1 of 1- RadioActive
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A serial winner of radio call-in contests reveals his secret
Actually, there's nothing really that big about his "secret." I used to do the same thing, although I rarely won. (I did once get a trip to Florida off of CFTR in its very, very early rock days when no one was really aware they'd switched to Top 40. I think I was the only one listening!)
In any event, this is the story of two brothers from San Diego who devised a method of winning radio contests, including scoring a motorcycle, concert tickets and other goodies, from various stations in and around that city in the 70s. The story of how they did it was thanks to a quirk in the local phone system that we didn't have in Toronto.
Once they discovered this hidden secret, they estimate they won more than 500 radio contests over the years. So many, in fact, that even the disc jockeys started getting suspicious.
A serial winner of radio call-in contests reveals his secret
- DOPEfm
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Re: A serial winner of radio call-in contests reveals his secret
I used to do this same thing regularly with Energy 108 in the 90's.
- RadioActive
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Re: A serial winner of radio call-in contests reveals his secret
I used to dial all but the last number and wait for the cue to call. But at some point, the phone company started disconnecting you if you sat there too long without dialing anything and that was the end of that strategy!
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Thread Starter- Fitz
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Re: A serial winner of radio call-in contests reveals his secret
I used the exact same system on CHUM FM from 1972 to 1974 and then it stopped working, I would dial 870-91 first wait for the contest and dial the 31 when they had the contest and would invariably get through. One time I recall something weird happened. Instead of getting through to the station I got through to another listener and he actually had the correct answer which I did not in that instance. The answer was When You Walk Into the Room by the Searchers.
EDIT: there was one extra step one had to take for the system to work. You had to set up early and make sure the lines were clear when you did it.
After the system stopped working it was mostly down to knowing music trivia and auto re-dial. The best phone I had was two versions of a GE cordless at least one of which I won on CHUM FM.
GE Cordless
Last edited by Fitz (May 14, 2023 8:18 am)
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