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Web Posted: 04/02/2004 12:00 AM CST
Jeorge Zarazua
San Antonio Express-News
April Fools' Day
didn't end Thursday without a whopper of
a prank that duped listeners of a top-rated
radio station in Corpus Christi and the
local newspaper's online edition.
Rex Gabriel, morning
disc jockey for KNCN 101.3, played a hoax
on listeners when he abruptly resigned Wednesday
during his on-air program, leaving several
minutes of radio silence.
Gabriel told listeners
he was leaving after reading what he said
was a memo from San Antonio-based Clear
Channel Radio threatening cutbacks to his
show.
Gabriel's morning
show partner, Dan Rios, finished the remainder
of the four-hour program alone.
The morning duo revealed
the prank Thursday as an April Fools joke.
"It was all a big hoax," said
Matt Martin, the station's vice president
for marketing. "We started planning
this two weeks ago."
Martin said the memo
from Clear Channel was a fabrication and
that the station called back several of
its listeners to explain the April Fools
joke.
"Listeners were
very happy to hear Rex and Dan were still
together," said Omar Thompson, Clear
Channel's vice president of marketing and
communications.
Aside from listeners, the prank duped the
Corpus Christi Caller-Times' online edition
into posting a report on its Web site announcing
Gabriel's quick departure.
The article was withdrawn
from the Web site late Wednesday without
explanation.
Newspaper editors
didn't comment on the joke Thursday.
Martin said he didn't
know how many listeners called the station
in response to the prank, but added, "it
was enough to make me very happy with the
performance of the station."
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