Why Does Duh...?

Question

Why does Duh have such a negative outlook on winning a prize off radio Disney? I know the chances are small but why does he have to word it as your not going to win?

Answer 1

Hi Sarah,

Thanks for asking your question - though this part of Answers is supposed to be about radio and not me, I guess I should be flattered. Your question is a lot more polite than another that appeared here recently ;<)

I don't have a negative view of winning, on the contrary, I want you to win! I gave a lot of stuff away when I was a DJ (many years ago). I just want to make sure you understand how the station sets it up, and the workings of the promotion or contest so you have a better chance to win.

A lot of the people on this part of Answers are here to learn about radio so they can work in radio - and contests and promotions are a big part of the subject.

Other people don't really care much about radio as a potential job or career, they just want to find out something about a song or, like in your case, the code/word/song of the day on Radio Disney or their local station. That's ok, but try to understand that maybe my answers will help a young person learn something about radio so they can get a job as a DJ.

In order to understand how to win, it helps to understand why Radio stations set these contests up. And it all comes down to money. Evil money! The amount of money they can charge for commercials depends on their ratings. The ratings depend on how many people listen - and for how long they listen.

In order to get bigger ratings, they think up contests that force more people to listen; and listen longer. The big contest that's popular all over the country right now is the one you are asking about. Basically the DJ announces a song or code word, then later the (blank) caller with the correct answer wins.

This has forced that winner (and anyone who wanted to win, but didn’t) to listen until they got the word/song/code –whatever. Then listen again for the DJ to ask for callers. Pretty devious, eh? But it works. You listen, the station gets ratings, you might win a prize, the station gets money for the commercials and you get free radio to listen to if you are willing to listen to the commercials. Everybody benefits!

So if my answer seems negative, that's not my intent. All contests and lotteries and gambling (of any kind) have odds. The odds are stacked against you. But if you listen and hear the word of the day (or song or code or whatever) then later you have a better chance of winning when the DJ calls for entries.

The other point I make is that by giving out a station's song of the day on Answers, whoever does that is lowering their own chance to win. So, I've actually seen people give fake answers - to give themselves a better chance to win. And I warn about that.

I have answered this question many times for different people and many times people have thanked me for explaining it to them in the comments section.

By the way, you can email me through my profile – anybody can. I don’t hide my email like some people do.

So, I hope now that I've explained it, you understand better why I give such a long answer to that question - and I thank you for asking. A star for you! See ya on the radio!

-a guy named duh

Answer 2

no clue what you are even talking about