But, now Radio's continual quest for attention can be linked to someone's death thanks to a Sacramento, California radio station's contest.
The recent death of Jennifer Strange in KDND-FM's "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" contest is a tragedy. The 28-year-old mother-of-three was trying to win a Nintendo Wii and the contestants were competing to see who could drink the most water without relieving themselves.
Strange, who reportedly drank about 2 gallons during the competition died about 5 hours afterward of water intoxication.
In response to the incident, the station fired 10 employees, including members of "The Morning Rave" morning show.
Besides one unfortunate death and the others' loss of livelihood, there may even be civil legal action against the station and/or some or all of the employees involved. That remains to be seen.
So, who is to blame for this mess?
Everyone.
Radio stations - morning shows especially - are under constant pressure to get your attention and keep it. Ratings are everything in commercial Radio and better ratings means bigger bucks for stations.
Program Directors and General Managers encourage morning shows to be creative while dangling bonuses and employment perks in return for these ratings.
Oneupmanship between competing morning shows in terms of contests, stunts, and promotions is a fact-of-life and edgier shows have to keep pushing their own limits - or at least keep up with the ones imposed by their competition. Of course it's a recipe for disaster.
But, listeners have to shoulder a little of the blame, too, because these ratings come from their listenership. They vote for what they like and don't like by listening and reporting which stations captivate their aural attention.
In the same way commuters slow down to look at an accident during rush hour, listeners tune in to some shows to hear the next outrageous remark, contest, or stunt.
