I totally agree, you want a hard to win contest so more and more people tune in. But I think you want...need... a winner. The radio station and the advertiser

I totally agree, you want a hard to win contest so more and more people tune in. But I think you want...need... a winner. The radio station and the advertiser want a picture in the newspaper with someone holding a $30,000 cheque, you want that person screaming on the radio when they win. You want interviews with that person talking about how they will spend their winnings. A contest without a winner would be a terrible thing for everyone involved, well I guess for the ad agency putting in $30,000, maybe they get their money back? This all reminds me of the lengths I went to a few years ago. An admin assistant in my office was really into these contests. She would listen to all the various stations and call in. There was a contest that was "identify this song" and everyday it went unguessed, they would add to the pot. It was getting up to $20,000 or something and no one could guess. I ended up downloading the clip and putting it through various Shazam like programs trying to help identify it. Never did win, but it was exciting for a short time. If after 30 days, they had just said, no one wins, I would have been pretty erked.