Win A Million In A Minute !!!!

 

On St. Patrick’s Day 1997, Radio Ireland came on the air having won the franchise to become the national independent radio station. The franchise had been re-advertised by the IRTC[1] following the spectacular failure of Century Radio in 1991, after just two years on air. It was a massive exercise to attempt to challenge the dominance of RTE’s Radio 1 & 2 and after just six months on air Radio Ireland was struggling. It had reportedly lost £2m in the first six months on air.[2]

 

The station owners decided to seek outside help and following consultations with promotion and marketing companies like Ginger Productions, the Chris Evans vehicle, it was decided to rebrand the station and adjust, with IRTC approval, the format of the station. The authorities did not want another failure and seemed to make every effort to accommodate the struggling national station.

 

Radio Ireland was rebranded as Today FM in January 1998. The success of on-air competitions had been proven previously with the pirates through significant cash giveaways, something that the state-controlled stations could not compete with. Allied with the rebranding, the station needed ‘an event’ to kick start Today FM, to improve its profile throughout the country and to begin to increase rating which would ultimately lead to an increase in advertising revenue.

 

It was billed as the ‘biggest ever cash giveaway on Irish radio’ when Today FM launched ‘A Minute with a Million’. A possible one million pounds was on offer for one lucky listener. Throughout January, Today FM relentlessly plugged their giveaway. The mechanism was simple, according to their full-page national newspaper advertisements,

‘Imagine, you in a glass vault with one million pounds and one minute to catch all you can. All you have to do is listen every hour 7am – 5pm and call us when you hear the key songs listed below. And to make it even easier we’ll also name them each hour on air. Be the tenth caller and win £100. Your name automatically goes through to the draw for ‘A Minute with a Million’ which takes place Sunday February 8th in the Jervis Street Centre.’

 

There were 90 songs listed and therefore 90 chances to win and when the initially competition ended, which ran from weekdays from January 19th to the 30th, the station had already paid out £9,000 to successful callers. The success of the promotion is illustrated by the coverage winners received in local and regional newspapers. This is from February 1998 in the Leinster Express,

‘Two Laois men have qualified for the final of Today FM's "Minute with a Million" competition. Freddy Mitten, Portarlington, and Michael Lynch, Mountmellick, will be among the 90 finalists assembled at the Jervis Street Shopping Centre in Dublin on February 8. They'll all be entered in a draw and the winner will get a minute in a vault containing, a million pounds, and will be allowed to keep what he or she grabs in that time.’

The Donegal Democrat reported,

A Donegal man is among 90 lucky finalists who have been chosen to go into a draw to win a 'Minute with a Million’ on Ireland's newest national radio station, 100-102 Today FM.

Neil Green, Letterkenny will go forward to the final of the competition which lakes place in the Jervis Street Shopping Centre, Dublin on 8th February.

The Kerryman reported,

‘Kathleen O'Connor, Ballymanagh, Valentia, is one, of 90 finalists who have been chosen to go into a draw to win a 'Minute with a Million'.  This competition was run daily during January, from, Monday to Friday, between 7am and 5pm on Today FM. At the start of each hour, a, key song was played, and the tenth caller to phone the station on recognising the song won £100. Kathleen has already won £100, but as part of her prize she was also automatically entered into the draw to win a minute in a bank vault with one million pounds. She is due to travel to Dublin on, this Sunday, February 8 and will meet with the other finalists at the Jervis Street Shopping Centre, where the draw will be made. Should she be selected to enter the vault, Kathleen will, be allowed to keep as much money as she can grab 'within one minute.’

The Drogheda Independent Reported on February 6th in an article written by Vivienne Traynor, who would later go onto a stellar career in the news department at RTE,

‘A Drogheda woman has much more than a one in a million chance to get rich this weekend. Susan Clarke from Platin will be among 90 finalists in a promotion by radio station ‘Today FM’. The 23 year-old has a one in 90 chance of being picked to enter a vault containing £1 million and keep whatever she can grab in 60 seconds. And her action plan for next Sunday is ‘I am just going to wear a huge shirt so I can stuff all the money in if I’m picked to go into the vault’ she joked.’

The Kilkenny People reported,

‘Next Sunday, a speedy Kilkenny woman will be hoping she is part of a bank raid in Dublin. Mary O'Shea, Bennettsbridge is a finalist in a radio station promotion that could net her up to £1 million. She and 89 others will wait at the Jervis Street Shopping Centre in Dublin hoping that one of them will be chosen to enter a bank vault and gather as much cash as possible within one minute as part of a campaign to highlight "Today FM " Mary is a well-known long-distance runner and she is preparing for her 17th marathon. The New York Marathon will be held on October 31^st.’

There were finalists from 22 different counties and in the end, it was Dungarvan, Co Waterford man Joe Dalton who was randomly selected from the 90 finalists to enter the glass vault with the million. The married man with two children entered the vault and in the sixty seconds he was given, managed to collect £35,568 in front of a packed Jervis Street Centre. The losing 89 contestants received a ‘goodie bag’ containing £200 worth of prizes and vouchers mainly for shops within the centre.

While Joe Dalton won the competition to enter the vault, the ultimate winner was Today FM as almost immediately its listenership began to rise dramatically and created the foundation that the stations success exists today.

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[1] Independent Radio and Television Commission

[2] Irish Independent January 6^th 1998