April Fool

Jim Carnegie at RBR had some good advice this morning:

"April 1st is always a dangerous date for radio stations. "April Fools" jokes are a long American tradition and it's always tempting for air talent to come up with a clever gag to pull on listeners. The problem is, the FCC's hoax and contest rules remain in effect on April 1 just like any other day - - as demonstrated more than once by stations being fined for April Fools jokes that went too far. Station management needs to be especially concerned this year because April Fools Day, tomorrow, falls on a Saturday, when many stations have their least experienced DJs on the air. That also means that a situation involving the local police, fire department or elected officials could quickly escalate into a crisis with no one on hand to answer the phones in the business office. The FCC isn't likely to be sympathetic to a station's plea that a hoax was carried out because the air talent wasn't aware that what they were doing was wrong. And if they were to run a phony contest, your station could end up being on the hook for delivering a real prize, no matter how expensive. Our advice is that PDs and GMs need to touch base today (if you haven't already) with everyone who is going to be on the air tomorrow and make sure they understand the ground rules. No April Fools pranks that haven't been pre-cleared by management for compliance with the FCC's rules are allowed."

That having been said, you can always talk about the best April Fools stunts of all time.