04/04/25: £510,000
200 free entries, 5pm
Entering for free
The Essentials
The Rayo radio network changes its competition quite regularly – gone are the simple days of it being either the Cash Register or Make me a Winner. I will update this section with a quick overview of the competition, but the bare bones will stay up top in blue.
The current competition is weekly, the call will be on Friday around 5pm when the lines close. The jackpot is £510,000 and you can claim up to 200 free phone entries across the week.
You have 30 seconds to answer the phone, and there is no phrase or amount to remember.
What are these competitions?
The Rayo network usually has daily or weekly competitions on the go. The well-known regulars were The Cash Register and Make me a Winner, but now it tends to be all over the place. There are great prizes up for grabs, ranging anywhere up to hundreds of thousands of pounds. The prizes tend to start in the tens of thousands and ramp up throughout the competition. You can find the prize amount on the official page, on various fan/info pages (such as this one), or by listening to one of the Network stations. Those include Hits Radio, Greatest Hits, Wave 105, KISS, or Magic FM etc.
You can enter by SMS and online (£2.50 plus the standard network charge) but standard phone entries are available, so put away your debit card and get calling.
Do people really win with free entries?
Yes, they absolutely do! People who only use free entries are frequently winners, and I’ve heard from several of them. You can generally submit more free entries than paid, so if you’re spending money then you should definitely be claiming the free ones too.
Plenty of people are sceptical and assume that free entries don’t win. But it’s not in the broadcaster’s interests to have contestants cry out about winning with a free entry on air. It would also be very bad news for the radio network if they were discovered to be discarding free competition entries.
If you’re wondering why they have free entries at all – it’s a legal requirement. Not doing so would make it an unlicenced (and illegal) lottery.
Competition Rules and Entry
Generally you must answer the phone within five rings (although it’s often longer). Some competitions such as Make me a Winner will require you to state a phone when you answer, while Cash Register requires you to know the prize amount.
You can enter by calling 0330 880 4541, calls are probably free if your contract has inclusive minutes. The amount of free entries you can claim fluctuates, but it’s normally around 150 per week. Pay-as-you-go or phone contracts without inclusive minutes may not be free, so check first! Alternatively, online entries are available at £2.50 each or you can text WIN to 63103, which will cost £2.50 plus your network charge (but why would you?).
The amount of free phone entries does seem to vary. I’ve often been able to enter 42 times, but was recently able to submit 150 entries. The number likely varies depending on the maximum number of paid entries, which can vary due to deals/offers. So keep entering until the message tells you that you’ve submitted the maximum amount. Again, I normally state the number of available free entries at the top of the page.
The usual phone lines 0330 880 4523, 0330 880 4536, 0330 880 4541, 0330 880 4557, 0330 880 4576, 0330 880 4594, 0330 880 4608, 0330 880 4615, 0330 880 4629, 0330 880 4682 or 0330 880 4602
Alternative SMS/text options (£2.50) are WIN to 61054, 63103, 64100, 65115 or 81215 or 81215; CASH to 61054, 63103 or 64100; YES to 61025; ROCK to 64100.
Can you still enter for free?
If you have a phone contract with inclusive minutes (most have free calls and texts, so check) – then you probably can. You can call 0330 880 4541 (or any of the alternative numbers above) as many times as it will let you. You’ll hear a different message once you’ve completed the maximum amount of entries.
Call the number, press 1 to skip the initial speech, then listen to the message and press 1 again when prompted. You have to press 1 after the message or your entry won’t be valid. Alternatively, use the link below which includes the auto-dial prompts and will press the numbers for you. You need only redial the number while you put your feet up in front of the telly.
It’s a bit more hassle than the old online entry, but on the flip side it probably means that less people are going to do it. That would give you a greater chance of winning!
Full competition details can be found on the official website.
Call the competition line directly below:
Are autodial entries allowed?
The General Terms and Conditions have this to say:
“Automated Entry: The use of any automated entry software or any other mechanical or electronic means that permits any person to enter any Competition repeatedly is prohibited.”
Using the automated dial sequence does not allow you to enter repeatedly, it allows you to automate button presses after you have made the call. I think that’s fine, but you may interpret the above differently.
When can you enter?
Right after the previous entry closes. You can enter the next round 10 minutes after the previous entry window ends, right up to the close. I like to get them done and dusted over the weekend.
When does the network call?
Normally just after the lines close – normally 3pm or 5pm; I’ve heard that it’s often around 5-15 minutes after. The official company line is that it could be any time after lines close – So it’s better to be safe than sorry if your phone rings. The calls you hear on air are pre-recorded and edited before going out, which is why we hear the call fairly late.
What if I don’t pick up?
If they call and you don’t answer – you won’t win. Still, if you do have a missed call, it’s statistically unlikely to have been the radio station; don’t beat yourself up or dwell on it! The call will probably come from a withheld number, likely so people don’t call back and realise what they’ve missed out on. Fight that urge to ignore an unknown caller.
What if I don’t answer with a set phrase?
This only matters for competitions such as Make me a Winner, but if you answer with anything other than the competition phrase, you will not win. Do whatever you need to do to make sure that doesn’t happen. Leave a post-it note on your phone, set an alarm reminder – anything that works for you.
I believe that the broadcasters end the call immediately if you don’t say the phrase.
I don’t know about you, but it would take me a while to get over missing out on £250,000.
What if nobody wins?
In the unfortunate case of someone not answering the phone, they might call someone else. There are competitions with guaranteed winners, and others where there simply are no winners. Sometimes there are rollovers but the amount doesn’t generally double; previous entries are often carried over to the next draw. It’s rare, but that can sometimes happen for many days in a row. People who didn’t enter on the day might not realise there was a rollover and hence ignore their phone. That can cause rollovers to keep going for some time (sometimes weeks).
You can however still enter again if there is a rollover.
More about the radio competition
The competition is simple, submit your entries then sit back and wait for the call. The important part to note is that you must answer the phone!
The call normally goes out on the radio 30-50 minutes after the lines close. That’s because the calls aren’t live – they are recorded and edited before being released. I imagine plenty of profanities are uttered when people find out they’ve won!
It’s worth mentioning that you aren’t eligible to win the competition if you’ve won £10,000 or more on any of the network’s competitions in the last six months. So don’t enter, win, and find out your entry is invalid!
As is often the case, you need to be 18 or over to take part in the competitions.
The competition’s terms and conditions are in addition to Bauer Media Group’s Competition General Terms & Conditions.
The competition runs across the following radio stations:
Free Radio, Gem, Greatest Hits Radio, Hallam FM, Hits Radio, Metro Radio, Pulse 1, Radio City, Rock FM, Signal 1, TFM, The Wave, Viking FM, Wave 105, Lincs FM, Pirate FM, Absolute Radio, Absolute Classic Rock, Absolute Radio 60s, Absolute Radio 70s, Absolute 80s, Absolute Radio 90s, Absolute Radio 00s, Absolute Radio 10s, Absolute Radio 20s, Absolute Radio Country, KISS Network, KISSTORY, KISS Fresh, KISS Dance, KISS Garage, KISS Bliss, Magic Radio, Magic Chilled, Mellow Magic, Magic Soul, Magic at the Movies and Magic at the Musicals, Planet Rock.
Previous winners
There have been hundreds of winners over the years. You can see some of the more recent successful entrants and listen to them receiving their phone call on the competition’s winners page.
Beware of scams
This is such a popular competition that, unfortunately, some scammers have appeared to take advantage of people. Most of these are on social media and claim to get you extra free entries.
Don’t enter your personal details on anything other than the official competition website. If you have in the past and you get a phone call, remember that you would never be asked for your bank card number.
Table of contents
The Essentials
What are these competitions?
Rules and Entry
Can you still enter for free?
Are autodial entries allowed?
Do people really win with free entries?
When can I enter?
When does the network call?
What if I don’t pick up the call?
What if I don’t answer with a set phrase?
What if nobody wins?
More About the Competition
Previous winners
Beware of scams
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I thought the 100k was the end, but it’s 101 next week!
Indeed; it’s not over yet. 🙂
I have had 61054 texting me saying the competition is open but when I go online it says its nit. Have I been entering a competition that is closed or is it actually open?
Hi Jessica, which website are you going to? The competition window opens again shortly after 3:10pm.
I tried to enter from a landline as I get 700 minutes per month so it would cost me nothing but when I rang the number it said to try again from a mobile. As I’m on pay as you go, this method would cost me.
Hi Daniel; I don’t have a landline to test, but is your phone number withheld? If so, I recall being able to dial 1470 before the phone number so that it wasn’t withheld.
Hi Daniel, no, you can’t enter from a landline, only a mobile number. I also tried, but the message said I can’t.
Sorry can I still win if I am overseas?
Hi Karl, the phone call needs to be made from a valid UK number.
Anyone else started getting random “Sorry, you did not press a valid number” even though I’m pressing 1 at the correct time?
I’m sure that’s against competition rules ?
Yup, it looks like their systems are having problems at the moment. The numbers aren’t recognised half the time.
When it’s competition open and closed? Thanks
The competition went live again today. Entries close at 3pm, but open again for the next day at 3:10pm.
Hi, does anyone know the approximate odds of winning Make Me A Winner? I havn’t been able to find this out anywhere…
Unfortunately without knowing the number of entries, there’s no way to know. A lot higher than the lottery, though!
It’s difficult to believe that rollovers continue for days, sometimes weeks – how can people not answer their phones correctly shortly after 3pm if or when they are expecting a competition call? Is it just one call per day made to a randomly chosen number?
The longer a rollover goes on, the more likely it is to happen. People don’t realise there’s a rollover and if they don’t enter the next day, they aren’t expecting a call.
One call to a random number unless there’s a guaranteed winner – then they keep calling different numbers.
Also you can only enter from a valid mobile apparently.
I tried entering from my house phone and it wouldnt let me
Alas yes, it’s mobile only unfortunately. Probably for the best if you need to head out; less likely to miss the call.
Why is it a lot of people winning from England more than Scotland
England has ten times the population, so I guess statistically it is just far more likely.
I heard on “Greatest Hits” station last week that there had been 5 winners during that week, but in that case, wouldn’t the rollover amount go back and start again? It’s been on a rise for weeks now, and it’s difficult to believe that during those rise weeks, not one person has answered their phone correctly – believable or no?
The rollover term is a bit misleading. The money goes up regardless; the only thing that rolls over are the entries.
If there’s no winner on Wednesday, your entries are still in the draw on Thursday.
And what if there’s no winner on the Thursday that you mention previously, do all the entries then rollover to Friday, and so on? If that’s the case, then by the time an amount of say, £250K is reached, there would be hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of rollover entries? Still find it difficult to believe that for that length of time, not one person daily has answered their phone correctly. Statisically, that’s highly unlikely.
A lot of people think that way, but there aren’t that many rollovers. Cash prize doesn’t reset when it’s won, but all existing entries disappear.
I think the longest rollover I’ve seen is three weeks. If you don’t enter every day then there’s an increasing chance of answering up the phone incorrectly.
Seems to be 21 free entries now
Cheers! I will update the page. 🙂
My limit is now 20 calls max! At the 21st call, the response is that I’ve reached the max number of entries for this competition. Howcome also the prize money has now leapt to £100000 today, from £52000 yesterday or thereabouts?
Yup, they’ve reduced the maximum. It’s probably a good thing, most of the entries are probably free, and it’s a lot less effort now.
I suppose they want to keep people on their toes with the amount. Made a bit more sense with the Cash Register though!
I suppose it could also be that far less people enter with smaller amounts.
The money has now reduced to £70,000 – seems like it’s up and down at will – can’t make any sense of it!
@FOC – The autodial feature is great…I wasn’t aware of that, thank you.
Yup, it’s something I only discovered a little while ago – very handy. 🙂
Can I win today please ☺️
As at today (and yesterday) 17/July/24, the MAX FREE telephone entries is still limited to 20 so the reference right at the top of the page saying “25 entries” is incorrect. I assume the aforesaid “25 entries” does refer to the amount of free and not paid-for entries?
Anyway, a message is given that you’ve reached your daily limit after calling 20 times.
Hope this helps 🙂
Hi David 🙂
I update the number of entries after I’ve made my calls – it let me make 25 last night.
I’ve changed it to 20 as clearly not everyone could.
Hi FOC
My pleasure. As an aside, I’ve also noted that sometimes, even when the max amount of free calls permitted is stated in the T&Cs, it doesn’t always tell you that ” you have now reached your permitted no. of entries today”, when you have and kind of leaves you wondering exactly how many calls can you actually make, which isn’t entirely consistent.
For example, it still says 20 max today (18 July) and I’ve made 25 calls, all accepted! Wondering if I should keep on 😀
They often have Friday entry offers, so the free entry limit is increased. I would guess 40-60, but I’ve not yet done mine. 🙂
They aren’t great at updating their T&C’s!
One time a long while ago, i think it said 60 entries permitted, but it let me make over 100! I did wonder whether I was wasting my time, maybe the automated end-point wasn’t working and they wouldn’t count anyway, but I decided it was worth the try at the time 🙂
Hi, I have a question, I know you have detailed above about the “no automated mechanical or otherwise entries” bit, however they phrased it (which has been slightly altered now by the way, from how you have it, but I don’t think it changes your answer). But my question is, can they tell that I have used an automated dial number, does the number I call with commas in etc, show up to them with my entry? Might they cancel me out anyway if I make too many calls in a row that are all the exact same length due to the automated button-presses, thinking that it is an automated repeat calling thing? My concern is that I wouldn’t be able to argue it, because they just might not call me just from looking at how my calls look on their database. I appreciate that I may be overthinking it and that you don’t necessarily have the answers, I just wondered in case you had any insight on this! Thanks in advance.
I’ve wondered the same thing. Best I can tell without an answer from the company is that you are likely fine. The terms say no automated means of repeated entries, not single entry. You are still making each call yourself.
If you were using an autodialer and they could see that every call was exactly the same distance apart, then yes they might just bin the entries.
Hmm interesting ok, thank you 🙂
I hope they don’t, as many of my calls are very similar times apart because I try to do them as quickly as possible. It would also be very easy to program random spaces between calls, etc., if you knew how to call programmatically in the first place.
Likewise! I tend to press the buttons based on call seconds, so they probably all look nearly identical.
I note ‘The Essentials’ still says 3pm, and to say ‘Make me a winner’.
It’s 5pm isn’t it atm, and haven’t they dropped the ‘Make me a winner’? I’m not sure, as I don’t get to listen so much these days.
You are quite correct. I updated the top information to give the info that probably matters most – amount, free entry limit, and call time
Every time I bother to update the page, they change the competition details.
Thanks for the website BTW! Very useful.
Wanted to enter the current competition as per info on your website (03/01.25, £125k, 5.00pm) but recorded message says lines are closed? There’s only one day left to get my entries in!
Crafty! I’ve just been on the website and it’s a different phone number for this competition – 0330 880 4681 – same message as the normal phone number
That’s right, it caught me out yesterday so I put the number at the top of the page. I’ll update the phone call shortcut if it sticks, but I imagine it might change back after Friday.
No problem with the number you publish now. A question, it says somewhere in the rules that you are “disqualified” from competitions if you’ve won £500 or more in the last 6 months – so if say you won the daily prize of £2025, you’d still be eligible for the main end prize of £200K for this week, but after then, you’re not allowed to participate in any competitions for 6 months? Seems a bit gross, and it might even be worth declining the daily prize to keep you in with a chance for any of the Friday prizes – would this be your understanding of how they are working it?
Yes they are a bit unclear. I suspect that you are correct and that you’d only be eligible for the jackpot draw that week.
I’d probably still answer because £2k vs the odds off being drawn for the jackpot is pretty good!
Happy new year! 😁. Better late than never and I notice there haven’t been many messages in 2025 so I just thought I’d say hi 👋🏻 & brighten your day 👍🏻☺️
Happy new year matey. Yes it has been a bit quiet!
Do you have to answer the call saying ‘make me a winner’ for all radio channels participating or just certain ones?
Only for the Make me a Winner competition, not the current comp. 🙂
Thank you.
One more question. If you call the free entry phone number let’s say on Tuesday that call only apply to that particlar day or does it apply for the whole week. Or do you have to call in each day?
Hi May. At the moment it’s a weekly competition only, so any entries from after the previous competition close to before Friday’s close will be included in Friday’s draw.
Thank you and apologies for the duplicate questions. On my end it was giving me an error message saying they weren’t sent
When you dial the free phone numbers are you only entered into that days competition. Therefore if you only wish to enter for the bigger prize on the Friday you should only call on Friday ?
If using the ‘free’ entry phone numbers do you have to call on the day of the competition you wish to enter or is the entry for all the days of that week?