It’s news when man bites dog. One Clear Channel station is betting that it’s also news when a radio station does nothing.
Big 100.3 says it is doing nothing during the Super Bowl. The station in Washington has put out a press release saying, “This Sunday night, as you, your friends, your family, and the rest of the world settle in to watch the big game – they will, too. At 6 p.m., The NEW BIG 100.3 will do … absolutely nothing. Not, as in, ‘nothing different,’ but, quite literally, absolutely nothing.
“For the four hours of scheduled game coverage,” the announcement continued, “The NEW BIG 100.3 will offer no music, no news, no advertisements … no programming of any kind.”
More from the release:
“Program Director Dan Michaels says the choice is a logical one, ‘Since over half the people in America will be watching the game on television and a majority of those not watching on TV will be listening to the game on the radio, we realize that the remaining available audience size doesn’t make the expense of regular operations cost-effective.”
Suspecting either a promotion or technical testing, we asked Michaels for more about the apparent dead air. He replied:
“The air won’t be completely dead … we are not doing test work. We will be on the air … it will just be nothing.”
