Volume goes up on wacky ratings drive

Fancy eating as much food as you can while living in a car?

Are you up for marrying your fellow contestant, and digging the biggest hole while standing on one leg in the rain with a sticky bun clutched between your knees?

It's radio ratings time again - when radio promotions people try to come up with the wackiest, weirdest and zaniest competitions.

Palmerston North radio station 2XS has cancelled its plan for a Little Brother competition, a juvenile version of the hugely successful television Big Brother show, after complaints. But Hamilton stations are not holding back in the never-ending drive to increase listener numbers.

The current radio survey doesn't finish until next month but already local station The Generator has been the subject of complaints for its Cause as Much Havoc as Possible in 30 Seconds contest, which finished last week.

This week it is locking up four people for 24 hours to play computer games.

Next week the station will give away 100 CDs, and the following week $1500 of clothes. Its ratings fling will be the "ultimate party" giveaway, with the winner getting three kegs of beer, top local band Mama Said playing live at their home and free pizza for all.

At The Rock, a Show Us The Rock Logo competition invites listeners to display the station logo in the most visible place possible. The winner gets a boat package worth about $20,000.

More FM has the Two Hundy Challenge, where doing things like eating pig brains can win you $200. Y99.3 has a $500 "easy winning" song prize each hour.

At The Edge, promotions manager Darryl Paton said there was a trend away from doing "wacky, zany" things.

The Edge is holding a Degrees of Separation contest, following the theory that anyone in New Zealand could be located through just six telephone calls.

Entrants are given cryptic clues and six phone calls to find their target and win cash.

- NZPA