TheBuzz
TheBuzz
Waipahu man wins
$10,000 in radio contestThe nationwide contest by Clear Channel Communications Inc. has produced a Hawaii winner of $10,000.
Alvin Kobayashi of Waipahu is to receive his check during the Perry and Price broadcast from the Hanohano Room at the Sheraton Waikiki, possibly March 16, according to Clear Channel Hawaii Director of Programming Paul Wilson.
The company's nationwide contests have been the subject of criticism among local radio industry insiders. The first such contest last year drew a legal complaint as the contest was intended to sound local. The promos for this contest instructed listeners to be the specified (as in 25th) "nationwide caller."
"The truth is we're giving away more money than anybody else," said Chuck Cotton, general manager of Clear Channel's seven Oahu stations.
The Hawaii man won at 4:20 p.m. Monday during a week that the company's senior vice president of programming was in town for a cluster visit.
He heard the "cue to call" and got six busy signals but got through on the seventh try, Cotton said. "He just about fell out of his chair."
Of the roughly 1,200 radio stations the company owns across the country, 325 were participating in the contest, said Wilson.
"He's a KSSK listener, and was excited (to win)," Wilson said, "I was going to call him today (Tuesday) but he was here before I arrived."
Participating stations lead up to the "cue to call" in ways they determine. KSSK played a particular song ("Make it With You" by Bread) which listeners had been advised to listen for. It then played the "cue" according to a nationwide timing pulse sent out on Clear Channel's synchronized computerized broadcast systems.
"It's the luck of the draw," Wilson said. Listeners in each state with participating Clear Channel stations have equal chances to win, he said, "There's no way to rig this."
The national contests will not replace the big-money contests for which KSSK is famous. "KSSK is ready to roll the (local) lucky number contest out," Wilson said, "If we do large scale group contesting it's giving our listeners additional opportunities to win." For smaller stations without big money prize budgets, it's a bonus, he said.
Today, Clear Channel will announce a seven-week contest offering "roughly a million (dollars) per week," Wilson said. It begins March 18, to coincide with the Arbitron ratings. "We still load our guns for Spring and Fall," he said, the most important ratings periods of the year.
Wilson says the other broadcast behemoths are likely following Clear Channel's lead.
"Infinity has started, I would suspect Cox will too, and Citadel. The thing about it is that Clear Channel has the biggest arsenal."
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin.
Call 529-4302, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle,
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210,
Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached
at: eengle@starbulletin.com