Unless they promote the "Tune in to win $1000" contest, they're wasting their money.
Here's how the station markets: if they get marketing $$$ from Emmis, they do it. If can't or don't, no marketing.
We all know that marketing a station makes a difference in the ratings, but everyone around here has bought the line from management (including the new OM, who was formerly director of marketing for the NYC cluster) that if there's no budget, their hands are tied.
I beg to differ: there have to be ways to generate effective marketing results without spending money. It just takes ingenuity, creativity, and talent.