It’s a very special radio promotion that can make a difference in listeners’ lives beyond a cash prize. That was the case with one of the 10 best international contests of the last year highlighted at Radiodays Europe, held this year in Athens, March 9-11.
The annual session, anchored by Niall Power, head of sound and morning host of Southeast Ireland’s Beat 102-103, is one of each year’s highlights since resuming post-COVID two years ago. (RDE remains one of the world’s best, most-exciting radio conventions. Its third-annual sister event, Radiodays North America, comes to Toronto May 7-8).
(I’ve noted in previous years that there have been few North American promotions big enough to have made Power’s list. That could be different next year. The U.S./Canada tariff war has prompted a display of national pride among broadcasters centered around Canadian artists, and providing something more to tap into than just a concert tour. Classic Hits CHBM (Boom 97.3) Toronto is doing more to highlight acts “Made in Canada.” Group owner Corus declared “Canadian Day” across nearly 25 stations that went all Cancon on March 1.)
Here were some of Power’s highlights, leading with a favorite that taps into some of the same emotions as the long-popular “Second Chance Prom” promotion. Cash and concert tickets may always be welcome. Making adolescence less torturous is something else entirely.
“The Underdogs at Marvel Stadium” – Top 40 Fox 101.9 Melbourne, Australia breakfast team Fifi, Fev & Nick put together a football team of kids who had been excluded from school sports because of bullying, health issues, or for other reasons. The team played an exhibition game for a sold-out crowd at Marvel Stadium. Since then, the trio have formed a second team, this time for basketball.
BBC Radio 1’s “Giant Detention” – National Top 40 powerhouse BBC Radio 1 has figured into the Top 10 for each of the last two years. Head of programming Aled Haydn Jones was one of the opening day’s speakers on the station’s music process, following a session with BBC Radio 2’s Helen Thomas. “Giant Detention” was an escape room variant with breakfast host Greg James sent to a classroom for alleged on-air comments about managers. Other DJs joined one by one to help crack a code and escape.
“Paper Planes” – In what is probably the most easily adaptable promotion for any radio station, Ant1 Cyprus displayed a car with windows open at a local mall. Customers of the mall’s stores got an entry form, which they then made into a paper plane and could throw into the car. The grand prize winner got E500. There were bonus prizes for other listeners who heard their name called.
Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour has prompted some of American radio’s best promotions in recent years. Power’s Beat found a listener willing to get a “Tat for Taylor,” in this case a stepfather who did it for the stepdaughter he was adopting. Ireland’s Today FM created a 100-meter installation on a beach, reading “Ireland (Taylor’s Version),” meant to be visible from the air as Swift landed in Dublin.
Belgium’s Q Radio returned to the list this year when its breakfast show declared “Dessert Day,” in which kids colored a station poster, then sent a picture of it hanging at home or school, to win a visit from the Dessert Man. Response was such that the station has declared it an annual holiday. The station is also repeating last year’s winner, “The Forbidden Word,” at the moment; (the word its DJs are trying to avoid is “always”).
Athens radio stations Classic Rock Red 96.3 and eclectic En Lefko 87.7 both had new personality hirings to announce. Their “Just Landed” saw both presenters literally skydive into their new stations — an event that was particularly anxiety-provoking for one of them.
Melbourne’s Gold 104.3’s “Beer Race” tested whether listeners could literally hold their liquor by making two of them race with a pair of beer mugs. (The second-place finisher won for having less spillage.) Melbourne’s morning-show battle, including Gold’s Christian O’Connell, has been enough of a radio story worldwide that a Radiodays panel was devoted to it this year, as well as two featuring another celebrity DJ, Jackie-O of sister Kiss-FM.
Top 40 FM104 Dublin pitted listeners against each other to win E20,000 in “Quid Games,” which included rock, paper, scissors, Jenga, and “What’s in the Box” (but nothing actually life-threatening). Belgium’s VRT MNM tested its morning man with Sander vs. Time, in which the station kept its morning host on for a week, eliminated its usual benchmarks, and made him guess when the week had elapsed (he was 90 minutes off).
