WKRP Plans Rubber Turkey Drop to Benefit Food Pantry

RADIO ONLINE | Monday, November 2, 2026 | 11:24am CT

WKRP in Cincinnati

Cincinnati's WKRP-FM will bring a signature moment from "WKRP in Cincinnati" to life on Thanksgiving eve, dropping miniature rubber turkeys from a fire truck ladder during a fundraiser in Hamilton, OH.

The "1st Annual WKRP Turkey Drop" is scheduled for 7:30pm Wednesday, November 25, at Riverfront Plaza between Municipal Brew Works and the Casual Pint and an adjacent parking lot, according to reporting by WVXU's John Kiesewetter.

Listeners will be able to purchase a $10 rubber turkey, with details to be announced later. The turkey landing closest to a target will earn a cash prize. All net proceeds from turkey sales and commemorative T-shirts will benefit Butler County's Open Door Food Pantry.

"WKRP is bringing the legend back," said General Manager Jeff Ziesmann, adding that "this time we've got it right."

The promotion draws its inspiration from the sitcom's 1978 Thanksgiving episode, in which a disastrous live-turkey giveaway ends with station manager Arthur Carlson declaring, "As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly!"

The real station's event will use rubber birds and a fire truck rather than the fictional promotion's helicopter. WKRP Vice President of Sales Laura Ziesmann said darkness and potential weather concerns made a helicopter an unreliable option.

WKRP host Dave Mason was scheduled to announce the promotion November 2, along with commemorative T-shirts and hats.

The station began broadcasting under the WKRP identity in May and airs on three stations reaching from Dry Ridge, KY, to Dayton, OH. Since its launch, listeners and sitcom fans have repeatedly asked whether it would stage a turkey drop, Kiesewetter reported.