SAN ANTONIO & NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Clear Channel Radio today announced the success of its groundbreaking partnership with Lady Gaga, which took place on Facebook over Grammy weekend. The collaboration, the first-ever national-scale radio contest to use Facebook instead of traditional telephone request lines, enabled fans to enter via the world’s leading social network for a chance to win a trip to Lady Gaga’s first 2011 U.S. tour date in Atlantic City on February 19, meet Lady Gaga in person, and receive her autographed piano.
The innovative contest, running simultaneously on Clear Channel stations in 95 cities across the country, allowed listeners to enter via the stations’ Facebook Pages as well as the Facebook Page for iheartradio (www.iheartradio.com), Clear Channel Radio’s digital platform, which delivers over 750 of America's favorite local radio stations from 150 cities.
The Facebook Pages for iheartradio and the participating 95 Clear Channel radio stations now have 1.4 million fans. The high level of consumer engagement helped propel the debut of Lady Gaga’s new single Born This Way to number one on iTunes U.S. in less than three hours – the fastest song ever to do so – and gave the Clear Channel stations’ audience a full Lady Gaga weekend, on-air and on Facebook.
“Enabling fans to use Facebook to enter this contest marks the first time the time-honored telephone request line has been replaced with the social media platform, activating the natural social community built around our radio station brands. It also allows a deep tie-in among the fans of both the stations and Lady Gaga,” said John Hogan, CEO of Clear Channel Radio. “With the promotional power to reach 228 million people on a monthly basis, plus a unique collection of media, digital and mobile assets, no one else in the radio industry is positioned as strongly as Clear Channel to promote new music, products and features on this kind of national scale.”
All contestants who entered via the participating Clear Channel stations’ Facebook Pages received access to exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of the making of Lady Gaga’s new album, Born This Way, in stores May 23. Fans were able to enter from Friday, February 11 at 6:00 a.m., ET to Monday, February 14 at 3:00 a.m., ET.
“Clear Channel has tapped into an innovative way of reaching Lady Gaga fans through Facebook, where more than 500 million people are already sharing their interests and activities with friends.” said Justin Osofsky, Director of Media Partnerships, Facebook. “We look forward to seeing the additional opportunities Clear Channel presents for fans by engaging with them on Facebook.”
“We were excited to partner with Clear Channel on the successful contest related to the release of the new Lady Gaga single,” said Brenda Romano, President of Promotion, Interscope Geffen A&M. “Gaga’s fans are an extremely strong online force, and our efforts together enabled us to really engage with them on the local level as well. Clear Channel was a key component in an exceptionally successful launch for Born This Way.”
About Clear Channel Radio
Clear Channel Radio is a leading radio company focused on serving local communities across the U.S. with an audience of more than 110 million listeners choosing Clear Channel Radio programming each week. The company’s content can be heard on AM/FM stations, HD digital radio channels, on the Internet, at iheartradio.com and on the iheartradio mobile application on iPods and smart phones, and used via navigation systems from TomTom, Garmin and others. The company's operations include radio broadcasting, syndication and independent media representation. Clear Channel Radio is a division of Clear Channel Communications, Inc. (OTCBB:CCMO), a leading global media and entertainment company. More information on the company can be found at www.clearchannel.com.
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