‘Beat It’ Played For 24 Hours

Tuesday, January 22nd 2008

To emphasise the fact that this radio station was altering its musical emphasis, Syracuse University student radio station, Z89, decided to play Michael’s ‘Beat It’ continually for 24 hours.

This prompted a variety of messages to the station from concerned students, fans and friends, some thinking there was something wrong at the station, or with their equipment, or that it may be a fundraising effort. The messages were texts, emails and phone calls, and one person even called the US emergency services as they were worried someone had broken into the station and was ‘messing about’.

Lauren Levine, who works at Z89 was pleased with the response. “We did a little programming stunt, just to get people talking about the change,” she said. Levine also added she was contacted by listeners of all ages and backgrounds, which she believes exhibits the popularity of radio, but perhaps that was more down to Michael?

Source: www.dailyorange.com & MJWN