Some ridiculous but real news out of Sacramento concerning Entercom's KDND (The End): The station posted a message on their web site Tuesday that said they'd be "saying goodbye" at 7:10am on Tuesday 9/8. Perhaps you've read the "Radio Promotion Handbook 101" or have heard this one before.KCRA-TV hadn't, apparently. In fact, they're still standing by their story here...that "the End" is ending on Tuesday. Source of the information..."They (KDND) posted a message on their Web site." FAIL.
KXTV was sucked in as well, but their story had a hint more accuracy.
Fox affiliate KTXL was the thorough one, discovering a hidden page on KDND's site that spilled the beans...The End was saying goodbye to commercials between 9:30 and midnight on Tuesday.
Now The End confesses here. What was supposed to have us on the edge of our seats until Tuesday is out of the bag on Friday.
Apparently the whole thing is intended to divert attention from the a trial that begins Tuesday. The station is accused in a wrongful death suit because a contest entrant died after drinking too much water at once, trying to "hold her wee for a Wii."
We've taken an interest in this story because we think there are a few lessons here. First to KDND - Trying to milk this one for a week was pushing it! And besides, you can't have the attitude that "Our listeners are so stupid they'll think...." any more. KTXL learned the truth from one of your fans who knew to dig through pages on your web site that weren't supposed to be visible. And maybe the most obvious point - Is staging a wacky stunt on the same day you're going to trial as a result of another stunt really a smart thing to do? (Especially a stunt that's designed to mislead your audience!)
Now to Sacramento's TV stations - You were had, and some of you are still in denial. There's something called "fact checking." And guess what? You can't believe everything you read on the Internet. A few minutes spent looking at the rest of this site should convince you.
