RoddyFreeman
Walk of Fame Participant
High-low radio contests have proven an effective way to increase TSL for many years.
Shortly before Thanksgiving, Star 94-1 metaphorically stuffed a turkey with cash, and the correct caller several times a day guessed how much cash was there. For the past week, Star stuffed a stocking with cash, and the contest is being repeated. Of course, the callers with wrong guesses are told they were high or low. That of course encourages listening to keep track of the guesses. So far so good.
Here's the catch: The amounts, which are low anyway, have cents in them. In other words, once the guesses are down to the correct dollar amount, listeners have to start guessing how many cents there are. What this does is create a second high-low game. The result, which is obviously what the station intended, is for guessing the right amount to take a long time. And before you know it, it's Thanksgiving or it's Christmas. Contest over!
The current contest has been going on since last Monday morning. Listeners seem to have zeroed in on the dollar amount, something like $680. But in the 6 o'clock hour, someone guessed $680.22, and that was too high. Next chance to win is tomorrow morning!
At least this is a local contest, unlike most that are played on iHeart, Cumulus and Entercom stations these days, in which the odds of a local winner are small. And I applaud Star 94-1 for designing a way to be cheap as hell and increase TSL at the same time. I'm not sure they're showing respect for their listeners, or does that not matter?
I will say that new PD Ron Roberts has taken the confines of a Hot AC playlist and added a lot of creativity and attractiveness to the station. He's taken Star 94-1's imaging product up to a whole new level. He's added features such as a pop culture report in afternoon drive and a Saturday morning countdown. He's given the jocks subject matter to talk about and lead listeners to the station's website. He has the morning show humming along with an excellent flow.
A couple of months ago, Star was giving away Falcons tickets, promoting it as "a big Falcon deal." Several weekends ago, the station was giving away concert tickets; it was the WTF weekend, which stood for Win Them First.
I find Mr. Roberts' work refreshing in an age where I think of PD's of just following corporate orders to have jocks read liners. He does work for a strong Market Manager in Rick Caffey.
The remaining question is whether a Hot AC format has potential to grow in this market and if so, how much.
Shortly before Thanksgiving, Star 94-1 metaphorically stuffed a turkey with cash, and the correct caller several times a day guessed how much cash was there. For the past week, Star stuffed a stocking with cash, and the contest is being repeated. Of course, the callers with wrong guesses are told they were high or low. That of course encourages listening to keep track of the guesses. So far so good.
Here's the catch: The amounts, which are low anyway, have cents in them. In other words, once the guesses are down to the correct dollar amount, listeners have to start guessing how many cents there are. What this does is create a second high-low game. The result, which is obviously what the station intended, is for guessing the right amount to take a long time. And before you know it, it's Thanksgiving or it's Christmas. Contest over!
The current contest has been going on since last Monday morning. Listeners seem to have zeroed in on the dollar amount, something like $680. But in the 6 o'clock hour, someone guessed $680.22, and that was too high. Next chance to win is tomorrow morning!
At least this is a local contest, unlike most that are played on iHeart, Cumulus and Entercom stations these days, in which the odds of a local winner are small. And I applaud Star 94-1 for designing a way to be cheap as hell and increase TSL at the same time. I'm not sure they're showing respect for their listeners, or does that not matter?
I will say that new PD Ron Roberts has taken the confines of a Hot AC playlist and added a lot of creativity and attractiveness to the station. He's taken Star 94-1's imaging product up to a whole new level. He's added features such as a pop culture report in afternoon drive and a Saturday morning countdown. He's given the jocks subject matter to talk about and lead listeners to the station's website. He has the morning show humming along with an excellent flow.
A couple of months ago, Star was giving away Falcons tickets, promoting it as "a big Falcon deal." Several weekends ago, the station was giving away concert tickets; it was the WTF weekend, which stood for Win Them First.
I find Mr. Roberts' work refreshing in an age where I think of PD's of just following corporate orders to have jocks read liners. He does work for a strong Market Manager in Rick Caffey.
The remaining question is whether a Hot AC format has potential to grow in this market and if so, how much.