WMEE 97.3 Avoids Deep DooDoo

Maven's note: UPDATED INFORMATION ADDED BELOW

The kids at WMEE 97.3 had a great idea: "Let's play off of Hoosiers new-found privilege of buying booze on Sunday! Listeners will be invited to send us their receipt for alcohol purchased this Sunday and through some sort of magical selection process, someone will win a grand prize of $100. It's simple! What could go wrong?"

Well, thankfully the adults in charge of operating WMEE 97.3 got wind of the questionable promotion, put their foot down and subsequently withdrew it. 

So, what's wrong with that? Plenty. First, a contest that directs listeners to purchase booze in order to win a prize is hardly the family-friendly image that FedMed, who owns WMEE 97.3, wants to cultivate. 

Secondly, there's a pesky Federal Trade Commission rule about broadcast stations promoting gambling. Working in lockstep with the Federal Communications Commission, the Feds prohibit what they call a "lottery". In their legal description, a broadcast station's contest becomes a "lottery" when three conditions are met. First is a "prize", something of value. The second is "chance", like a drawing or prize wheel, and the last is "consideration". Consideration means the contest player must make a purchase to be eligible to win the prize. 

In the case of the WMEE 97.3 contest, the prize is the $100, chance is the drawing of a winner, and consideration is the requirement of making a purchase (that's the only way a contestant would have a receipt to submit). Since all three of those conditions are present in the WMEE 97.3 contest, by definition, it's a "lottery" and would expose the station's owners to the very good probability of hefty 6-figure fines and/or the possibility of FCC sanctions up to and including loss of their broadcasting license. 

(UPDATE) Would the FCC really come after a little ole Fort Wayne radio station for a silly little contest? Uh, yes. Many readers will recall the Maven's post on 12/21/14 when WMEE 97.3's sister station in Niles Michigan was forced into a Consent Decree (like getting caught and promising to never to it again) which amounted to writing a $46,000 check to the Feds when some advertising genius at the station thought it would be a good idea to include the Emergency Alert tones in a commercial for added impact. The Maven muses that there were no Christmas bonuses in Elkhart, that year. 

Here's the link to the Maven's post:  

http://fwmediamaven.blogspot.com/2014/12/no-christmas-bonuses-in-elkhart.html

Or read from the FCC official text: 

http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2014/db1210/DA-14-1656A1.pdf

The Maven suggests that the adult who stopped this foolishness deserves the Federated Media Employee of the Year Award for pulling the station back from the brink of possible demise. 

As a side note, before the trolls begin to stir....there are two exceptions to the "lottery" prohibition. First, of course, are government-sanctioned state and multi-state lotteries. The second are charitable contests/lotteries/fundraisers which require an application/vetting/authorizing process where a license is issued , usually by the state. The annual Turnstone Classic Corvette raffle is a good example of a permitted charity lottery.

Don't bother looking on the station's website, the "contest" has been scrubbed from the WMEE 97.3 website and all apps and no longer can be accessed. However, an abundance of screenshots exist forever.

WMEE 97.3's "Official Contest Rules" are purported to apply to all contests. Check item #2. You can find them here:  
https://www.wmee.com/contests/contest-rules/