

You should be able to get the theater without charge in exchange for all the

advance publicity you’ll be giving the film’s opening.

You could serve coffee and donuts.

Or you could arrange a trade with your local McDonald’s to provide their

mini-breakfasts.

Yes, a movie at 6AM is a weird idea.

But you know that every one of your winners (who are selected all during

the previous week) will be talking about it — and about your station — when

they arrive at work or school immediately after attending the premiere.

Note: It’s possible that quite a few people will qualify for the screening but

decide not to show up due to the early hour. To discourage no-shows, youmight consider holding a couple of big prize drawings at the screening.



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MOVIE EXTRAS

Keep in close touch with your local Chamber of Commerce.

Eventually a motion picture will be filmed somewhere relatively near you.

Contact the film’s production company and see if you can arrange to award

as a contest prize a job as an extra (e.g., in a crowd scene) for a day.

Everyone wants to be in the movies, and the subject matter is ripe for lots of

station exploitation.



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MUG YOUR BOSS

KBPI asked listeners to submit the names of their bosses.

Names were read each morning, and bosses who heard their names and

called the station within a specified time frame received a KBPI coffee mug

— plus a mug for the person who entered his or her name.



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MUSIC QUIZ: MULTI-STEP MUSIC QUIZ

Musical trivia quizzes are nothing new.

But you can make it more exciting by challenging your listeners with a 5-step

quiz.

One incorrect answer and the contestant loses; each question is successively

harder.

The contestant can stop at any time and keep the money she already has won

without going on to the next question.

Sample amounts: $10; $50; $100; $250; $500



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MYSTERY HOUSE

WLEE gave clues as to the exact location & address of their mystery house.

Contestants entered by picking up a pre-printed postcard at any of the local

McDonald’s restaurants.

On each card was printed the message:

“Is this the WLEE Mystery House? Listen to WLEE for details.”

When a listener thought he knew which house it was, he mailed the card to

that house.

Naturally, many cards were mailed by listeners to non-mystery houses —

which undoubtedly caused many of the people who received the cards to

tune in WLEE and find out just what the heck was going on.



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MYSTERY WHISPERER

KING added a couple of clever twists to the old Mystery Voice contest.

They had a mystery celebrity guarding their vault.

They broadcast the celebrity’s whisper and clues each day.

Contestants registered (mail, e-mail, fax), and when their names were drawn

on-air, they had a certain amount of time to call in.

When they called in, they were given the choice of taking a small cash award

(in KING’s case, $11) or trying to guess the mystery voice in the hopes of

winning the big cash jackpot.

With each wrong guess, another $11 was added to the jackpot.



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MYSTERY: RADIO MYSTERY CHALLENGE

There used to be (perhaps there still is) a syndicated Ellery Queen contest

that involved setting up a crime, giving details & clues, and having acontestant solve the mystery either by pointing out the vital inconsistency in

an alibi or by logically eliminating all the other suspects.

You can create & produce your own mystery contest along the same lines,

having some creative staff member (or hiring a local freelance professional)

write a 90-second script, recording it with station talent, and tying it all up

with your fictional detective’s voiceover.

Play the hour’s episode once, and then later in the hour take a phone

contestant and replay the mystery. If they solve it, they win the prize.

You might well consider selling the promotion to a sponsor; call it “The

(McDonald’s) Radio Mystery Challenge.”

After playing the episode, give the contestant 30 seconds to think about the

answer while you play the sponsor’s spot.

The solutions should be intelligent but not overly tricky or obscure — clever

enough to be challenging, but easy enough so that the average intelligent

adult will have a pretty good chance of winning. In this contest, you’ll want

to have perhaps 60% winners.

After the spot, the contestant gives her solution.



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Meanwhile, the jock has two prerecorded responses ready.

The wrong response triggers a recording of the fictional *detective saying

something like, “I’m sorry. That’s a good guess, but I’m afraid you’rewrong on this one.”

If the contestant is right, the detective continues the story, exposing the true

culprit and verifying that the caller indeed is correct.

*I am not suggesting that you use the name “Ellery Queen” — or any other

trademarked or copyrighted name.



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NAME THAT SONG

Here’s a natural for music stations, and it’s mostly self-explanatory.

Start with a large jackpot which can be won by the first contestant naming

the song (either a current hit or an oldie) after hearing just the first note.

If your frequency is 102.7, you might offer $1,027 for naming the tune in one

note.

If the first contestant can’t do it, next hour you go to two notes for $102.70.

The following hour you go to three notes for $10.27, which remains the prize

(even as you add more and more notes as clues) until you get a winner.



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NEW YEAR’S DAY

During the week before New Year’s, set up a voice mail system to record

New Year’s resolutions from your listeners.

Have each caller give his name, address and phone number, followed by a

resolution.

On New Year’s Day, play back the resolutions (without the addresses and

phone numbers), once per half-hour.

Each person has X-number of minutes to call in after hearing his own voice

to win a prize.



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ON TOUR WITH (GROUP)

You’ll need to know well in advance the touring schedule of a super-hot

recording act.

Take callers hourly, and arrange a random selection method of selecting one

of the following prizes:

• The act’s latest CD

• Cash (in various amounts)

• A library of all the act’s recordings

• Concert tickets and a trip for two to one of the cities on the tour

When that last choice comes up — the big prize — it’ll be for a specific

city/concert...and at the end of the promotion, you’ll have given away trips to

all of the cities on the tour.



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ONE-ARMED BANDIT

Take a contestant via telephone, announce the prize up for grabs that hour,

and have the contestant choose one of the jocks’ names to come up winnersin the slot machine.

If all three slots on the machine come up with that jock’s name, the caller

wins the prize.

Example: If the contestant picks “Bobby Rivers” and the One-Armed

Bandit — after appropriate sound effects and in a prerecorded mechanical

voice — reads out “Bobby Rivers, Dave Daniels, Bobby Rivers,” there’s

no winner that hour.

But if all three are the same jock — and that jock was selected by the

contestant — then the caller wins.

Hint: Don’t make the three consecutive names come up too rarely. Have

lots of prizes, some small, some larger — with the grand prize probably being

a trip to Las Vegas.



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OLDIES: RADIO X BECOMES A THING OF THE PAST

This one has worn well through the years.

Promote heavily for a week:

“On Saturday, May 1, Radio X becomes a thing of the past.”

On Friday, add “at 12 noon” to the teaser.

Don’t allow the jocks to ad-lib anything about the promo, and politely tell

callers that you’re not allowed to reveal anything more and that it all will be

explained at noon Saturday.

Naturally, your listeners will think your station is going off the air or changing

formats.

When noon Saturday rolls around, you very dramatically announce:

“It’s 12:00. And now Radio X becomes a thing of the past. For the next 48

hours we’ll be playing nothing but the biggest rock & roll (whatever your

format is) hits of the past 25 years...a fantastic journey through countless

musical memories...as Radio X becomes a thing of the past.”

Highlight the weekend with old station jingles and news reports, drop-ins

from long-gone former jocks, etc.



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OLDIES: YOUR OLDIES BUT GOODIES CONTEST

Listeners send in postcards (or enter online) featuring their favorite oldies by

title & artist, one per card.

Stipulate that only oldies in your “active” library (i.e., oldies you’d be

reasonably likely to play anyway) will be selected at random for airplay.

Each card also lists the entrant’s Oldies Computer Code — which consists of

the person’s initials and the first three digits of her street address.

Example: Mary Smith of 365 Main Street would have a Computer Code of

MS356.

If there are fewer than three digits in the street address, fill in the missing

digits with zeroes. Thus, Bob Johnson of 2 Palm Avenue becomes BJ200.

Have your Oldies Computer play X-number of records per hour, identifying

each with its own Computer Code.

The person who contributed that particular oldie and whose code is

announced has X-number of minutes to call in and identify herself.

(Obviously, entrants must include their actual address in their entries.)

Suggested Prizes:

$200 worth of CDs from a local music shop

$300 cashWeekly award of an oldies-filled CD jukebox



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OLYMPICS: THE RADIO X OLYMPICS

Legal Warning: “Olympics” is trademarked, and they protect that

trademark vigorously. So you’ll want to come up with your own appropriatealternative name: “Radio X Summer Games,” etc.

Schedule exciting events such as:

• The Potato Chip Discus Throw

• The Ping Pong Ball Shot Put

• The 20-Yard Crawl

• The Backward Broad Jump

• The Marshmallow Lift & Jerk (object is to lift the most marshmallows

without dropping any)

• The Rubber Ducky Swimming Meet (held in an above-ground pool, with

contestants splashing the water to propel their duckies).

Undoubtedly you can come up with more, equally silly events.



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OUTRAGEOUS: THE MOST OUTRAGEOUS CONTEST

By now this has been done (and overdone) by many stations.

When KYUU did it — before it had become so commonplace — they gave

away a pound of gold to the person or persons performing the most

outrageous feat.

Entries included a couple who volunteered to be married in a swimming pool,

wearing scuba gear.

Another offered to dress up as a sheep and walk through the financial district,

handing out bottles of Woolite.

One hundred semi-finalists were chosen.

Our of those, the five best suggestions were chosen to be performed by the

contestants who submitted them.

Three top (and substantial) prizes were awarded.



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OYSTER SHUCKING CONTEST

WGAR qualified ten listeners to compete by shucking up to 12 oysters within

ten minutes.

The fastest time wins — or, if no one shucks all 12 in ten minutes, the most

shucked wins.



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PARDON ANNIVERSARY: I BEG YOUR PARDON (September 8)

September 8, 1974, is the day U.S. President Gerald Ford pardoned former

president Richard Nixon for any and all crimes he committed while in office.

KVI’s morning host, Hardwick, commemorated the anniversary of this

occasion by inviting his listeners to call in and confess their own personal

crimes: lies, petty crimes, etc.

Believe it or not, many people actually will feel a sense of relief to have

confessed to things that’ve been bothering them for years — especially when

you “officially” pardon them after hearing their dark secrets.



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PARKING: FREE PARKING

Send a couple of part-timers to crowded downtown parking areas, looking

for cars parked in front of expired meters.

When they find one, they put in a quarter for another half hour of parking,

and they slip a brightly colored card under the windshield wiper, explaining

that the person’s meter had expired but you put another coin in for them.

One station went so far as to print up slips resembling parking tickets, only

they read, “NOT A TICKET! Your friends at Radio X noticed your meter

had expired, so....”

Note: Believe it or not, in some cities it is illegal for a person to put money

into another driver’s parking meter. Check with your local ordinances before

embarking on this promotion.



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PETS: RADIO X FEEDS YOUR FURRY FRIENDS

This uses a rotating recording set-up, with three different sound effects:

barking dog, meowing cat, chirping bird.

Your telephone contestant guesses which will come up next (guesses being

based, probably, on the types of pets the callers happen to have).

If the contestant’s guess matches that hour’s recorded animal, he wins a one-

year supply of that type of animal food.

Note: Obviously, many of your listeners have pets. But this contest will

appeal for many non-pet owners, too, because undoubtedly they have friends

who’d be glad to receive a free supply of food.



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PHOTO CONTEST

Contestants enter their own photographs of your city, with professional

photographers selecting the winners.

Award winning pictures are prominently displayed at a local bank.

Have it sponsored by Kodak, Fuji, HP Printers, etc.



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PICNIC: THE HIDDEN PICNIC

WIP held a huge picnic for listeners, featuring food, games, prizes, etc.

But they never said exactly where the picnic was going to be held. Instead,

they gave clues as to its location.

At first the clues were pretty nebulous, but as the hour of the picnic

approached the clues became extremely obvious — so that by the time of the

picnic everyone knew where it was.

Example of Extremely Easy Clue: If it’s being held at, say, Kelly Park, one

of the easy clues would be, “It’ll be in a park, and the name of the park

rhymes with ‘Shelly.’ ”



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PINBALL TOURNAMENT

Your station reserves two or three machines in a video arcade.

Contestants (anyone who walks in and wants to try) pay the standard 50¢ (or

however much it is) and give it their best shots.

The arcade management verifies all new “high” scores and posts them on the

wall above the machines.

The competition is promoted for a couple of weeks.

All money paid to the machine goes to charity, and the arcade gets lots of

free publicity & goodwill (and $ action on their other machines from all the

traffic).

The top dozen scorers meet to determine the Pinball Wizard of them all.

The winner gets a brand new pinball machine — and a trophy.



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PLAY ’EM AGAIN

KIIS-FM advised listeners to tune in at 7:40 Monday morning, at which time

the jock would play three songs in a row.

The object of the contest was to keep listening until the station again played

those same three songs in a row, in the same order...at which point the

first caller to claim the prize was awarded $50,000!

In order to keep your audience listening over such an extended period of time

(The Big Three weren’t repeated that same day), you’ve got to offer a big

cash prize.

Maybe not $50,000 but certainly not less than $5,000 for smaller markets.



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POP OFF

A version of this was done by KRBC.

Listeners called in to “pop off” about some pet peeve of theirs and were

rewarded with cases of soda pop.

I don’t know exactly how KRBC worked it, but a likely way would be to

have an answering machine take contestants’ pop-offs, along with their names

& telephone numbers.

When later they hear their pop-offs being aired, they’ll have a time limit

within which to call in and identify their pop-offs and win.



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* POPCORN POPPIN’ MONTH (October)

The Prize: A large selection of flavored popcorns, which you probably can

find locally or regionally. There are dozens of popcorn flavors for popcornaficionados, and by its very nature it’s a fun prize.

Alternative Prizes: Popcorn poppers...or how about two large tubs of

popcorn at a local movie theatre, along with a pair of movie tickets?



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POTHOLE PATROL

This was devised by WRFC’s Gerry Marshall.

When the potholes miraculously appear with the arrival of Spring, have your

listeners call in to report particularly bad ones.

Put them on the air, chat with them, sympathize.

Gerry used the “Crimebusters” cut from the Cheap Radio Thrills

production CDs as theme music.

No prizes here, although you might hand out bumper stickers (or badges!)

that say, “I’m A Radio X Pothole Patrol Spotter.”



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THE PRICE IS RIGHT

Here’s a creative idea used by WERC.

They got together with a catalog showroom (i.e., a retailer that has both a

catalog and a bricks-and-mortar store), and every 15 minutes the jock would

describe an item in the catalog — without quoting the price.

After adding half a dozen or so items to the prize packages (which means

after six quarter-hours have passed), the jock takes two callers and puts them

on the air.

He then adds one more prize to the package and has the contestants guess

the total retail cash value of the package.

The contestant who guesses closest to the exact total wins a store gift

certificate in that amount.



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PRIZE TRUCK (BY ZIP CODES)

Your station Prize Truck travels all over your primary coverage area,

dispersing goodies to listeners who are advised of new truck locations via on-air announcements.

Zip Codes are used to target your visits to areas of the community where you

hope to improve your ratings (based upon examinations of previous ratings

diaries).

Each hour you announce the Zip Codes that your truck will be visiting next.

Example: “If you live or work in areas that include Zip Codes 10020

through 10025, the Radio X Prize Truck is on its way to you now!”

Promoting upcoming visits that way personally involves each listener, as they

listen to hear their own Zip Codes.

As silly as it might sound, it gives them more of a personal stake in the

giveaways; everyone knows their own Zip Codes — the key word is “their.”

It’s something of their own.

(Just as you take special note of a movie featuring a hometown actor — even

though you never knew the person — or following a professional athlete’s

career just because he grew up near your hometown.)

Typical Prizes: T-shirts, CDs, movie or concert passes, etc.



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PROM NIGHT

Lots of stations have put on sock hops. Why not feature a nostalgic “prom

night” right around the time your local high schools are having theirs?

Charge $10 admission, to be donated to charity, and feature live music from

the ’70s and ’80s, encouraging guests to dress the way they did back in high

school.

As a bonus, at the prom you might hold a drawing for a vintage automobile

from that era.



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* PUBLIC RELATIONS WEEK (May)

This is a fun thing for one of your jocks to do, instead of being a station

contest.

To kick off the week, have a local public relations expert come in and —

completely tongue-in-cheek — offer suggestions for improving your image:

how to play more impressive music, how to give the weather forecast in a

way that’s more pleasing to the public, etc.

You’ll need to find somebody with a very good sense of humor but who will

play it completely deadpan.



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CDs: IMAGINARY MUSIC STORE

KZZX gave away the album of the winner’s choice, but they spiced it up

with sound effects of a busy record store.

Before going on-air, callers would be urged to play along and act amazed by

the incredible selection of CDs in the KZZX Music Store, finally choosing

one, which they then took to the cash register.

Suggestion: Throw in a periodic surprise cash bonus.

When the contestant’s chosen CD is recorded on the cash register (i.e., cash

register SFX), every once in a while have the SFX include a loud bell or siren

going off, indicating that the contestant gets to make a grab from the Radio X

cash drawer.

Instruct the contestant to reach in and grab a fistful of bills...and then have the

pre-recorded check-out clerk total up the winnings.



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CDs: RECORD RUN

Your contest winner is set loose in a music store with a specified amount of

time to grab all the CDs she can carry out to the starting point (entrance tothe store).



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REPEAT: WE NEVER REPEAT OURSELVES, WE NEVER

REPEAT OURSELVES

Obviously, you need to have a large playlist to be able to pull this one off.

During one entire week, your station never plays a song twice...with one

exception.

At the end of the week, listeners send in postcards listing the song they

believe was repeated.

A drawing is held from among the correct entries, and a huge prize is

awarded.



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RIVER CLEAN-UP

KIDO passed out rubber tubes to listeners who went into the water to gather

up hundreds of discarded beer cans.

KIDO tied in the promotion with Coors beer (which presumably redeemed

the recyclable cans for cash).

Prizes can be awarded for the most cans turned in.



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ST. PATRICK’S DAY: GREEN CARNATIONS

WHBC distributed thousands of green carnations to area residents.

An interesting twist is that they hired Manpower employees to hand them out

(a good idea, good way to help the community).

WHBC included a card with each carnation.

Idea: Distribute green paper carnations with your call letters embossed on

them.



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ST. PATRICK’S DAY: TRIP TO IRELAND

WOR hired four young women, dressed them up as leprechauns, and had

them distribute postcards that served as entry forms.

Typical contest rules most likely would be as follows:

Jocks select an entry every so often and allow X-number of minutes to call in

and win.

The first person to do so wins the trip.

Don’t have that big a budget?

Give away a station-catered St. Patrick’s Day Party.

Or shower the winner with St. Patrick’s Day Green: 1,000 one-dollar bills.



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SANDWICH: THE WORLD’S BIGGEST SANDWICH

(OR PIZZA, ETC.)

Staff members — with the help of various local food merchants — assemblea record-breaking submarine sandwich, hamburger, or other food of your

choice in a high traffic shopping location.

Check with THE GUINNESS BOOK OF WORLD RECORDS to see what

you need to do to qualify for official consideration.

Then — after the newspapers and TV crews complete their coverage — sell

pieces of your creation to passersby, with the proceeds going to charity.



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SAY WHEN

Your jock plays a prerecorded list of prizes on-air, with the phone-in

contestant telling the jock when to stop by “saying when.”

The list consists of a variety of prizes, large and small.

The catch is that the listener gets the prize that comes immediately after he

says to stop.



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SCHOOL: TEACHER SALUTES

This should be easy to sell to an institutional client.

When the new school season begins, your station airs a series of salutes to

area teachers — two salutes per hour for a week or two.

Each salute contains the names of three teachers, each teaching the same

subject.

Example: “Radio X and City Bank salute three outstanding science

teachers returning to school this week: Ed Smith at Riverdale High;

Edwina Jones at Fairfield Elementary; and Roger Rogers over at Lincoln

Middle School.”

Remember, everyone likes hearing their names on the radio — even

teachers.



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SCRABBLE: RADIO SCRABBLE

Have contestants solve scrambled mystery words that pertain to an overall

theme.

Example:

The theme is baseball.

The prize is two season tickets for a local team’s home games.

The first scrambled word might be “Crackerjacks,” and the first clue consists

of three letters: s, r, r.

If there’s no winner in the first round or two, add another letter: s, r, r, a...and

keep going until someone guesses the word.

Your quarter-hour shares will be helped by people listening continually not

only to enter but also to hear incorrect guesses (which might lead them to the

correct answer).



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SCRAMBLED CALL LETTERS

A twist on the old “scrambled songs,” this requires listeners to identify the hit

songs from which a new station “jingle” is composed.

To make it really challenging, look for parts of words that can be used to

make letters.

Example: WABC might come from the following:

W — “double” plus “you”

A — the second half of the second syllable of “away”

B — the first syllable of “because”

C — the second syllable of “mercy”

All of those words, of course, are taken from hit songs.

Contestants must identify the song title & artist in the order they appear.



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SCRAMBLED COMMERCIALS

This also is similar to the traditional “Scrambled Songs” contest, but KFKA

did it with commercials!

Listeners had to identify each of five pieces of commercials currently running

on the station.

Sponsors whose commercials were used paid extra to be in the promotion.

Listeners were given extra clues by the fact that participating sponsors hung

special “Super Business Flags” at their stores.

(With a series of five 5-spot scrambles, a total of 25 sponsors would be flying

the flags.)

Each store also contributed $100 gift certificates.

Puzzle winners received gift certificates from all five of the businesses they

correctly identified.



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SCRAMBLED SONGS

Listeners hear a brief montage of pieces of five songs (current hits or oldies).

Each hour, one caller is given the chance to identify all five songs and win a

big prize.

This is a classic radio promotion that is “old hat” to radio pros but which

might be fresh to your listeners.



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SECRET SOUND

Instead of using the rather dull generic name, you might opt for something

along the lines of “Sounds of The City” or “Sounds of (Your City).”

Callers attempt to identify such sounds as a traffic signal control box clicking

from red to green; a car wash; coins being inserted into a parking meter.



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SECRET WORD

Tell your call-in contestant the hour’s subject and give her a time limit (96

seconds, etc.) in which to say the secret word.

Example:

The subject is baseball; the secret word is “bleachers” (a rather difficult one

to guess).

Or the word might be “umpire” (an easier one to guess).

If the contestant doesn’t win, award a consolation prize, tell her what the

secret word was, and move on to a new subject & word the following hour.

This one should be fun both to listen to and to enter.



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SECRETARY’S DAY

KWLO came up with a clever way to celebrate * Professional Secretary’s

Day.

They placed ads in the local newspaper, asking secretaries to mail in their

names & places of employment for a drawing.

The Twist: The ad was written entirely in shorthand, so only a secretary

would be likely to know what it said!

Suggestion: Announce the winner’s names on-the-air, with the ad having

advised them to listen on that day and that if they heard their names read and

they called within the hour, they’d win a box of candy and a bouquet of

flowers.



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SERIAL NUMBER HIGH/LOW

This is the old High/Low game, with the sought-after number being not a

cash total but the serial number of an actual large denomination bill — e.g.,a thousand-dollar bill.

The first caller tries to guess the first digit; if correct, he goes on to the second

digit, and so on until he misses a digit.

When incorrect, the jock says “high” or “low,” depending upon the guess,

and awards a consolation prize.

The idea here is that to win, people have to keep listening for long periods of

time to zero in on the entire number.

With a prize that big, it can be very exciting.

You’ll need several bills, of course — at least five.

If you can afford only hundred-dollar bills (for example), then give each caller

a maximum of three consecutive wrong guesses, each time saying “high” or

“low.”

Two wrong guesses followed by a correct guest allows the contestant to

continue; the contestant continues until making three consecutive incorrect

guesses.



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SHRIMP FUNDRAISER

Van Harden of KRNT left Des Moines, Iowa, for Galveston, Texas, where he

bought 3.5 tons of shrimp at the local price of $1.38 per pound (Galveston ison the Gulf of Mexico), drove it back in a refrigerated truck, and sold it to

listeners for $3.25 per pound (about a third of the local price).

All profits went to the Kidney Fund — in this case, over $12,000.

A very clever promotion which pleases everyone except the local shrimp

sellers.



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SISTER CITY: ANNEX A SISTER CITY

Pick out a small town in your area that has a counterpart in another state or

country.

Examples: Humboldt, Saskatchewan, Canada and Humboldt, Tennessee,

USA. Or Selma, Alabama, and Selma, California.

Casually refer to the counterpart one day on-the-air and remark that perhaps

the two cities should join together.

Gradually promote this idea — all tongue-in-cheek, of course — until itbecomes a full-fledged campaign. You shouldn’t have much trouble getting

the local mayor to endorse the idea — and maybe the city council will pass a

resolution supporting it, too.

Then you can call the far-away mayor on-the-air and pitch him the idea.

Have station personnel circulate petitions locally, which you can present in an

official ceremony at City Hall. (Be sure to notify the newspapers for goodcoverage.)

If you wish, you can tie in a contest in which the grand prize is a trip to the

far-away counterpart. In fact, you could coordinate with a radio station there

and exchange visitors, both sets of whom would be given royal welcomes

upon arrival.

You don’t have to be in a big market to do this. In fact, the smaller the cities,

the more fun the concept.



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SKI: FREE (OR CHEAP) SKI BUS

Your station runs a bus from your city to the nearest big ski resort each

weekend, keeping to a regular schedule.

To help prevent people from fighting over too few seats, you can have each

person reserve a maximum of two two seats on preceding weekdays, at $5

per seat — with the $5 charge not being refundable if the person doesn’t

show up.



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SKI CORRALS

You can win friends by solving the problem of where skiers leave their skis

during their meal break.

Checkers in station sweaters take the skis and apply gummed logo decals with

matching numbers, one to the skis and one to the owner’s ski pants.

The area should be flagged with signs bearing your call letters, making for a

highly visible image builder.



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SKY REPORTS

No, not Ski Report.

No, not traffic reports from the sky.

WDHA began reporting on what to watch for each weekend in the local skies

— comets, stars, orbiting spacecraft, etc.

They used a local amateur astronomer; you might be able to find an “expert”

from a nearby university.

Even for those not at all interested in astronomy, if done well it should be

interesting to listen to.



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SMILE DAY

Variations of this event sponsored by KEX have been done over the years.

Senior citizens and children were admitted free to a local zoo, where they

were given free dental check-ups by dentists and dental hygienists who

volunteered their time.

A very worthwhile public service promotion.

Hint: Give out toothbrushes (first being careful to check with dentists to

determine the best type) bearing your station name, e.g., “RADIO X helps

me start each day with a SMILE!”



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SMOKEOUT: THE GREAT AMERICAN SMOKEOUT

(Third Thursday of November)

Sponsored by the American Cancer Society, this is a day for smokers toattempt to give up the habit...if only for a day.

Have the Society provide you with a list of concise reasons why it’s a good

idea to quit smoking:

Example: “Smokers are 20 times more likely to die of lung cancer than

are non-smokers.” (I made up that figure, just as an example.)

Then go to a local elementary school and have children record the reasons,

one per child.

Keep recording until you’re sure you’ve got one good version of each

reason.

On the day of the smokeout, feature one of those reasons each half-hour,

billboarded by the station’s recorded message which encourages smokers to

fight the good fight.

Get the American Cancer Society to sponsor the whole thing, and you’ve got

some interesting PSA time logged. (And you can bet the kids’ parents won’t

mind hearing their children on the radio.)

Hints: Don’t identify the kids by name. Just identify the school where they

all were recorded. And don’t use children on-the-air unless you canunderstand them perfectly.



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SNAKE RACES

This is just a silly, fun event.

The most likely rules would call for snakes to be placed in the center of a

large circle, with the winner being the one to reach the perimeter of the circle

first.

Make sure you specify non-poisonous snakes only!



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SPORTS CARDS (BASEBALL, FOOTBALL, BASKETBALL, ETC.)

WPLO and Coca Cola issued baseball cards of Atlanta ballplayers.

Each card featured logos of the radio station, the soft drink, and the team.

The cards were given away at 150 area stores.

Each week a different player was featured, which means people kept

returning to those sponsor locations.



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SPRING: FIRST DAY OF SPRING

Celebrate Spring by giving a prize nearly everyone would enjoy: Free Spring

Cleaning, by a professional cleaning crew.

Odds are you can trade out a future advertising schedule with the house

cleaners.

They’d never have the budget to advertise on the radio, but offering them

equal dollar value in periodic spots over a year will be great for them.

Note: Make sure they’re fully bonded, protect yourself against damage,

theft, etc.



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SPRING: RADIO X WELCOMES SPRING

WKY celebrated the first day of Spring by moving the entire day’s

programming out onto the station’s front lawn.

Especially good if you’re not too remote from the rest of your community.



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STEAK: STATION STEAK-OUT

That’s how KSSS referred to its promotion, although it’ll be just as fun with

pizza or spaghetti.

Listeners register at a local restaurant and call in when their names are

announced on-air.

Enough winners are chosen to fill the restaurant, and they all dine there free

on a certain evening — with the station personalities performing the duties of

waiter/waitress.

A very fun promotion.



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STOCK: TAKE STOCK IN (CITY)

Here’s a clever idea used by WCKY. With them, it was “Take Stock in

Cincinnati.”

Each hour the air personality announces the hour’s stock and number of

shares.

Later in the hour, the announcer makes a telephone call at random.

If the person who answers the phone knows the hour’s stock and number of

shares, he wins them.

The key here is to offer only stocks of locally based companies; you should

find them listed in the financial pages of your local daily newspaper.

(Or you can check with your Chamber of Commerce.)

It’s a unique prize that has cash value plus the chance for substantial

appreciation in the future, and it reaffirms your station’s special interest in the

city it serves.

You’re in a small town? Change it to “Take Stock In (STATE).”



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STONE SKIPPING TOURNAMENT

Here’s a fun event for Spring or Summer, which you can use as the focal

point of a picnic in the park or at a lake.

You’ll want to have local dignitaries act as official Stone Skip Counters.

Fancy trophies will add a nice touch to the event.

Hold elimination rounds:

For example, to survive the first round, contestants have to skip their stones

at least three times.

(You might give them three attempts to qualify.)

Next round, a minimum of four times, then five, etc.

In the final round, have your local sports announcer or newsperson record

the play-by-play for each contestant, to be fed back to the station for later

airplay.



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STRIKE: HAVE YOUR STAR DJ GO ON STRIKE

Your DJ comes up with a list of demands (better tasting coffee, a control

room chair that doesn’t squeak, a life-sized poster of Britney Spears, etc.) andpresents it to management, on-the-air.

The DJ calls the station manager into the studio and presents his demands.

They discuss and argue about it.

The manager eventually says “take it or leave it;” the DJ storms out of the

building.

For the rest of the week, the DJ pickets the station building, boycotting his

own program.

The station responds by replacing the DJ with someone apparently just picked

up off the street, but in reality a part-time jock under a different name — or a

jock from a sister station in another market.

The replacement jock has a hard time handling the show, plays the wrong

songs, gives incorrect time & temp, etc.

Finally the DJ and the station manager are reunited in a tearful negotiating

session, again on-air.

This should create lots of talk for your station and for your jock.



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SUMMER: THE FIRST REALLY OFFICIAL DAY OF SUMMER

This is an old radio stunt that’s quite simple to execute:

Listeners send in postcards guessing the day & time the temperature in your

city will first reach 100 degrees (or whatever represents a very hot day where

you live).

You can use the first day of Spring as a kick-off point for the contest and

allow two weeks for entries to be mailed in.

The person coming closest to the actual day & time wins some summer

oriented prize (e.g., an inflatable swimming pool).

Note: Be sure to clearly state the location of the “official” thermometer to

be used — probably the one at your radio station, or perhaps at your local

airport.



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SUMMER: HOW MANY WATERMELON SEEDS?

Here’s a fun summer promotion.

You tell your listeners the size & weight of the watermelon in question; they

tell you exactly how many seeds it contains.

The watermelon makes the rounds of participating merchants.

The prize is summer-oriented.



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SUMMER: RADIO X COOLS OFF YOUR SUMMER

This is the reverse of a winter promotion you’ll find elsewhere in this book.

Send your station van all over the city on a hot summer day, dispensing cold

lemonade in personalized lemonade cooler glasses with your afternoon jock’s

name on it (and, of course, with your station name & frequency).



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SUMMER: SOUNDS OF SUMMER

The idea here is for contestants to identify specific “sounds of summer.”

Some of these sounds will be easy to recognize; others will be tougher.

Examples of Sounds:

• The surf

• Sand being kicked in the face of a 97-pound weakling

• Suntan lotion being applied

• Skin getting sunburned

• Eating a sandwich that has real sand in it

• Bare-legged person sitting on a hot vinyl car seat

• Child building a sand castle

• Volleyball game being played on the beach

• Joggers on the beach

• Frisbee playing on the beach



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SUMMER PRIZE

If you’re in a real hot locale, why not send some lucky listeners to Alaska —

or to the North Pole — to cool off?



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SUMMER RELIEF

WHIO did this to inaugurate their new studios, but you can do this anytime

it’s very hot & muggy and you want to give your listeners a no-strings gift:

Invite them out to the station for free watermelon.

Have station personalities hand out the slices — along with plenty of napkins.

Every now and then run a microphone outside and cover the festivities for a

minute or two, inviting anyone driving by to stop by the station.

What’s nice about this promotion is it’s clear to the listener that your station

isn’t getting anything out of this, aside from goodwill: no questionnaires to fill

out, no postcards to mail, no website to visit, no trying to get through on the

phone, no listening for hours in the hopes of winning a prize.



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SUMMER SAFETY TIPS

Each hour, present to your listeners tips for enjoying their summer safety,

covering such topics as:

• Sunburns

• Insect bites

• Vacation planning

• Avoiding home burglaries while away on vacation

You also can tie this in with small giveaways: suntan lotion, beach umbrellas,

insect repellant, etc.



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SUNDAE: THE WORLD’S LARGEST ICE CREAM SUNDAE

The idea is simple: Create the world’s largest ice cream sundae.

Get a local ice cream shop (and perhaps a college fraternity) to participate and

dish out the results to your fans.

You might charge a nominal 50¢ per generous dishful, with the proceeds

going to charity.



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SUPER BOWL VIEWING PARTY

Your station secures the use of a local nightclub for the day of the big game.

Admission is free to listeners, drinks are cheap, and everyone gets to watch

the game on a wide-screen TV.

When WZXR did this, they had everyone try to predict the game’s final

score.

The winner won a big prize package.

A promotion like this is sure to draw an overflow crowd, so you might want

to do it at several locations simultaneously, with two air personalities hosting

each party.



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SUPER BOWL VIEWING PARTY (again)

Another version of the promotion described on the previous page.

Set up your own wide-screen viewing of the game, complete with pretzels,

popcorn and soft drinks.

Give away pairs of passes on-the-air during the previous week.

As an added bonus, during half-time hold a drawing for an appropriate prize

— e.g., season’s tickets to a local team’s games.



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SURVIVAL DIRECTORY

WKTU produced a wallet-sized fold-out that lists dozens of widely called

phone numbers in the city — airlines, police, fire, 24-hour pharmacies,government agencies, hospitals, etc.

A good item to distribute via sponsor locations.



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TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN

Your winner is allowed a certain amount of time in a local bank vault, during

which time she can keep all the money she can carry out.

If you can afford to give away such a large cash prize, the vault could

contain, say, $100,000 in one-dollar and five-dollar bills (with the winner

ending up with perhaps $5,000 to $10,000, depending upon your time limit).

Note that although the vault contains $100,000, that’s not the amount you’d

actually be giving away.

Variation:

Small budget?

How about the winner taking all she can from a vault containing one million

(or 100,000) nickels?

You can expect the total prize to be in the hundreds of dollars, rather than in

the thousands.



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TELEPHONE TOTAL

WNUE found a way to involve each listener individually.

Each hour, prizes were awarded to listeners whose phone numbers added up

to a certain total.

Example: 222-5555 could be a winner if the hour’s total was 26.

A very simple contest that’s very personal.

After all, everyone has their own phone number.



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TELEPHONE: CALLING ALL PAY PHONES

I did this one years ago to promote a new morning show, and the response

was tremendous.

It’s a typical “cash call” promotion wherein the person answering the phone

has to respond with a certain phrase, but all calls are made to public pay

phones — on city streets, in bowling alleys, everywhere.

If they answer with, “I always listen to RADIO X,” they win a cash prize of

perhaps $100.

It’s lots of fun for your audience, because nobody knows who you’re going

to get on the other end of the line.



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TENNIS TOURNAMENT

This one is self-explanatory.

Go all the way with it — a large, full scale, area-wide tournament open to all

players.

Set up different categories by age, gender, skill, singles, doubles, etc., with

cash prizes going to all finals winners and consolation prizes to the other

losing finalists and semi-finalists.

Each contestant pays $10 to enter.

The station provides 25¢ sodas and 50¢ hotdogs, and all proceeds go to

charity.

Admission is free.

Print up a tournament program and have the charitable organization sell

advertising in it to local merchants.

You provide lots of publicity, have your personalities enter and emcee the

event, award trophies, and give on-the-spot reports from the scene of the

finals.

Remember, there are loads of avid tennis players everywhere.



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THANKSGIVING:

SPEND THANKSGIVING ON THE MAYFLOWER

Your lucky winner gets a full Thanksgiving dinner, served on a beautifullyappointed dinner table by professional waiters.

The dinner takes place on a Mayflower moving van.

Hint:

Someone needs to provide the food, the furniture, the table settings, etc.

Each of those “someones” can be a paid sponsor.



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THANKSGIVING PING PONG DROP

This works along the same lines as our Ping Pong Drop (Page 217), but this

time some of the balls have nothing imprinted, while others have a picture of a turkey imprinted.

The turkey ping pong balls are redeemable for free turkeys.



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THEMES LIKE OLD TIMES

WLVQ put together a montage of musical themes from old television shows.

The first contestant to identify all 16 tunes won a complete home

entertainment system.



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TIRES: SPARE TIRE COVERS

These are more expensive than bumper stickers (!), but if you custom-make

some attractive covers for the spare tires that are mounted on the backs of jeeps, pickups, SUVs, etc., your call letters will make an extra special

impression on the motoring public.

You might even work out some kind of a deal with a local dealer (or as many

various dealers as you can) to automatically include the cover with the

purchase of a vehicle.



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TOLL-FREE MORNINGS

If local commuters have to cross a toll bridge or drive along a toll road each

day, you can win enormous goodwill — and hopefully some new, thankfullisteners — by arranging to pay for their tolls one morning.

The toll booths are equipped to automatically count the cars that pass

through, so all you have to do is get the city or county to agree to let you

write them a check to cover all the cars that passed through during the

morning rush hour.

In exchange for your helping them speed the cars through much faster (no

need for them to make change), the toll collectors hand out cards saying

something like, “Your toll this morning was paid for by RADIO X, the

(City) radio station that always makes your day a little bit better.”



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TOP 100 SONGS OF ALL TIME

You devise the manner in which the top 100 songs are chosen, with each

song being assigned a position from 1 to 100.

Songs are played sporadically over a period of several days, in random order.

The first listener to mail or bring to the station a complete list of the 100

songs in order wins a big cash prize.



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TOYS FOR TOTS CONCERTS

Your station sponsors a concert or series of concerts, with the price of

admission being a new, non-toxic, safe toy.



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TRACTOR RACE

If you’re in a heavy agricultural area, you can stage the tractor race at a local

speedway.

To really get your listeners involved, have them provide the tractors — one

for each jock (including all your jocks, so there’s enough for a good race).

Each jock can select his own tractor donor from on-air calls during his own

airshift.

Callers can describe their tractors, but jocks can’t see any of them until afterthey’ve made this choices. In fact, you might want to include a rule

prohibiting the callers from even telling how old their tractors are — which

would mean one or two jocks might end up with real clunkers.

Once the vehicles are chosen (and nicknamed for easy identification), qualify

other listeners who predict who will win the race.

The owner of the winning tractor wins a big prize, and the winner(s) —through a drawing from correctly guessing qualifiers — get prizes too.

All the other competing tractor donors receive nice prizes for donating the

vehicles.

As an added twist, you can take entries predicting the exact time of the

winning tractor (around, say, a quarter-mile track).

Note: Be sure to check with your experts regarding insurance.



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T-SHIRT MONEY

Lots of stations give away t-shirts.

In addition to being a nice prize, however, the goal should be to increase the

station’s visibility among the public.

Distribute lots of t-shirts in the months prior to a ratings period, making an

effort to get those shirts to all types of listeners (not just, say, teenagers).

Then during the ratings period, have station spotters patrolling the city and

giving away $20, $50 and $100 bills to people wearing the shirts.

Each day have unannounced (that is, with no prior fanfare) visits to various

parts of the city, but also promote a particular business area where your

spotter will visit — and promise a $100 bill to whoever your spotter spots

first.

A person wearing your shirt in effect is saying, “I listen to RADIO X;

RADIO X is my station.”

With lots of people walking around wearing your shirts — especially

concentrated in a single, high-traffic area — the implied message will be that

nearly everyone seems to listen to Radio X.



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TREASURE HUNT

No, not the kind with cleverly worded rhyming clues.

Legends of buried treasure abound all over the world — treasure buried by

pirates, criminals, early inhabitants, etc.

You choose your own method of selecting half a dozen listeners to

accompany a couple of staff members to the treasure area you’ve chosen.

The station arranges & pays for group travel, lodging, food, and search

equipment.

You should line up an expert on the area’s local history to guide you.

Send back daily on-air reports.

Have legal documents drawn up, stating who gets to keep any treasure found.

(The best way is for all winners to share equally, while the station receives...

nothing. Don’t quibble; the odds are a million to one against finding anything

anyway.)

A quick Internet search will reveal lots of lists of suspected, rumored or

legendary buried treasures.



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TRIVIA CONTEST WITH SPONSOR TIE-IN

KING did this with a Star Trek trivia contest, but the type of trivia doesn’t

matter.

The switch here is that all trivia questions & answers are available free at

sponsor locations (e.g., 7-11s, McDonald’s, etc.).

Listeners pick up free copies of Questions & Answers and then listen for their

chance to win.

You’ve got yourself a good audience participation/audience interest contest,

and your sponsors get increased in-store traffic.



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TRIVIA CONTEST: IT WAS A VERY GOOD YEAR

Here’s a really ambitious one that requires a good budget and lots of research

and preparation.

A caller is selected each hour.

The caller selects the year that she is an “expert” on.

The years might be 1960 through 2000, for example.

The jock pulls out a set of five questions for that particular year.

The first question is pretty easy, but they get successively harder — although

never extremely tough; a pretty knowledgeable person should be able to

score 5 out of 5.

The questions are about people & things that were highly prominent in that

year.

The first question is worth $10, the second is worth $20, and so on up to to

$50.

The contestant keeps going until she misses one or gets all five correct, and

she keeps all the money she has won (even after missing one).

Hint: Consult hit record charts, movie lists, TV lists, Academy Award lists,sports lists, presidential elections, etc., for ideas for questions.



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TRIVIA: WORLD SERIES OF TRIVIA

WJON qualified contestants via daily trivia quizzes over a two-week period,

then drew seven of the names as finalists.

The big competition was held at a local shopping mall and broadcast live.

You have several options for contest rules; the best might be buzzer/light

combinations for contestants to hit after each question is read.

The first to hit the buzzer gets to answer.

Correct answers score points, incorrect answers lose points.

Have three or four levels of category difficulty, starting with the easiest and

moving to the hardest.

Easiest questions score 1 point; hardest score 4 points.

Ten questions per category; the person with the highest score at the end wins.



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UGLIEST BARTENDER CONTEST

Habitués of various local watering holes vote for their favorite ugly bartender

by way of a $1 donation at the bar, with proceeds going to charity.

To keep the competitive spirit alive among the various establishments, weekly

progress reports on the race can be given — identifying the top three vote-

getters by name & establishment.

Large colorful displays places in bars around town will help keep your station

name to the fore.

Note:

If you give weekly progress reports, resist the temptation to broadcast them

in Morning Drive and instead broadcast them at peak Happy Hour time —

say, 5:30PM each Friday.

This is to encourage bars all over town to keep you turned on, with lots of

customers handy to sample your station.



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UGLIEST CAR IN THE WORLD

Have listeners send in postcards or e-mails that begin with, “My car is so

ugly that....”

The best entry or entries win a Car Care Package: certificates for new tires,

paint job, car wash, in-dash CD player, etc.



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UGLIEST OFFICE IN (TOWN)

Invite listeners to send you photographic proof of why their offices deserve

to be known as the ugliest.

The winning ugly office receives $5,000 worth of remodeling from a local

design firm.

It won’t be hard to line up such a firm, because after the contest is over all

entrants will receive letters of thanks plus special discount offers — in case

they’d like to go ahead and remodel anyway.

(So you’re generating solid leads for the design firm.)



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UGLY DOG CONTEST

WCOS had great success with this one.

The contest was held in the parking lot of the co-sponsoring shopping mall.

Trophies and t-shirts were awarded to the three winners in such categories as

Ugliest Dog and Most Talented Ugly Dog.

On-air promotions combined effectively with posters in the mall well in

advance of the contest.

Hint: Your rules should stress that all entrants must be vaccinated and held

by leash at all times.



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VALENTINE OF THE YEAR

Invite your listeners to send valentines to their sweethearts in care of the

station — homemade valentines, that is.

Your panel of judges selects the winning valentine(s), which goes up on

billboards around the city.

Example: The billboard might feature a blow-up of the winning artwork &

message, plus an introduction: “RADIO X Wants (City) To Know That

Mary Smith Is Bob Michelson’s Favorite Valentine!”



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VALENTINE’S DAY

Here’s one that’s cheap, fun, and a great way to become personally involved

with your audience.

Winners qualify via your standard phone-in.

Winners wish an early “Happy Valentine’s Day” to their own sweethearts.

Then on Valentine’s Dy, have station representatives personally deliver a box

of candy, a rose, and a card to each of the winners’ sweethearts.

In many ways it’s a perfect promotion: fun to listen to, easy to enter, and it

appeals to adults who might not ordinarily enter a radio contest.

And, of course, delivering gifts to businesses and offices all over the city can’t

help but attract attention from your winners’ co-workers.



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VALENTINE’S DAY: WIN AT LOVE

Standard holiday giveaway of flowers, candy, dinners, etc., only the “cue to

call in and win” is any song you play during the day that contains the word“love” in the title.

Make it a little easier than usual and award prizes to the first three callers each

time.



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VALENTINE’S DAY IS FOR LOVERS

Contestants are asked to identify specific pairs of “great lovers in history”

— some of which are greater than others.

Examples:

Antony and ________

Romeo and ________

Sonny and ________

Bonnie and ________



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VALENTINE’S DAY PRIZES

Love seats

Love birds

Love beads

Weekends for two at local plush hotel

Matching tattoos

Free prenuptial agreement



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VISITS: WIN A VISIT FROM A FRIEND

The prize here consists of the station flying out a friend for an all-expense

paid visit with the winner in your city.

Includes airfare, tickets to local plays and concerts, free dinners at fine

restaurants, hotel stay if there’s not enough room at the winner’s home.

Hint: Make sure you allow at least two persons flown in per winner, so that

a spouse can accompany the winner’s choice, if desired.

This can be adapted to various holidays, including Mother’s Day (fly Mom &

Dad into town), Father’s Day, Christmas (for a holiday reunion — fly in up

to four people), etc.



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WASHINGTON’S BIRTHDAY: LITTLE WHITE LIES

WHK gave cherry pies to winners who caught station personalities telling

“little white lies.”

Sample lies might be:

• Giving incorrect station frequency

• Identifying a jock by the wrong first name

• Mis-identifying local landmarks

• Incorrectly identifying song titles or artists, etc.

You might also throw in a pre-1964 Washington quarter. Depending upon the

price of silver at the time, undoubtedly it would be a decent cash bonus —

certainly a lot more than 25¢ worth.



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WEATHER: GUEST WEATHER FORECASTER OF THE DAY

Once you’re in the middle of Summer or Winter, the weather forecasts can

become pretty predictable, and jocks quickly run out of original descriptions.

Have your listeners submit their own descriptions — e.g., “It’s so hot

that...” or “Today’s a good day for....”

If you air a contestant’s entry during a forecast, the contestant wins a prize.

Hint:

Don’t make them call in to identify their phrase.

You’ll run the risk of duplication, confusion, and bad feelings.

Hint:

Your prizes should reflect the weather:

Winter — electric blankets, coffee makers, etc.

Summer — picnic coolers, cases of soda, etc.



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WEEKEND: SURPRISE WEEKEND

This originated as a party gimmick for high society party givers, but you can

adapt it for your own use.

Qualifying contestants get to attend a big party put on by the station,

complete with food, beverage, and entertainment.

All contestants are instructed to bring packed suitcases to the party.

It’s explained that a drawing will be held to select one (or more, depending

upon your budget) couple who will be driven by limousine to the airport and

flown to a surprise weekend vacation spot, with all expenses paid by the

station.

The destination isn’t announced until the winning couple(s)’ names are

announced.

This could be a monthly event.



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WHAT’S YOUR LINE

This one’s simple.

The jock reads a single line from a hit song to the telephone contestant, and

the contestant has to identify the song by its correct title.



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WHEELBARROW RACE

Your air personalities do the racing, pushing wheelbarrows along a

predetermined course.

You can choose from an infinite number of items to fill the wheelbarrows:

Each one might carry a player from a professional football team....

Or the jock’s weight in hit CDs (which the winner will receive)....

Or the jock’s weight in silver dollars (again, to be awarded to the lucky

listener)....



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WHISTLE A HAPPY TUNE

To win, all a caller has to do is whistle a song — any song — well enough for

you to recognize it.

This should be lots of fun, given the fact that many of your contestants will

react to the pressure by laughing when they should be whistling.



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WIN YOUR HEIGHT (OR WEIGHT) IN....

CDs

Pennies

Nickels

Quarters

Dimes

Half dollars

Silver dollars

Groceries

Books

Hamburgers

Marshmallows

M&M’s



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WINTER: FIRST SNOW OF THE SEASON

When autumn definitely has hit your town — the weather suddenly turning

chilly and the days becoming shorter — have your listeners send in postcardsguessing the day & time of the year’s first snowfall (as measured at a

specified location — e.g., your radio station studio).

Allow a couple of weeks for entries.

The person coming closest to the actual day & time wins some winter-

oriented prize (e.g., ice skates, toboggan, snowmobile, a week’s vacation in a

warmer climate).



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WINTER: RADIO X WARMS UP YOUR MORNING

If you have a station promotion vehicle, you can do what WLS did:

Send the vehicle out all over the city on a cold winter morning and give away

mugs of hot chocolate — in a personalized Morning Jock mug.



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WINTER: THE SOUNDS OF WINTER

Listeners are required to identify certain specific “sounds of winter” in order

to win prizes.

Examples:

• Shoveling snow

• Snow plow

• Ice skating

• Sledding

• Snow falling (!)

• Icicle melting

• Snowball fight

• Child removing wet winter clothing after playing outside

• Walking on thin, crackling ice



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WINTER FREEBIE

Ice scrapers (for car windshields), prominently featuring the station name &

frequency and advising people to listen to the station for the latest weatherconditions.



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WINTER PRIZE

Free snow shoveling for the entire winter!

Hire someone dependable to shovel off the winner’s driveway and sidewalks

once a day for every day that it snows.

You’ll be amazed at how many people would love to win that prize!



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WINTER PRIZE (2)

Why not welcome the beginning of winter with a contest prize that would be

prized by all: pairs of longjohns.

For a terrific prize, give away longjohns customized with your station name!



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WINTER SAFETY TIPS

WHAS gave away many items to help survive the long, cold winter.

Each hour they’d give a winter safety tip (e.g., driving on icy roads, shoveling

snow, ice skating, preventing flu).

Sometime thereafter the jock would award a prize to the first caller to repeat

the hour’s safety tip.



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WONDERFUL WIENER CART

Here’s a creative charity fundraiser from WRKO.

During lunch hour, they had station personalities and various celebrities

selling a hotdog & a Coke for $1 from a downtown hotdog cart.

The cart was there all summer long, spreading goodwill and call letter

identification while raising money for a good cause.

Hint:

With a light, fun-oriented promotion like this, the best type of cause often is

children-related — handicapped, retarded, underprivileged.

Most people want to help kids, and if you make it painless enough for them

to do so, they’ll be grateful.



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(JOCK) WORKS FOR YOU

This one was done by Mike Rivers of KYA; it was a regular feature called

“Rivers Works For You.”

People sent in postcards and each month he held a drawing — and the

winners received a day off from work while Mike substituted for them.

Substitute jobs included working behind the counter at Burger King and

filling in for a high school principal.

Before embarking on a new job, he invited listeners to phone in tips for

making the best of his new profession — and, when possible (as with the

Burger King job), he invited listeners to come watch him work.



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WORLD CUP or WORLD SERIES VIEWING PARTY

See “Super Bowl Viewing Party” for details.



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(CREATE THE) WORLD’S BIGGEST...

• Sandwich

• Hoagie

• Cake

• Taco

• Hotdog

• Root Beer Float

• Pie

• Pot Pie

• Pizza

• Burrito

• Mulligan Stew

• Ice-Cream Sundae

• Quiche

• Omelette

• Bagel & Cream Cheese



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YACHT PARTY

Your jocks and your listeners go on a cruise, complete with sumptuous food,

live music & entertainment.



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PROMOTION JUMP-START WORKSHEET

What is the primary incentive for a listener to participate?

Let’s call this promotion:

Which local celebrities can we involve?

Possible Sponsors:

1. ________________________________________________________

(____________________________ will contact Sponsor #1.)

2. ________________________________________________________


3. ________________________________________________________


Tag Line For On-Air Promos:

Our First Three Steps:

1. ________________________________________________________

2. ________________________________________________________

3. ________________________________________________________

Three Ways We Can Make This Promotion More Exciting:

1. ________________________________________________________

2. ________________________________________________________

3. ________________________________________________________



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PROMOTION JUMP-START WORKSHEET

(Completed Sample)

(ORIGINAL: “Thanksgiving Ping Pong Drop”)

What is the primary incentive for a listener to participate? Win free stuff, + fun!

Let’s call this promotion: Turkeys From Heaven

Which local celebrities can we involve? TV sportscaster to do “play-by-play” of the

dropping ping pong balls

Possible Sponsors:

1. Ed’s Supermarkets (providing the turkeys)

(Salesperson #1 will contact Sponsor #1.)

2. Marie’s Ice Cream Shoppe (some balls will be imprinted with “free ice cream

cone” coupon) (Salesperson #2 will contact Sponsor #2.)

3. Big Al’s Auto Dealership (hold the event on his property?)

(Salesperson #3 will contact Sponsor #3.)

Tag Line For On-Air Promos: “Radio X reminds you to...look to the skies!”

Our First Three Steps:

1. Contact helicopter rental service

2. Check with our insurance carrier

3. Select specific locale for the ping pong drop

Three Ways We Can Make This Promotion More Exciting:

1. Controversy? (Make it sound like we’ll be dropping real turkeys?)

2. Live interviews with excited winners moments after catching one?

3. Live video streaming of event on our website — people scrambling, ballsdropping....



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OTHER RESOURCES

TACTICAL RADIO PROMOTIONS by Dan Garfinkel:

http://www.danoday.com/tactical

STREET-LEVEL MARKETING by Paige Nienaber:

http://www.danoday.com/street

THE WHOLE O CATALOGUE

Select “Promotions” from the “List All” drop menu, and you’ll find lots of

valuable resources:

http://www.danoday.com/catalog

THE DAN O’DAY RADIO PROGRAMMING LETTER (free)

http://www.danoday.com/free

THE DAN O’DAY RADIO ADVERTISING LETTER (free)

http://www.danoday.com/free



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INDEX

How You Can Legally Use This Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5National Aardvark Week . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Abet & Aid Punsters Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Academy Awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Academy Awards: Oscar Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Academy Awards: Oscar Predictions (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Adopt A Cat Month . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Adopt-A-Dog Month . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Advertising: Free Business Window Advertising . . . . . . . . . . 15

Albums: The Great Album Rush . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Amusement Park: Take Over An Amusement Park . . . . . . . . 17

Johnny Appleseed’s Birthday . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

April Fool’s Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

April Fool’s Day (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

April Fool’s Day (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

April Fool’s Day: We’re Not Foolin’! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Arm Wrestling Contest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Astrology: The Only Party Where No One Asks, “What’s Your Sign?” 24

First Atomic Explosion, Anniversary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Auction: T-Shirt Auction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Bagel Break . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Balloons: Direct Mail Balloons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Band: The Radio X Imaginary Lonely Hearts Club Band . . . . . . 29

Barbecue: National Barbecue Month . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Barbecue: Win A Station Barbecue In Your Own Backyard . . . . . 31



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Baseball: Home Run Inning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Baseball: Spring Training Trips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Basketball: How Many Free Throws? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Bathtub Race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Bathtub Regatta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Be Kind To Animals Week . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Beach Patrol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Beat The Bomb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Bed Race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Beer Can Smashing Contest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

The Best Things In Life Are Free . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Bingo: Radio Bingo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44Bingo: Superstars Bingo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Bingo Night . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Birthday Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Blackjack: Computer Blackjack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Blackjack: Radio Blackjack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Blame Someone Else Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Block Party: Win A Block Party . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Boat: The Radio X Love Boat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Boss: National Boss Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Bumper Stickers With A Twist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Call Letters: The Missing Call Letter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Canned Goods: Another Radio X (Pittsburgh) Can Concert . . . . . 56

Cars: The Autographmobile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Cars: A Free Ride From Radio X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Cars: Guess The Mileage, Win The Car . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59Cars: Mystery Car . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Cars: Speedometer Testing Station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61



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Cash Flasher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Cash Hours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Christmas: Christmas At Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Christmas Prizes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65Christmas Spirit Awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Christmas Sponsor Promotion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Christmas Swap Shop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Christmas: The Radio X Christmas Tree Lights . . . . . . . . . . 69

Christmas Wishes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Christmas: The Automatic Santa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Christmas: A Children’s Christmas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Christmas: A Family Christmas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Christmas: Merry Christmas For Cash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Circus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Circus: Play-By-Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Coconuts: Creative Coconut Contest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Columbus Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Complete The Song . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Computer: The Music Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81Computer: The Prize Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Concert Hall Seating Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Cookbook: Radio X’s (City) Cookbook . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Cooking Carnival . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Cook-Off: Local Food Specialty Cook-Off . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Count The Minutes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Count The Songs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Count The Songs (Alternate Version) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Crab Races . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90



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Crossword Puzzle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Day Off With Pay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Diamond Mine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Dinner In A Parking Lot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94Direct Mailing Of Personalized Checks . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Direct Mailing Of “Sweepstakes” Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Dollars: The Super Dollar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Double Or Nothing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Drag Race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Drag Race: In Drag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Diet: Radio X Drops A Ton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Dream Machine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

The Easiest Contest In The World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Easter: Blind Children’s Easter Egg Hunt . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Easter Bunnies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Easter Egg Fight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Easter Egg Hunt — In A Shopping Mall . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Easter Omelettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

Egg Drop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109Egg Drop #2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Egg Frying Contest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Elections: Political Prognosticator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Elections: Post-Election Advertising Clean-Up . . . . . . . . . . 113

Entertainment Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Experts: The Radio X Panel Of Experts . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Famous Faces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Father’s Day: Fathers On-The-Air . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Father’s Day: Name That Dad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118



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Father’s Day: Wives On-The-Air . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Fifty Per Cent Off Fair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

Fishing: The $25,000 Fish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Fishing Tournament . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Fm Means Free Miles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

Football: Grudge Bets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Football Handicapper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Football Predictions: Males Vs. Female . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Football Widows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

4th Of July: American Trivia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

4th Of July Fireworks Simulcast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

From Sea To Shining Sea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130Garage Sale: Drive-In Garage Sale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

Garage Sale: World’s Largest Indoor Garage Sale . . . . . . . . 132

Garbage: Live Garbage Reporter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

Gold: Free Gold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Gold: Own Part Of A Gold Mine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

Golf: Winter Gold Tournament . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Grandparents Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Groceries: The Great Grocery Giveaway . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Groceries: The Great Grocery Grab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

Grouch Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

Groundhog’s Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Groundhog’s Day Parade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

Groundhog’s Day Prize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Groundhog’s Day: The Shadow Knows . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

Halloween: Bloodmobile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146Halloween: Haunted House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Halloween: My Scariest Moment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148



All Rights Reserved





Halloween Party For Kids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Halloween Visits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

Happy Hours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Health Fair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152High-Low . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

Home Show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

Horse Race: Human Horse Race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

How Do You Spell Music? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

Humor Month . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

I Love You (City) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

I Love You (City) Month . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

Income Tax: Free Income Tax Service . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

Income Taxes: I.R.S. Spells Dollars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

Income Taxes: Last-Minute Income Tax Returners . . . . . . . . 163

The “I’ve Never Won Anything In My Life” Contest . . . . . . 164

Jail: Get Me Out Of Jail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Job: I Love My Job Because.... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

Joke-Telling Championships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

Casey Jones’ Birthday . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169Jukebox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170

Kite Fly In The Park . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

K-Tel Style Promo Spot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

Let’s Make A Deal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

Listener Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

Maps: Road Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

Marbles Tournament . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

Marching Band: The Radio X Marching Band . . . . . . . . . . 177

Mascot: The Secret Mascot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178



All Rights Reserved





Mayor: Have The Mayor Co-Host Your Show . . . . . . . . . 179

Mayor: If The Mayor Has Co-Hosted The Competition’s Show... . . 180

Miniature Golf Tournament . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

The Missing Beatles Song . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182

Mobile Sea Cruiser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

The Radio X Money Machine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184

Money Meltdown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

Money Mouth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

Money Tube . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

Mother’s Day: Moms On-The-Air . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188

Mother’s Day: Name That Mom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

Mother-In-Law Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190Movies: Cheap Monday Night Movies . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

Movies: Midnight Movies For Charity . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

Movies: Morning Movie Premiere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

Movie Extras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194

Mug Your Boss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

Music Quiz: Multi-Step Music Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196

Mystery House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

Mystery Whisperer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198

Mystery: Radio Mystery Challenge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

Name That Song . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

New Year’s Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

On Tour With (Group) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

One-Armed Bandit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204

Oldies: Radio X Becomes A Thing Of The Past . . . . . . . . . 205

Oldies: Your Oldies But Goodies Contest . . . . . . . . . . . . 206Olympics: The Radio X Olympics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

Outrageous: The Most Outrageous Contest . . . . . . . . . . . 208



All Rights Reserved





Oyster Shucking Contest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

Pardon Anniversary: I Beg Your Pardon . . . . . . . . . . . . 210

Parking: Free Parking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

Pets: Radio X Feeds Your Furry Friends . . . . . . . . . . . . 212Photo Contest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213

Picnic: The Hidden Picnic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214

Picnic Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

Pinball Tournament . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216

Ping Pong Drop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

Play ’Em Again . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218

Pop Off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

Popcorn Poppin’ Month . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220

Pothole Patrol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221

The Price Is Right . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222

Prize Truck (By Zip Codes) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

Prom Night . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224

Public Relations Week . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225

CDs: Imaginary Music Store . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226

CDs: Record Run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227Rent: Free Rent (Or Mortgage) Payments . . . . . . . . . . . 228

Repeat: We Never Repeat Ourselves, We Never Repeat Ourselves . . 229

River Clean-Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230

Rodeo: Radio Rodeo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231

St. Patrick’s Day: Green Carnations . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232

St. Patrick’s Day: Trip To Ireland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233

Sandwich: The World’s Biggest Sandwich (Or Pizza, Etc.) . . . . . 234

Say When . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235

School: Teacher Salutes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236



All Rights Reserved





Scrabble: Radio Scrabble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

Scrambled Call Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238

Scrambled Commercials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239

Scrambled Songs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240Secret Sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241

Secret Word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242

Secretary’s Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243

Serial Number High/Low . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244

Shrimp Fundraiser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245

Sister City: Annex A Sister City . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246

Ski: Free (Or Cheap) Ski Bus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247

Ski Corrals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248

Sky Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249

Smile Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250

Smokeout: The Great American Smokeout . . . . . . . . . . . 251

Snake Races . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252

Someone Special . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253

Sports Cards (Baseball, Football, Basketball, Etc.) . . . . . . . . 254

Spring: First Day Of Spring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255Spring: Radio X Welcomes Spring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256

Steak: Station Steak-Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257

Stock: Take Stock In (City) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258

Stone Skipping Tournament . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259

Strike: Have Your Star DJ Go On Strike . . . . . . . . . . . . 260

Summer: The First Really Official Day Of Summer . . . . . . . 261

Summer: How Many Watermelon Seeds? . . . . . . . . . . . 262

Summer: Radio X Cools Off Your Summer . . . . . . . . . . 263

Summer: Sounds Of Summer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264



All Rights Reserved





Summer Prize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265

Summer Relief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266

Summer Safety Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267

Sundae: The World’s Largest Ice Cream Sundae . . . . . . . . 268

Super Bowl Viewing Party . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

Super Bowl Viewing Party (Again) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270

Survival Directory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

Take The Money And Run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272

Telephone Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273

Telephone: Calling All Pay Phones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274

Tell Us What To Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

Tennis Tournament . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276Thanksgiving: Golden Turkey Award . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277

Thanksgiving: Spend Thanksgiving On The Mayflower . . . . . . 278

Thanksgiving Ping Pong Drop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

Themes Like Old Times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280

Tires: Spare Tire Covers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281

Toll-Free Mornings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282

Top 100 Songs Of All Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283

Toys For Tots Concerts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284

Tractor Race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

T-Shirt Money . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286

Treasure Hunt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287

Trivia Contest With Sponsor Tie-In . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288

Trivia Contest: It Was A Very Good Year . . . . . . . . . . . 289

Trivia: World Series Of Trivia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290

Ugliest Bartender Contest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291Ugliest Car In The World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292

Ugliest Office In (Town) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293



All Rights Reserved


Documents

Oday Contests