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Okay, so those of you who listen to WUNC radio here in the Triangle on a regular basis, and who can hang-in there through the necessary but maddening periodic pledge drives, have no doubt heard that one of the regular features during these drives is for the station to offer some kind of prize package—usually a trip somewhere overseas—to someone drawn at random from the pool of listeners who respond during a given interval. (They always emphasize that "no pledge is necessary" to be entered in the contest, so that it's merely a drawing and not a lottery, but naturally the whole purpose of it is to encourage pledges). Anyhow, the custom is for station personality Eric Hodge to call the winner of the drawing to inform him or her that they've won, and then a version of that call is played-back on the air shortly thereafter, to inspire other listeners that "it could happen to me!" I'm sure that those recorded calls are heavily edited, both for length and to streamline their content. But the more I hear them, the more I wonder if the versions that we hear on the air are real at all. I'm sure the listener is a real person, and I'm sure that he or she really did win the prize, but I'm not sure that the reactions are genuine. It seems unlikely to me that seemingly every single person that Eric calls would just happen to react initially to the news of having won a radio contest first with a moment or two of apprehension, and then with over-the-top shrieks and ebullience. They're starting to sound to me like they're set-up. But I don't really know. Has anybody on here ever won one of the WUNC contests and been called by Eric Hodge? Or known anyone else who has? I'm just curious what the process is, how they notify you, and how the version of the call that we hear on the air reflects the way the actual phone conversation transpired. Or any other thoughts or opinions?
Maybe I have too much time on my hands these days...
I don't know, I guess I always just assumed that they didn't do the actual drawings until after the pledge drive was over -- because they say if you join as a sustainer you are entered into all the drawings, not all that are left in the pledge drive. They give a lot of the same trips away from pledge drive to pledge drive, so my assumption was that they arranged with the winners to tape a promotional call later for use on a subsequent pledge drive. I have no idea if this is how it actually works though, and now you have me curious.
Hope you can get an answer from someone with firsthand experience.
I don't know, I guess I always just assumed that they didn't do the actual drawings until after the pledge drive was over -- because they say if you join as a sustainer you are entered into all the drawings, not all that are left in the pledge drive. They give a lot of the same trips away from pledge drive to pledge drive, so my assumption was that they arranged with the winners to tape a promotional call later for use on a subsequent pledge drive. I have no idea if this is how it actually works though, and now you have me curious.
Yeah, I don't know either. To me, it sounds like the recorded Eric Hodge notification calls that they play on the air seem to correspond to the previous trip giveaway. And I don't see why their "sustainer"-level donors being automatically entered into all drawings would preclude doing the drawings incrementally through the course of each pledge drives. But you're right that they do re-use many of the same trip destinations (Paris, London, Rome, etc.) from drive to drive, to it would probably be possible to just have some canned, pre-recorded Hodge calls from previous pledge drives on file to be played in opportune situations later. I really don't know. But that wasn't really the aspect of the calls that I was specifically doubting anyway. What I'm wondering about is how much of the audible reaction of the prize-winner that we hear on the air is genuine. If they do arrange with the winners in advance to tape the promotional calls, as you suggest, then that would answer my question. But since the calls are presented as being spontaneous, it would seem to me to be deceptive if not fraudulent for them to have been set-up ahead of time. Not that it really matters, but as a frequent public radio listener and contributor, it makes me curious.
I'd actually like to see the amount that was pledged by the individual winners. I bet there is NO relationship between amount pledged and your "luck" of being picked.
I know it says no pledge necessary to enter but I wonder home many of those people have won
My friend recently one a trip from NPR. Eric Hodge Called her Once - that was it. They did ask for permission to use the recording for promotions, but it wasn't done over or "staged" in any way.
I imagine all of the ones they use on air all sound the same because their selection criteria for what they put on air is biased towards the people who react in a way that is optimal for a promotion. The boring reactions probably never see air time. My friend is pretty low key and didn't scream into the phone so I bet they never use her call. In the end who cares, she won a great trip!
My friend recently one a trip from NPR. Eric Hodge Called her Once - that was it. They did ask for permission to use the recording for promotions, but it wasn't done over or "staged" in any way.
I imagine all of the ones they use on air all sound the same because their selection criteria for what they put on air is biased towards the people who react in a way that is optimal for a promotion. The boring reactions probably never see air time. My friend is pretty low key and didn't scream into the phone so I bet they never use her call. In the end who cares, she won a great trip!
Awesome! Excellent and pertinent info. My fears that I may have been being subtly misled by my friendly local public radio station have been allayed. Thanks!
Okay, so those of you who listen to WUNC radio here in the Triangle on a regular basis, and who can hang-in there through the necessary but maddening periodic pledge drives, have no doubt heard that one of the regular features during these drives is for the station to offer some kind of prize package—usually a trip somewhere overseas—to someone drawn at random from the pool of listeners who respond during a given interval. (They always emphasize that "no pledge is necessary" to be entered in the contest, so that it's merely a drawing and not a lottery, but naturally the whole purpose of it is to encourage pledges). Anyhow, the custom is for station personality Eric Hodge to call the winner of the drawing to inform him or her that they've won, and then a version of that call is played-back on the air shortly thereafter, to inspire other listeners that "it could happen to me!" I'm sure that those recorded calls are heavily edited, both for length and to streamline their content. But the more I hear them, the more I wonder if the versions that we hear on the air are real at all. I'm sure the listener is a real person, and I'm sure that he or she really did win the prize, but I'm not sure that the reactions are genuine. It seems unlikely to me that seemingly every single person that Eric calls would just happen to react initially to the news of having won a radio contest first with a moment or two of apprehension, and then with over-the-top shrieks and ebullience. They're starting to sound to me like they're set-up. But I don't really know. Has anybody on here ever won one of the WUNC contests and been called by Eric Hodge? Or known anyone else who has? I'm just curious what the process is, how they notify you, and how the version of the call that we hear on the air reflects the way the actual phone conversation transpired. Or any other thoughts or opinions?
Maybe I have too much time on my hands these days...
I have been interviewed for a radio station. The producer called, asked questions, I answered them (was recorded), and then when the show went on, it sounded like the host was asking questions, and maybe a minute of my 10-minute response was aired. Whenever I hear Eric Hodge, I always assume that the winners were called and made aware, and of course WUNC has to ask permission to air a phone call with them. And that's why the winners sound so underwhelmed
Eric Hodge called me today at lunch and I was lucky to answer the phone, expecting political surveys I almost let it go to voicemail as I usually do. It was just the one call, and of course within seconds of hearing who it was, like any long-time listener, I knew what's up. I did my best to provide a witty response, but truly, this was a pretty outstanding prize so I was probably sounding fairly excited... no drama/screams though .
He did ask to use excerpts on air at the end of the call, as another person noted.
Someone asked about relative amounts give: I don't think I contribute a very high amount, but have lived here in NC since 1988 and have given pretty much every year since (although for awhile I alternated between WSHA, WNCU, WUNC and WCPE... so many great stations in the area!).
I found this old post when I went to go look to see if they'd already posted anything (the fundraiser was over a long time ago too, so I'm wondering if someone turned it down and we were the 2nd choice) ... anyway, I figured I'd chime in. Sorry to raise it from the dead .
I am very slightly acquainted with Eric and he is such a nice guy. I asked him during a fund drive why he never calls me and gives me a trip and he told me that they do give out the list of winners after the fund drive is over. I guess they just take down the names of folks who call in for Paris and then add in the sustainers at the end and pick from that batch. Maybe one of these days he'll call me!
I won a trip a few years ago, not long after they started the sustainer program. I think I had signed up at $10/month. I had been an intermittent giver before that, donating every other year or so.
IIRC, it wasn't until a month or so after the drive ended that they called. I thought it was a solicitation call and almost hung up on him. Glad I didn't.
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