STOP AND THINK Greg Diamond We do stunts and promotions for various reasons, whether to accommodate sales initiatives or to simply have fun and generate talk about the station. We do these things with the best of intentions (one would hope, anyway), but even with the most experienced promo and program directors, the law of averages dictates that they won’t all work out as planned. Such was the extreme case recently at KDND, Sacramento.
Things started with the station’s morning show running a “Hold Your Wee for a Wii” contest. The idea was to have contestants continue drinking water until they were forced to take a washroom break. The person lasting the longest would win a Nintendo Wii console. Simple enough, and at first thought fairly harmless… yet a contestant died because of it! The cause of death was determined as “water intoxication.”
Since that tragic event: 10 staffers have been let go from the station (including the entire morning show and the PD); the police are looking into criminal charges because of alleged evidence indicating the jocks were aware of the danger involved; and the family has launched a wrongful death suit against the fired employees, the station, their parent company and possibly even Nintendo.
Beyond the loss of life and the legal processes now in motion, this is even more frightening in that many of us have been either directly involved with, or at the least privy to, stunts and contests that “pushed the envelope” – some of which could have been considered riskier than that run on KDND (after all, water intoxication is not exactly a well known affliction). My first reaction when I read the story was probably similar to yours – “There but for the grace of God go I.”
With that in mind, as an industry, it would be hypocritical in the least to start wagging a finger at the people involved, but instead we should view this as just a terribly unfortunate accident. However, if the allegations are true that the hosts and other staffers knew about the risks involved, then this becomes a truly disturbing incident, and one of which we will feel the repercussions for a long time to come – regardless of whether you live in the U.S., Canada, or elsewhere. To cause yet another shudder, let’s also not look past the fact this same stunt has been done elsewhere before, luckily without the loss of life.
To be fair to ourselves, radio does not bear the full weight of responsibility in this issue – far from it. The “train-crash” theme has become increasingly pervasive in all forms of media. To take it even further and call upon the “media as a mirror” argument, this then becomes a societal issue with the success of reality television being a prime example.
The immediate reaction, particularly in the U.S., will doubtless be to pull back on those contests and stunts that nudge the irreverence line. It won’t remain that way for long however, since the more youth-targeted and male-targeted stations rely on this element as a base component of their “stationality.”
How then do we walk the line between having fun in a manner that appeals to a specific target, but still ensure the safety of our contestants, listeners, and license. Well, I suppose we could all take some extra time to stop and think!
I have long believed we have a tendency to over-think things in radio. This is a relatively straight-forward business from a programming standpoint. We are attempting to win audience by primarily appealing to emotions, not intellect. To put it another way, we deal with the subconscious more than the conscious reactions of our listeners. Arguments to the contrary are based on feedback that arises principally from that small portion of an audience which is much more active and vocal than its much larger and passive counterpart. To be sure, this varies from format to format, but it exists in all, nonetheless. To over-think matters in radio is to run the risk of looking past the clearest and most obvious solutions that are usually the best ones. Objectivity plays such a key role in programming but it becomes human nature to second-guess oneself because the first answer looked too easy. When in doubt, back track to your first thought or get an outside opinion.
What happened in Sacramento has only added to my aversion to the term “common sense”, but it is applicable when referring to the straightforwardness of the majority of programming. Just remember not to over think… except when it comes to promotions.
One of radio’s greatest strengths is its immediacy. We can stop and turn on a dime if we want or need to. The downside to this benefit is that we sometimes fail to fully realize all the possible ramifications of our decisions. It’s also why you hear promotions or contests that leave you thinking “What the…?”
To avoid this, start by ensuring you control all the promotional activity on your station. Don’t let anything go to air without your approval.
As the PD, you are the one with the “vision”, so you must make sure the promotions fit with that vision. Further, it gives you that needed opportunity to think things through beyond just the superficial “stationality” aspects. You should consider including others besides you and the Promotions Director in this part of the process. A good suggestion would be to have the GSM sit in. He has as much interest as you in making sure a promotion is executed in the best possible manner for both the station and the client. He will likely also bring a more grounded mindset when considering both the pros and the cons.
Do you have a set of checks and balances in order to catch things that might otherwise slip through the cracks? Sit down with the copy people, the producers, and the jocks, and let them know how they are all involved in making sure you are aware of everything that’s going on. You can’t afford any surprises.
Don’t be lulled into thinking that a release form is an iron clad, foolproof document that will surely keep you and the station out of the court room – KDND had their contestants sign a release.
Another valuable lesson to remember is, “When in doubt, err on the side of caution.” You won’t get faulted for what you don’t do and you can be assured there will be another promotion coming along shortly.
Above all, try and keep promotions as simple as possible – over think the possible outcomes, not the mechanics. We’ve all heard stories about stations forced into giving away a second Grand Prize because of flaws in their promotional design. The simpler the contest, the less likely this is to happen.
If there has ever been a time to be reminded of these seemingly “common sense” points, now would be it. The KDND incident is a wake up call to be sure, and one that we should use constructively to not only make sure it doesn’t happen again, but to compel us to do a better job overall. I urge you to take the time to stop and think. |