So you think you have a good shot at winning a million bucks on your favorite Clear Channel station? April Fool!

        All eight Clear Channel stations here — WEBN-FM, WOFX-FM, WVMX-FM, WKFS-FM, WLW-AM, WKRC-AM, WSAI-AM and WCKY-AM — are offering listeners a chance to win $1 million.

        Did you know they're all playing the same contest, at the same time?

        That's not all.

        More than 100 million people could be playing the same contest nationwide on 1,159 radio stations owned by Clear Channel, the world's biggest radio owner.

        What are the odds?

        Jacor Communications pioneered “group contesting” in 1998 with listeners of “MIX 94.1” and eight other stations vying for a “$5,000 song of the day” prize from pooled promotional budgets. The concept was expanded to dozens of stations simultaneously offering bigger prizes, after Jacor merged with Clear Channel in 2000.

        With this $1 million give-away, Clear Channel has increased the number of stations exponentially.

        Contests rules say 1,159 stations are participating, which translates to “about 105 million” listeners from coast to coast, says Randy Michaels, president of Clear Channel's radio division, based in Covington.

        Unlike a WLW-AM contest in 2000 offering “a shot to win $1 million,” Clear Channel will award eight $1-million annuities between March 18 and May 3. Winners have the option of receiving a $2,083.33 monthly check for 40 years, or a one-time cash payment equivalent to the annuity purchase price of $369,451, according to the rules.

        The lucky winner is the 500th caller to the toll-free number when stations broadcast the “cue to call.”

        Think about this: Though 500 callers seems like a lot, that number represents one caller each from just 43 percent of the participating stations. Still feeling lucky?

        Calls pour into a 12-line automated phone at Clear Channel's Mount Auburn building that houses MIX 94.1, KISS 107.1 and Channel 12. It takes only “12 to 15 minutes” to process 499 calls, and pick up the winner, says Walt Brown, Clear Channel's national contest administrator who designed the call center.

        To get the money, the 500th caller must be a legal U.S. resident and at least 12 years old. He or she cannot be employed by the stations' sponsors, their advertising agencies, or other radio or TV stations.

        “You have to be a U.S. resident for tax purposes,” Mr. Brown says. “Other than that, it's pretty wide open.”

        Good luck. You'll need it.

        E-mail jkiesewetter@enquirer.com. Past columns at Enquirer.com/columns/kiese

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