Tripsmarter.com receives 30,000 votes in Beach TV Club Hour Co-Host Contest.
For Immediate Release
June 21, 2002
Contact:
Will Barnes, will@tripsmarter.com;
850-235-4176 ext. 122
Toni Davis, toni@tripsmarter.com;
850-235-4176 ext. 118
Panama City Beach, FL - TripSmarter.Com and Beach TV announced the
winner of the Club Hour Co-Host Contest live on the Ch. 13 Morning
Show today from Spinnaker Beach Club. Tracy Bradley of Panama City
Beach came out on top as the winner and will soon be joining current
host, Randy Peterson, to tackle where to go and what to do along
the Emerald Coast!.
The month-long contest to find a co-host was sponsored by Beach
TV, TripSmarter.com and Spinnaker Beach Club. Bradley received $300
in prizes from area restaurants and businesses as well as a guest-host
position on the hottest new nightlife show on the Gulf Coast, Club
Hour, to be aired later this summer!
"Well after a week on-line and about 30,000 votes the contest
came down to less than one percent," said current host, Randy
Peterson. "With about 10,000 votes 'Big-O' from Island 106
led the pack, but he graciously declined the honor in order for
a viewer to be the ultimate winner. In lieu of his decision we announced
Tracy Bradley as the winner and soon to be co-host of Club Hour.
In true "Club Hour" mystique, there was unexpected pandemonium
during the morning's announcement. Several contestants ended up
in the swimming pool with their clothes on and one contestant ate
a coke can. Overall the contest was a smashing success!"
Over 80 participants taped auditions at Spinnaker Beach Club or
sent in their own tapes to be considered for the contest. It was
narrowed down to six finalists including: Omar "Big O"
Jannoun, Tracy Bradley, Teia VanHorn, Bobby Black, Stephanie Miller
and Michelle Oelschlager. The video clips of the top six demos were
then placed on TripSmarter.Com, the official website of Beach TV.
After a week and a half of online voting, approximately 30,000 votes
were tallied. The voting was close up until the end when Bradley
garnered a mere .04% more votes than the next closest contestant,
VanHorn. Jannoun was given an honorary co-host position after his
considerate concession to Bradley.
"Taking the voting to the web seemed like a natural way to
hear from the people," said Will Barnes, Co-Founder and CEO
of TripSmarter.Com. "The popularity of Beach TV along with
the incredible traffic of TripSmarter.Com has proven to be a winning
combination. We expected a great response and we weren't disappointed.
This is a great example of what can happen when you have a convergence
of ideas, media, and people. We anticipate bringing more cross-media
interactive features forward in the future."
TripSmarter.Com is the official website of The Tourist Network,
which includes Beach TV in Panama City Beach as well as stations
in New Orleans, Key West, Myrtle Beach, Destin and Atlanta. TripSmarter.com
is a pioneer in streaming television with each of the stations streaming
live 24 hours a day, seven days a week! The Tourist Network has
served as the Official Super Bowl Information Station for the past
three years in New Orleans, Atlanta, Tampa, and once again for Super
Bowl XXXVI in New Orleans, La.
