from wire services....

A 28-year-old woman found dead hours after taking part in a radio station's water drinking contest died of water intoxication, the coroner's office said Saturday.

Assistant Sacramento County Coroner Ed Smith said a preliminary investigation found evidence "consistent with a water intoxication death."

Jennifer Strange's mother found her daughter's body at her home Friday in the Sacramento suburb of Rancho Cordova after Strange called her supervisor at her job to say she was heading home in terrible pain.

"She said to one of our supervisors that she was on her way home and her head was hurting her real bad," said Laura Rios, one of Strange's co-workers at Radiological Associates of Sacramento. "She was crying and that was the last that anyone had heard from her."

Earlier Friday, Strange took part in a contest at radio station KDND 107.9 in which participants competed to see how much water they could drink without going to the bathroom.

Initially, contestants were handed eight-ounce bottles of water to drink every 15 minutes.

"They were small little half-pint bottles, so we thought it was going to be easy," said fellow contestant James Ybarra of Woodland. "They told us if you don't feel like you can do this, don't put your health at risk."

Ybarra said he quit after drinking five bottles. "My bladder couldn't handle it anymore," he added.

After he quit, he said, the remaining contestants, including Strange, were given even bigger bottles to drink.

"I was talking to her and she was a nice lady," Ybarra said. "She was telling me about her family and her three kids and how she was doing it for kids."

The winner of the "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" contest was promised a Nintendo Wii video game system.

John Geary, vice president and marketing manager for Entercom Sacramento, the station's owner, said station personnel were stunned when they heard of Strange's death.

"We are awaiting information that will help explain how this tragic event occurred," he said.

Hope they had all the legal in place befor this stunt. My guess is with no waiver of liability there will be several jobs sacraficed. I am sad for the loss, death never makes good radio.

Here is a link to local TV coverage of the tragedy:

http://www.kcra.com/video/10751647/index.html

More from the Sacramento Bee:

Mom's last hours recalled
Other contestants in radio contest say woman drank over half a gallon of water.


Contestants in a radio stunt called "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" revealed new details Sunday about an on-air water drinking contest that left a 28-year-old mother of three dead.

Jennifer Lea Strange died after drinking well over a half gallon of water Friday during the "Morning Rave" program on The End (KDND, 107.9 FM). About 18 contestants vied for a Nintendo Wii gaming console by drinking as much water as they could without going to the bathroom; Strange took second place.

James Ybarra, a Woodland man who gave up after drinking eight 8-fluid-ounce bottles of water, or half a gallon, said that Strange kept going.


Most contestants were hoping to get the console for their children, he said. Strange showed contestants photos of her two sons and daughter.

"It is sad that a mother had to lose her life to get something for her kids," he said. "None of us knew this could be a risk to our health."

The Sacramento County Coroner's Office said Saturday that Strange died of apparent water intoxication. A preliminary investigation didn't reveal any "life threatening medical conditions to explain her sudden death."

John Geary, general manager of Entercom Sacramento, which owns KDND, did not return messages left Sunday on his cellular and home phones. In an e-mail message to The Bee, he said:

"We were stunned when we heard this news. We are awaiting information that will help explain how this tragic event occurred. Our sympathies are with the family and friends of Jennifer Strange, as they deal with circumstances that are so difficult to comprehend."

Strange's husband, William Strange, 27, said late Sunday he was not ready to discuss his wife's death publicly. He released a photo of his young family, and a brief written statement describing his wife's generous and optimistic nature, and her devotion to her family.

"Friday, Jennifer was just her bright, usual self," he wrote. "She was trying to win something for her family that she thought we would enjoy. ... We miss her dearly. She was my girl."

The death touched a nerve throughout Sacramento and was publicized in news outlets from as far away as Toronto, London and Sydney, Australia.

Locally, The Bee's Sunday story drew numerous comments from readers. Some said it is common knowledge that downing water in such quantities is dangerous and that the contestants were responsible for engaging in such risky behavior. Others blasted the station for recklessly endangering people's lives.

Gina Sherrod, who competed with Strange in the contest, said her family listened to the radio show, and told her that a nurse was on air warning that drinking too much water is dangerous. Sherrod said a DJ rebuffed the nurse, saying the contestants signed waivers that addressed only publicity issues and made no mention of health or safety concerns.

Sherrod said she had no idea what risk she had taken until she saw news of Strange's death.

"I was so scared," she said. "I had the hardest time going to sleep last night because I was afraid I wouldn't get up."

Sherrod sat near Strange during the contest, which began shortly after 6 a.m. Friday in a break room at the radio station's offices on Madison Avenue.

Contestants had qualified by recounting the worst Christmas gifts they'd received.

Strange told Sherrod her worst gift was a set of flower-shaped champagne flutes wrapped like roses that shattered when she opened them.

Participants were each given 8-fluid-ounce bottles of water. They had two minutes to drink a bottle, waited 10 minutes, then drank another bottle.

The women chatted. Strange told Sherrod she and friends had sixth-row tickets to Friday night's Justin Timberlake concert at Arco Arena.

Sherrod said the contest room was quiet at first, but morning disc jockeys Trish, Maney and Lukas and radio personalities Carter and Fester came in and out of the room, pumping up the participants.

"We did it like we were drinking shots," Sherrod said. "Instead of saying 'cheers' we would say 'Wii' and then shoot it."

Ybarra, the Woodland man, said Fester went outside and sprayed the window with water and turned on a faucet to tempt contestants to use the bathroom.

"As time went by, it got harder to drink those small bottles," Ybarra said.

After contestants drank eight of the 8-fluid-ounce bottles of water, radio staff gave them larger bottles to drink, Ybarra said. That's when he left.

Sherrod drank half of a larger bottle before she ran out of the room and vomited.

"I felt drunk and really out of it," she said.

Sherrod left then. Strange was still a contestant.

"I spent the last hours with that poor woman. I couldn't believe it," Sherrod said.

After the contest, Strange had planned to go to work. She called a co-worker at Radiological Associates, crying. She had a headache and nausea and had to go home, said co-worker Angela Krause. Another employee tried unsuccessfully to reach Strange. She asked Strange's mother to check on her at her Rancho Cordova home. Strange's mother found her daughter dead.

The coroner's office said the final cause of death is not expected for several months.

Water intoxication -- or hyponatremia -- occurs when sodium levels in blood dip too low.

Two years ago a 21-year-old fraternity pledge at California State University, Chico, died after a night of hazing during which he drank excessive amounts of water. Four members of the fraternity later pleaded guilty to charges including involuntary manslaughter.

Sacramento Sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Tim Curran said Sunday that no investigation had been started on the case.

Friday's water drinking contest was not the first in the radio industry. Dave Gross, 46, a landscaper from Victorville in Southern California, said Strange's death brought back bad memories. He won a pool table, bar and bar stools last summer after winning a water drinking contest staged by a local radio station. He became violently ill afterward and wound up in an emergency room.

"When I heard about the woman in Sacramento, it sent a chill over me," Gross said Sunday. "This woman lost her life over a Wii. I could have lost mine over a pool table."

No one should lose their jobs over this, and no lawsuits should be filed. I imagine that there was SOME kind of document signed. It's an accident- plain and simple. I'm sure some that a gaggle of ambulance chasers have been on the horn to the family of the late woman.

Enterscum at it again. They like to kill radio stations, why not kill the listeners too?

An "accident"? Hardly. It was a known scientific fact that people can die from drinking too much water. (Read above about how a college hazing incident killed a California student a couple of years ago.) Waiver or no waiver, the radio station should have known better.

This is a really sad commentary on our society that people would willingly risk their lives for video game machines and pool tables. If the worst thing that could happen were for contestants to pee their pants, this stunt would be funny; tragically, that was not the case.

they should have ask expert advice if they did not know.

In future promotions, use pedialyte instead of water.

I wonder how they are handling this on the air, if at all. Nothing on their website either. Probably for legal reasons. I agree with others there will be a lawsuit here.

This topic is interesting to me in that over the years, there have been countless times where I have had to really step back and evaluate promotions we were planning. You have to think about everything that can go wrong, and a lot of the time, most likely will.

I feel sorry for the woman who died. That is tragic. But, I feel even more sorry that she was dumb enough to participate in a contest of this nature. It's about time people started assuming responsibility for their own actions. The radio station screwed-up by picking an idiotic contest, the listener screwed-up even more by participating. Is the station's promotional department lame, yes, of course, pathetically lame. Should they suffer some huge legal responsiblity. No frickin way! However, the blood sucking celebrity lawyers will be standing in line for this one.

they pulled the show indefinetely, and posted
a sympathy letter on their website. what a dumb stunt.

Thanks Boss_Boy for the update of a story many PD's and GM's have been following all day. The website message (new this afternoon) has a very "legal" look to it...unfortunately, the legal matters will now become more important than the actual tragedy. But that's life in 2007. PD's all across the country are now sharing this story with their staffs, which isn't a bad thing.

Anybody who "approved" this contest should be shown the door for stupidity, plus the person who is next up the chain should be pay a price for hiring the idiots. Did entercom's legal department review it in advance? Would be intersting what ages and education levels were involved. 6th grade graduates?

Absolutely, 62. I have been surprised how many posters seem to be defending Entercom in this situation. While I agree one needs to take personal responsibility, radio stunts should not encourage dangerous, life-threatening behavior in any way or form. This has been a building problem for years, and hopefully this episode will teach some (dare, I say, younger broadcasters), that there are some lines you simply don't cross. And upper management, as you point out, is equally, if not more responsible, hence my interest in this topic.

And for those who say that network TV kind of brought this on with shows like "Fear Factor", etc., there are some huge differences. Those shows had expert staffs that would be able to make calls when things got dangerous. Radio station morning shows don't have that luxury, and probably never even thought of it. (And, BTW, where is Fear Factor today?...ah, I believe cancelled and in limited re-runs.)

There have been numourous eating contests in the past, like eating the most hot dogs. Don't know if any of those are sponsored by radio stations or not. Seem risky for someone to sponser that type of thing. What about run/walk events?

Completely agree.

Frankly, I was shocked to learn people can die from too much water. Thought it would just drain and that was that... Easy to see where this all happened. However, a Google later and all is revealed.

Seems to me there is a niche for someone wanting to safety check these things before hand. Could also build them and syndicate them. Stir in some pre written collateral, imaging elements and spot construction kit and it's a nice package, that can avoid this kind of thing.

Maybe Marconi could do a bit and laugh at the woman...

Those who defend Entercom in this situation, are young and naive, just like the brilliant minds who carried out this stunt.

In a very sad way, 107.9 The End has lived up to it's name. What a tragic End. This could be the end of The End.

Let me put this in perspective:

At a country station I worked at, we would sponsor rodeos at various times of the year. At these rodeos, often, there would be this contest called “ bull poker”. For those of you not familiar with bull poker, it’s where there is a group of people ( who sign up, and pay an entrance fee) all sit at a poker table in the rodeo arena, and then a bull is turned lose. Of course the bull is gonna rage want to kick some ass; and it does!!!
Anyways, the “ winner” of the event , is the last person sitting in their chair, who also gets everyone’s entrance fees. ( usually 200-400 bucks). Not a lot, considering just WHAT a bull can do to your body!

Dangerous- yes. Stupid, definitely. Entertaining- absolutely! If someone got hurt- the station had all kinds of waivers that were signed beforehand, and made it clear THEY weren’t responsible.

Whenever you enter any kind of contest where it is obvious you can cause bodily harm, that is YOUR responsibility. The fact that you had to hold your own piss and drink a ton of water should have been the first clue to this woman that harm could be caused to her- she still chose to enter. Once again, let’s look at PERSONAL accountability here. I’m sick of everyone blaming everyone else when they do something stupid.

My other concern is that something like this will cause a shockwave throughout the industry where stations are on constant pins and needles about any contests they do, and no one will take chances because of the fact.

20 million dollar settlement here....and those disclaimers listeners sign? You can use them as Charmin when it comes to a death due to stupidity.

But for Entercom's sponsoring a contest, it is unlikely that the woman would have consumed mass quantities of water in a short amount of time and then died. Entercom also apparently took no medical precautions whatsoever and ignored a warning from a caller who claimed to be a nurse (believe me, the plaintiff's attorney will track her down in time for the trial). Pay up! As an aside, I expect more stupid stunts like this one as radio attempts to stave off its inevitable demise at the hands of .mp3 players and Wi-Fi.

She died after drinking only a half gallon of water?

I was under the impression it took more than that to die from water intoxication.

On a few occasions I've pounded a gallon or more in order to throw-off a simple piss-test.

Go figure...

The general manager and the people involved must lose their jobs. I agree with radioboy25. Waivers don't prevent people from filing lawsuits. The bull poker analogy isn't the same. Those people know they are going to get hurt. This lady didn't know that. If my family member died and the people who did the stunt kept their jobs, it would make their death meaningless. I hope this causes a "shockwave" around the country. Maybe stations won't do so many stunts that could hurt people.

There will be a management shake up for it. Almost guaranteed. I am sure it has the whole company on eggshells.

Entercom fires ten employees at Sacramento's "End", says the Bee newspaper.
The "Morning Rave" show of Trish, Lukas and Maney is also apparently gone - permanently. That swift action by Entercom follows the Friday afternoon death of 28-year-old Jennifer Strange. She may've ingested as much as 1-3/4 gallons of water during a water-drinking contest - hoping to win a Wii videogame system for her three kids. Read the Bee's afternoon update HERE.

Wow. I thought heads would roll, but ten employees. Good move.

There are many variables that affect the way a human body handles fluid. The woman could have had kidney problems that prevented her from getting rid of the fluid fast enough. Maybe she had congestive heart failure or an existing electrolyte imbalance. Perhaps female hormones caused her to retain water. Doctors and nurses spend many blissful hours studying the effects of fluid on various body systems. It's never a good idea to dump large amounts of any substance into the body in a short period of time unless one does so in a medically-controlled environment. I understand the morning show has been pulled off the air. This one was way worse than the WKRP turkey drop and will likely cost Entercom a lot of money.

Pulled off the air permanently, evidently. All Access is reporting among the casualties are Program Director Steve Weed, all of the morning show members, the promotion director, and others. As of now, though, the Vice-President of the station keeps his job!

Why does the boss make the most money? Part of the reason is that they are responsible for everything on their watch. If the GM/VP knew about the promotion and allowed it to happen, they should fall on their sword.

The captain of that ship was probably a rat and left before it sank!

Ten Dismissed At KDND Over Water-Drinking Contest Death
Following the unfortunate death of a KDND (107.9 THE END)/SACRAMENTO listener (NET NEWS 1/15) attributed apparently to drinking too much water during a "Hold Your Wee For A Wii" contest last FRIDAY (1/12), ENTERCOM/SACRAMENTO VP/Market Mgr. JOHN GEARY has released a statement: "Effective immediately, the Morning Rave program is cancelled and ten employees are no longer with the station."

From allaccess.com

ALL ACCESS has learned that among those exiting are longtime Station Mgr./PD STEVE WEED, Morning Rave members LUKAS, MANEY, TRISH SWEET, FESTER, CARTER, Morning show producer LIZ DIAZ, Promotion Dir. ROBIN PECHOTA, and two others. For more on this from the SACRAMENTO BEE, just click here.

I believe someone in upper management will get let go before the weeks' out. (Or made to "resign")

I doubt it, Radio921. It sounds like everyone who was involved with the stunt has been shown the door.

Time to send T&R to Sacto!

PD Steve Weed was the highest exec to go...so far.

Maybe Doctor Doug & Skippy will get Entercom to send them to Sacramento so they can do Top 40 again

How about the station facilities and license be sold at auction, the proceeds going to the 3 kids?

Excellent idea, although I'm frankly not sure which is worse: a station that assumes its listeners are all morons, or listeners who confirm that judgment. "Hold your wee for a Wii." Jeez. Wonder what the promos for that one sounded like.

The comment from "Inside Radio" says it best.

“There’s the question of what Entercom needs to do in the eyes of the community. And the further question of exposure to a civil suit in the death of the mother of three children. Yesterday it fired ten people – and hopes it acted decisive enough.”

I wonder if KUFO is negotiating with that fired morning show to bump Cort & Fatboy?

From R&R:


By Keith Berman
The Sacramento sheriff's office is investigating the possibility of criminal manslaughter charges on behalf of Jennifer Strange, who died last Friday in the water-drinking contest on Entercom CHR/top 40 KDND (107.9 The End)/Sacramento. Sheriff John McGinness told the Sacramento Bee that he will meet with officials from the DA's office this afternoon to take a closer look at Strange's death. Sacramento homicide detective are now investigating the circumstances of the incident, and, should they find that the members of the Morning Rave failed to help Strange, charges could be filed.

Initially, McGinness said that he didn't think a criminal case would take place since Strange freely took part in the contest, but having reviewed tapes of the show in question -- during which the Morning Rave­ were warned of and then dismissed the potential dangers of water intoxication on the air -- he thinks there may be the potential for a criminal case.

R&R's calls to the Sacramento Sheriff's office have not yet been returned.


To hear audio of the show, follow this link: http://www.sacbee.com/static/newsroom/kdndslides/

Hopefully this will put an end to this ridiculous era of stupid radio stunts. Whoever thought this one up (and other stupid people tricks) has been standing too close to the transmitter.

Let's put our efforts into creating good radio instead.

http://www.sacbee.com/static/newsroom/kdndslides/

Oh my gawd! That aircheck is chilling!
They even discussed the possibility that someone could die from this stunt. Incredible.

Does anyone want to still defend Entercom and the station after hearing that?

Unbelievable.

its why working in radio is one step up from the drive thru at wendys.

Would you like to Biggie size your combo?

see, stick to the cards and be the 100th caller nationwide, and nobody gets hurt. Now back to a 30 day commercial free music marathon and we kick it off with Fleetwood Mac..............

...from their greatest hits CD........

Can anyone come up with more dumb and unhealty contests for entercom to try?
Example: The don't eat yellow snowcones roulette.

couple years ago when Marconi was on 94.7 they had some people eat a sandwich pull of pubic hairs, and while nobody could die from that it set the standard for exactly what Entercom is all about.

My God, this is so depressing to hear. It’s the most horrible kind of radio -- you usually hear one or two morning shows like this in every city nowadays -- juvenile Howard Stern wannabees with not one iota of originality. Their main focus is to demean and wring out every last drop of dignity from listeners, while dangling the proverbial carrot in front of them.

How has radio stooped so low? What kind of management lets this go on? Why are so many people willing to participate? I hope this sends out a wake up call. There’s a more sane, rational and better way to do business than scraping the bottom of the barrel.

While I think the contest is pretty stupid, but rather reflective of today's radio industry, I think it's one of those things that would be hard to foresee. I should think any one of us could have walked into that mess. Somehow, I never realized drinking too much water could kill you.

There were probably underlying problems that contributed to it but the excess water just set it off. Unfortuneate that this person died as a result of what was an innocent contest.

Going to have to disagree, Darktemper. Radio stations need to think about all ramifications before doing stunts like this. It's part of being responsible broadcasters.

All the promotions director had to do was google "too much water" and in 10 seconds, they could have learned that too much water can kill. Lucky for them, they had signed waivers. It's horrible PR, though.

they had signed waivers......

Bet you will still see a law suit. Still waiting for someone to be seriously injured or killed on one of these reality shows... Lawyers love stuff like this....

Of course there will be a lawsuit. I am no expert on legal documents, but I would be shocked if the signed waivers don't hold up in court.

The station should have had a doctor or nurse on hand to observe and treat, if necessary.

The station should have never done the promotion.

I disagree. It's juvenile, no doubt about it, however, their station is aimed at people who would be amused with jackass type stunts. If they would have had the contest ended by a doctor, no one would have died and they could have settled it with some sort of equally juvenile tiebreaker. Maybe weigh their used depends and the wii goes to the heaviest pair. They just didn't fully think it through.

I was saying that the woman may have had an unknown bladder infection or someing along that lines as an underlying issue that caused her to die. It is unfortuneate so are you never going to have any contests? I could sue the radio for causing me to become depressed as I can never get through on the contest line and am bummed out that I did not win so I quit my job and got divorced as a result....and it's all the stations fault!

Darktemper, I think your analogy is a bit far-fetched. Nobody is saying "don't do contests". However, radio stations are still here to serve the public. Or have we thrown out that idea here in 2007? Personal responsibility is one thing, but a radio station encouraging something like this is ugly.

"However, radio stations are still here to serve the public. Or have we thrown out that idea here in 2007?"

The government threw that idea out in 1996.

You know this is really a legal battle for Entercom and I would be interested in seeing any future news on this issue. It was a bit far fetched but still were do people themselves have the responsibility to find out if drinking to much water can kill them. Would it have made any difference if there was a warning on the waiver....probably not. Just like people still smoke in spite of the cancer warning. When you order coffee you can expect that it will be hot. When you spill hot stuff on you it will burn. I do feel that there is something to it though that has been said as maybe the promotions manager should have checked with a doctor to see if there would be any possible reaction in drinking a lot of water. But who would think that aside from drowning in it water could kill you....I did not know about that and I think it fair to say most people prior to this did not either.

Anyway Entercom will get sued and lose or just settle out of court for an undisclosed amount. Someone or someones will lose their job/jobs and things will move on.....sadly less a mother of three! I just feel sorry for that poor family.

As someone said on another board, "The audio is damning."

Audio is posted here: http://www.sacbee.com/static/newsroom/kdndslides/

Don Burden and RKO lost their licenses over a lot less.

IDIOTS!

The dj's on that station are complete RETARDS! It's a given that most radio listeners that follow radio stations around are dingbats.
The dj's should HAVE KNOWN BETTER!!! Even after the woman calls up and tells them they could die from this, they laugh and claim that vomiting will occur before death.

Years ago, I remember "jackass"-style stunts by jocks, but involving listeners in dangerous stunts is a newer phenomenon. There are morning when I get up, and my back reminds me of a donkey baseball game I played as a jock at WNYR/Rochester NY in the 70s, but no listeners got hurt.

The Nintendo Wii's are definitely not worth dying over, Now the play Station 3............Thats another story!

Just kidding- Tragic event, and hopefully Marconi learns from this.

law suit was filed today. Entercom & sponsors better roll out a few brilliant Attorneys. This will make the record books for settlements.

(law journal)
Lawsuit Expected After Woman Dies in Water-Drinking Contest
The family of Jennifer Strange will announce the suit at a press conference today in California. Strange died Jan. 12 after entering a radio station contest. Expected pay out is expected to be over Fifty Million Dollars.

Criminal Charges Possible In Water-Drinking Contest
The Sacramento sheriff's office is furthering the investigation into the death of Jennifer Strange, who died last Friday in the water-drinking contest on Entercom CHR/Top 40 KDND (107.9 The End)/Sacramento. However, Sergeant Tim Curran of the Sacramento sheriff's department tells R&R that the district attorney will make the call as to whether criminal charges will be filed, and he cautions that the D.A. won't file anything until the investigation by the sheriff's department and the coroner is concluded, which will take weeks.

Haven't heard anything about a "bottled water Co." sponcor. Heads could roll there as well.

Considering the scope of those who were fired (i.e. the entire morning show team, PD, and promotions) and those who weren't (i.e. top management) -- I'd bet that the contest was pretty spur of the moment ("boss, can we give away a wii on the morning show") and never checked out by management or Entercom legal.

(The contestants were in the station "break room" according to news reports, so it doesn't sound like much of a well-executed station event).

Since the terminations were based on a violation of employment agreements, it strongly suggests that the fired staffers failed to follow any of the protocols set up by Entercom and the station management to prevent this sort of thing.

During my RKO days, and admittedly that was a very nervous crowd about legalities, we couldn't give away the end of a Simpson's episode without running every aspect of the contest past corporate legal, and often our insurers as well.
Yeah, it took away a little spontaneity -- but we never had to bury a runner-up.

Wasn't the station GM fired also?

I'm reposting my contribution to this conversation (since it seems to have been deleted). I'm hoping that this incident will finally put an end to this rediculous era of
stupid people stunts and radio stunts. How about we focus instead on just creating good, compelling radio?

Mystery, and Dan...

Looks like a bunch of posts got moved out of order in this thread.

Dan moved both threads together.

create good compelling radio? serve the people? I wake up and my back hurts but no-one got hurt? IT"S ABOUT THE DOLLAR how to make more and pay out less, how to cut corners and how the save more MONEY! It stopped being about the listners along time ago. All that happened here is a new line has been drawn. A new boundry to be broken. Something else to be topped. The woman could have stopped at any time!!!!!!! She choose not to even after complaining? She signed a waiver without knowing the risks? She continued even after a nurse called in and related the facts as to what could and eventually did happen....STILL she continued to drink water. People lost their jobs, it will cost millions... and life goes on. It's indeed sad and tragic that someone lost her life. Maybe we should all be complaining about the price of a Wi. It sounds to me like the price was and still is to high!!!!!

OK, your Entercom, whats your attorney's arguement:
1. Not our fault. It was done by rogue employees. Go sue them.
2. Partial liability. Woman was stupid. Kids better off now.
3. We did everything correctly. Average person would think drinking alot of water is OK. The ten employees were let go only because we decided to automate the format.
4. Not our fault, our people were put up to it by the bottled water company, and by wii/nintendo, and perhaps by other advertisers.
5. Lose-Lose situation - make them one time lowball settlement offer.

Speaking of litigation, the lawyers have started their barrage. Check this out...

http://www.kcra.com/news/10782029/detail.html

Offer them a fifty million dollar settlement and a sincere appology from the President or CEO of Entercom in person and publicly! No excuses....the station and it's parent company are responsible no matter what the employee's did and who knew or did not know about it. JUST MAKE IT RIGHT AS POSSIBLE....given what has happened. Nothing will ever make it right but don't lowball and insult these people.

I dont think the company should pay anything, its not like they held her down and poured the water down her throat.

People should be responsible for their own actions.

Well that said then the station should then be responsible for their action in not having medical staff on hand to check for life threatening signs......like....my head hurts! Yes people should be somewhat responsible for their own actions so should the station and the parent company be responsible for their actions and sadly the lack of action to have the woman checked out! No matter what we think Entercom will lose any lawsuit brought against them so why not just make it as right as possible without the legal proceedings? Even if they actually won in court they still lose from the bad Press as a result.

The case winner is the broadcast itself and the fact that they joked about it could kill someone but they are ok cause the person signed a waiver!!!!! Ok...they new there were medical risks....so where were the medical professionals?

Lack of preperation, caring, or just plain having any sense about them!

http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=2804645&page=1

The death of Jennifer is tragic, and should not be forgotten.

But the real story will play out over the coming months, and (I'm afraid years), as this will most likely go to trial and put our biz under the microscope like never before.

Happened to catch "Mancow" on O'Reilly tonight. Now here is a guy you would expect would defend the actions of the morning show, but NO, even he said, this is not what radio is all about today and the station employees are "murderers", in his words. Wow.

There are possible homicide charges that may be filed in this case. I don't remember our business going through something like this, ever. The results will be interesting, but in the short-term, hope it brings a little sanity back into our profession.

"Don & Mike" were also talking about it tonight. They as I, feel so bad for "Her" and for the "DJ's" that are left on THE END. Can you imagine the phone calls during Your shift? They probably don't even let the DJ's answer the phone. Don & Mike were surprised they haven't changed format yet or just turned off the carrier for a few days, then launch a new format.

This has to be one of the worst tragedies, the radio business has ever seen.

The "End" has taken on a new, very chilling meaning. I don't think "The End" will be around very much longer.

On Tuesday, KDND's parent company, Entercom/Sacramento, fired 10 employees connected to the contest, including three morning disc jockeys. The company also took the morning show off the air.

Station spokesman Charles Sipkins said Wednesday the company had not yet heard from the sheriff's department but that it would cooperate with the investigation.

...People should be responsible for their own actions......

yest they should, but they aren't hence we have a slew of laws to protect us..

Mandatory seat belts, mandatory insurance, cities filling in their pools, closing skateboard parks, and on and on.......

In this case, the promotion seemed fun at the time, was not well thought out, cost a woman her life, and gave the industry ANOTHER black eye!

Sure the contestant bears some responsibility for her actions but, since the contest was offered by the station, the station will be held liable for her death. They might win a criminal case, but not a civil one..........

Do we know if the GM was fired also? Certainly should have been.
This in an incredible black eye for our industry. Hopefully all 10 of these people will never be given another job in radio--ever!

"They were small little half-pint bottles, so we thought it was going to be easy," said fellow contestant James Ybarra of Woodland. "They told us if you don't feel like you can do this, don't put your health at risk."


Don' t put your health at RISK???? So obviously someone at this station Knew this was a risky activity but simpley did NOT CARE!
Very pathetic how some stations will do anything for ratings.

I recall the station in the 70s asK108 KXOA Sacramento's Mellow Home. I guess AC. Kind of a Kink type or like where Murdock is k103.I think contestant took risk wasn't too bright The station people aren't too bright for doing this Responsibility has to go both ways. At my age it's easy to avoid ''End'' Stns. bring back K108.

Attorney In Water-Drinking Death Asks FCC To Pull KDND's License

Roger Dreyer
A 'death penalty' of this nature to a radio station would send a clear message to radio station owners that this type of behavior is unacceptable.
The attorney representing the family of JENNIFER STRANGE is asking the FCC to terminate Top 40 KDND/SACRAMENTO's license and discipline parent company ENTERCOM for sponsoring the "Hold Your Wee For A Wii" contest that apparently led to STRANGE's death.

In a letter to the FCC sent late yesterday (1/21), attorney ROGER DREYER, senior partner of DREYER, BABICH, BUCCOLA AND CALLAHAM, wrote: "We believe the conduct of the radio management and on-air staff mandates that your agency terminate the radio station’s license and discipline its ownership for the wanton disregard of the safety of the participants in this contest. We believe action of this nature is required by the FCC to send a very clear and unambiguous message to radio station ownership across this country that this type of irresponsible conduct that degrades, humiliates and endangers citizens will not be tolerated. A 'death penalty' of this nature to a radio station would send a clear message to radio station owners that this type of behavior is unacceptable."

In addition to his FCC letter, DREYER said he was giving ENTERCOM until the end of WEDNESDAY to comply with his request for the station’s contestant release form, tape recordings of the program, the whereabouts of terminated staff and other information.

"We want to be fair and reasonable, but if ENTERCOM fails to preserve and provide all pertinent information, we will be filing our wrongful death suit on THURSDAY," said DREYER. "Justice for JENNIFER's family demands it. Our goal is to shut down trash media that humiliates and endangers people just to boost ratings to sell more advertising. This will end."

AMEN- Close that POS station down! Putting peoples lives in danger just to get ratings. PATHETIC!

OK.....then close down TV stations that air "Fear Factor" "Survivor" and the like. They are worse than a water drinking contest. And while we are at it how about movie theatres that show "Jack Ass" movies. I am not condoning this but there are other ratings mongers out there as well....lets go after them also before someone else gets killed.......then were do we go after that?

This is not completely the stations fault. The people that enter these contests are responsible also. But there should have been medical warnings and descriptions of dangerous symptoms to look for. This may have prevented her death.

Darktemper, again...most radio stations do not have the resources nor interest in providing back-up for these stunts. Further, when well-meaning listeners called in warning about the dangers, the jocks laughed them off. This is what is so "criminal" about it. This kind of trying to be more outrageous than the last stunt has been going on for years and if there is anything at all good to come from this, it is that this kind of radio will go bye-bye and maybe we can get back to creative promotions that don't automatically aim to the lowest common denominator.

The fact that 10 employees lost their jobs, homicide charges may follow, and now a call for Entercom to "lose" its license makes this not just a stunt gone wrong, but hopefully commence a new "thought-process" about how we operate our radio stations.

Pulling 107.9 off the air, is NOT in the best interest of the community.

Will the ratings be down after all of this bad publicity? Is "The End" identity now tainted? If so, Entercom might try relaunching the station under a new name.

The staff members at KDND were extremely foolish and uncaring, but I honestly don't think they're criminals.

Manslaughter charges are brought when people could have prevented a death with some common sense, but didn't. (among other things)

IMHO, there is a very strong case for those who drove the contest to be so charged.

It's criminal to be so careless that somebody dies!

Eugeneradiogirl, yah, what Missing said...plus,

I agree the jocks perhaps did not "intend" to take criminal actions, but "intention" has its own legal meaning. I'm a little removed from law school, but I believe manslaughter can be charged without intention.

Those jocks were well aware that You could die from this! They were told numerous times and they continued to laugh it off and say "She signed release" basically saying who gives a shit what happends.
Im guessing the station will change its Name. With this much bad publicity across the Country they will have no other choice.

Actually, the more I think about this...that is exactly what "manslaughter" is...death caused without intention. Sounds like this is going to be the charge. A jury will decide. (The prosecuters are claiming KDND is holding back evidence...) The whole thing will play out in the courts, but it is not looking so good for The End. If they ARE able to hold on to their license, I agree, a major format re-brand will be necessary. I don't recall anything like this ever happening in the our biz.

There is your intent right there.

Reckless endangerment leading to voluntary manslaughter.

Maybe involuntary, but I doubt it.

They can say they didn't mean to, but if the above post is true, they didn't exercise their due dilligence in hosting a safe event. And it's really clear they did mean to, as in they didn't care what happened to the people at all!

That's a poor choice on their part and is what makes it voluntary, IMHO.

They have to have tried to make it non-life threatening, as in an ordinary person would not be at risk, given they act in a sane manner. This also means they inform people of ALL the risks involved and they didn't do that.

The biggie here is that a whole lot of people don't know you can die from drinking too much water. (I didn't!)

Failing to disclose that in the release, leaves the door open for litigation. I hope it does get litigated and a big lesson is learned.

Yeah, it's the end of "The End" for sure. Bet nobody uses that particular station identity for a good long while, if ever.

Edit: Looks like the attorney, quoted above, is looking at wrongful death. So, it's still ugly in that the station essentially didn't do it's part in hosting the event.

Isn't there An "End" in Seattle??? Im wondering if they will have to change their name even though it has nothing to do with them.

Doubt it. While a national story, will be forgotten by most outside the biz. (Maybe a quick national mention when the jury reaches verdict).

Of course, there is always a possibility of an out-of-court settlement...but something tells me this will go to full trial.

How about they reallocate the 10 employee budget surplus up here to 91 and re-hire the a full staff of DJ's for KKISN?

RE: "Pulling 107.9 off the air, is NOT in the best interest of the community."
Yea, but, putting the license in someone elses hands might be in the best interest of the community!
Do you think there is any email trail for the contest planning?

You know there is.

And the ugly part is the burden for keeping those records as well as the burden for producing them in a format that can be consumed by the court, lies on Entercom.

As for the full trial, I think the potential criminal element, is more than enough to assure that. Settlements, if any, will happen in civil court, which is where this will all end up.

Attorney Asks FCC to ''Terminate'' KDND's License
The attorney representing Jennifer Strange's family has sent a letter to the FCC asking the agency to "terminate" KDND (107.9 The End)/Sacramento's license following its "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" bladder buster contest, that allegedly resulted in her death. Roger Dreyer is asking the Commission to make an example out of the Entercom CHR outlet. More

>>>"Attorney Asks FCC to ''Terminate'' KDND's License"

That will never happen. However, the civil actions against the station and individuals could get rather uncomfortable. I hope that will send a message to those individuals who seem to only be able to try and get ratings by executing stupidity.

In the current environment, I think it could happen...not without alot of legal moves, but still very possible.

"only be able to try and get ratings by executing stupidity."

Here, hear! Deane. As I said earlier on this thread, it's time we got back to focusing our energies on creating good radio. Compelling content. Not stupid human tricks.

I know this is an unpopular opinion here, BUT I think the wrong blame is being placed, and too much scrutiny is happening.

1. Where’s the accountability for the person who APPARENTLY died because of the contest ? Does she bare NO responsibility? Was she FORCED with a gun to her head to drink water/ hold her urine?

2. What about the other contestants, all whom have no visible signs of being damaged?

3. What about the station manager, who fired everyone- but himself? Is he not responsible at all? Did he have NO idea about the contest? Ultimately the GM and the lawyers are responsible. They could have put a stop to it at ANYTIME. Why do they have jobs, and everyone is canned?


Here’s the deal: It is a tragedy that will haunt all those involved for the rest of their lives. No one MEANT for it to happen. No one fore saw it, either. The contest was meant to be embarrassing- at most. The backlash of this, will inevitably cause stations to become even MORE paranoid that most of them already are, in fear that something similar will happen.

We live in a media world ( radio, tv, print) where were are reminded to drink water like crazy- in one form or another. In NO bottled water commercial, have I ever heard “ warning: drinking too much water can be harmful to your health”. Perhaps there should be?

I think that since, as radio people, we are there to entertain...the lawyers are there to check legality and how harmful something should be. This is what happens when you have a bunch of overpaid, lazy, sloth lawyers that don't do their job.

But then...I thought that before I heard the phone call of the nurse calling in. I would have at the VERY LEAST done some quick internet research right there. I don't care how low your listener pool is...that lady wasn't joking around.

And Tim...remember, people drinking water is a whole lot different than shoving like 2 gallons down your gullet in an hour and a half or so. The average person won't drink it like that on their own...without some sort of motivation.

( cue spooky music...)
"I am the ghost of RKO..."

There is almost no chance of Entercom losing the Sacramento license.

The lesson learned from the RKO Radio fiasco is that if a station is judged unfit to hold one license .... it is also unfit to hold every other license it has. If Entercom were to lose the license for Sacramento...it would lose the licenses for all of them. Not sell them, not trade them, just lose them. None would be reknewed by the FCC after hundreds of millions in legal battles. Entercom would be nothing more than a pile of leases and some hard drives.

[For you young 'uns, RKO had its Boston TV license denied after management failed to note on the FCC license renewal that the parent company, General Tire, was under investigation for overseas bribes. It was a period when the feds were investigating huge chuncks of the Fortune 500 - who were giving lavish gifts to foreign countries and companies in attempts to win business.

But because RKO was determined to be unfit to hold the TV license in Boston, dozens of challengers asked the FCC not to renew any of the other licenses held by RKO. Since a successful challenger could be awarded the license, it became a multi-multi-million dollar lottery. The FCC's commitment to minority ownship encouraged black celebrities such as Bill Cosby to challenge every one of the RKO licenses. The company operated its legendary stations (KFRC, KHJ, WRKO, WOR, WAXY, etc) for years and years without licenses while the issues worked their way toward the Supreme Court. At the last minute Reagan stepped in and decided that if RKO could come to terms with each station's multiple challengers, they would be allowed to sell the RKO stations and split the proceeds with those challengers. The challengers wound up getting almost half the value of each station, but for RKO half was still seen as better than nothing -- which would have been about what the company would have been worth without the licenses.

Tdanner, excellent analysis. Another who lost all the licenses was Don Burden. If you're unfit, you're unfit in the eyes of the FCC.

I don't think a stupid stunt gone wrong makes a person or company unfit as a licensee. Possibly civil actions, but no more. For all of it's shortcomings, the FCC is not prone to go after licenses unless there is a pretty good reason to precipitate the action.

With all due respect for the family of the poor lady who had an untimely death, this lawyer is just doing what lawyers do at times like these. That's make a lot of noise blaming everyone and everything. Later, he'll sort out what legal action he thinks he might have available, but right now he wants to get everyone frightened of him. He wants to try and use the media to get the public on his side. Happens all the time.

Although IMHO, Deane, Burden actually was an unfit licensee. RKO was the victim of a GM paperwork error, and a policy that encouraged license challenges as a form of corporate greenmail.

As I recall, Burden's problems started with a post-midnight contest on WIFE to give away a water softner and their were no entries, so they gave it to a staff member. Later, an unhappy ex-employee reported it to the Commission.

What I think happened is that Burden then curried favor with politicians in hopes of putting pressure on the FCC. It is my belief that this really pissed the Commission off and they went after him with an arsenal of nukes.

There's problably much more too it than that, but that's is sort of what I recall.

What percentage would all of you say the contestant in any competition is liable? You know what is involved before you do it, you sign a release, and you compete for whatever prize is offered. Would you not check and see if it was harmful to you before you competed.....I mean they have you sign a release so that says to me that there may be some risk involved. Yes the people acted as if they did not care and should have had warnings listed on the release as to the potential danger and if symtoms result seek medical assistance immediately......you know like cigarettes have a cancer warning and warnings to pregnant women but people still smoke them anyway and die from cancer and have children with birth defects as a result. THE PEOPLE COMPETEING IN THESE CONTESTS ARE MORE RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR OWN WELL BEING THAN OTHERS ARE! Yes it was irresponsible when the woman complained that her head hurt and nobody did anything about it. Had there been an EMT on hand he would have probably got her to go to the hospital for treatment as he would have recognized the symptoms. I hope the family wins huge but this will most likely be settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.

Deane said: "As I recall, Burden's problems started with a post-midnight contest on WIFE to give away a water softner and their were no entries, so they gave it to a staff member. Later, an unhappy ex-employee reported it to the Commission.

What I think happened is that Burden then curried favor with politicians in hopes of putting pressure on the FCC. It is my belief that this really pissed the Commission off and they went after him with an arsenal of nukes. There's problably much more too it than that, but that's is sort of what I recall."

Yes, a lot more. Here is a brief thumbnail on one of the KOIL websites. http://nebradio.tripod.com/koil.html

Don Burden had a reputation as an excellent broadcaster, but at the same time had earned plenty of enemies in the business. Certain parties may have helped turn him in to the FCC concerning allegations of misconduct. The case involved news coverage of a gubernatorial race in Oregon in 1966, the 1964 U.S. Senate race in Indiana, as well as alleged misconduct over a long period on other issues. The FCC said that newscasts were improperly used to publicize the campaigns of certain politicians. After investigations went on for several years, the FCC held that serious misconduct had occurred in the operations of the stations and that Burden was intimately involved in and had knowledge of the misconduct. Don Burden was forced to surrender all of his licenses.

I agree with Terry Danner. I don't think they will lose thier license. Too much precendent to take them all away if that happened, but..... I think it will be a big black mark for not only Entercom, but the business as a whole. One we could certainly do without.

Dare I say,
Bottoms up.....

JF