Televised lottery drawings start Monday
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The studio lights dim, a producer just offstage intones, “This is the Tennessee Lottery Cash 3 drawing,” and then gives Dwyer the go-ahead with a quick point in his direction.
With that, WRKN-TV kicked off a series of rehearsals to prepare for Monday when Tennessee begins its first-ever lottery drawings.
Starting at 5 a.m. CST Monday, people can fill out playslips, choosing their three favorite numbers in hopes of matching them with those drawn at 6:28 p.m. CST that evening.
Winning tickets are worth up to $500.
The drawing itself will last only 45 seconds, but the security necessary to make the game happen will be a two-hour procedure each evening at the Nashville television studio.
Proof of the lottery’s stringent security sits just to the right of the station’s brightly colored lottery set: a large metal cage to guard the ball machines used each night.
Security cameras rim the cage, which is more than 12 feet tall and 4 feet wide, to record anyone who attempts to get in without authorization. The balls used in the drawings also will be housed in a large metal safe inside the cage.
“We want to make sure we have as much security as possible to make sure the equipment — and the integrity of the games — are protected,” said David Jennings, the lottery’s vice president of security.
Jennings was among about a half-dozen lottery employees who attended the rehearsal. Among them were three workers whose jobs were to put the balls back in their correct place after every run-through — while wearing white gloves to ensure any grease on their hands doesn’t “throw the drawing off even a teensy-tiny bit,” said lottery chief Rebecca Paul, who stopped in to watch the station’s progress.
The elaborate safeguards don’t end there.
Before each drawing, a “mini lottery” is conducted to determine which of the three machines will be used. Then several pretests are done to make sure no numbers are popping up more than they should — a test conducted again after the televised drawing.
Auditors hired by the lottery then must certify the numbers before anyone can receive a prize.
Eventually, the entire Cash 3 process could be repeated several times a day with the introduction in the coming months of new state online games. Possibilities include a second midday Cash 3 drawing, new Cash 4 drawings and others.
But for WKRN, the expected ratings jump from hosting the lottery drawing is well worth any inconvenience.
“Historically, lottery drawings have done that for stations,” said Michelle Dube, WKRN’s program director and executive producer of the drawing. “To have viewers come and sample (our programs), that’s what we’re looking for.”
As for Dwyer, he’s worried about far more simple things — like not tripping over the camera wires in his daily 30-second race from the newscast studio next door to the lottery drawing.
“That’ll be the biggest challenge for me,” he said with a grin, before returning to the set for one last practice round before the big day.
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On the Net:
Tennessee Lottery, www.tnlottery.com
WKRN: www.wkrn.com