pay�o�la: undercover or indirect payment (as to a disc jockey) for a commercial favor (as for promoting a particular recording)

Link: KC Star's Sprint Connection: http://sprintconnection.kansascity.com/
DJ smashes iPhone;
Sprint's Hesse calls it 'music to my ears'
By Jason Gertzen, 6/27/08

    Aunt Nancy called to tell him to wear protective goggles.
   His co-hosts reminded him to put something down to protect the console. And then, with wrench in hand, Mix 93.3 FM morning talk show personality Ponch took one, two...16 swings and destroyed his once-beloved Apple iPhone.
   Ponch said the live on-air event this morning followed a decision by morning host Rocket of the Rocket and Teresa show to purchase an Instinct.
   Described as a die-hard iPhone fan who paid $600 for his AT&T device, Ponch admitted that he had boasted about his phone for a year. "This is nothing more than male envy. I rubbed it in your face for a year," he told Rocket this morning.
   Rocket, in turn, had spent some time showing off his new Instinct.
   "I started looking at the stupid thing...it's better and it's faster," Ponch said.
   Sprint sent over a VIP version of the phone, the same kind of gift bag, Ponch noted, that Jack Nicholson and Matt Damon received.
   With the Apple-manufacturered iPhone and Samsung-manufactured Instinct side-by-side all day Thursday and into the night, the radio personality said he tested every function.
  "After all day and a couple of drinks, it was the perfect phone," he said. Known for occasionally off-beat on-air stunts, the show planned a special smash the iPhone event.
  Ponch's aunt Nancy called on-air this morning to warn him to wear protective eyewear. The radio crew cautioned protection for the studio's gear. And 16 somewhat noisy swipes of a large wrench later, the iPhone was no more.     
    The first call after the stunt? A pre-arranged call from Sprint CEO Dan Hesse.
    "That was music to my ears," Hesse said. Hesse gave a nod to the Instinct's popularity.
    On Thursday, Sprint said the phone has become the company's best-selling device ever, and said it is running in short supply in some stores. Hesse told the radio show hosts the company is "working hard to keep the stores stocked."
    Sprint has "increased production with Samsung a great deal," Hesse said. Hesse said on-air that the phone is Sprint's effort to show consumers what a wireless device can do.
   "We really wanted people to try everything a wireless network is capable of doing, especially ours," Hesse said. "Then you needed the perfect phone that did all those things and did it well."    
    The final note: Hesse told a somehat confused Teresa to enjoy her VIP phone. Seconds later, someone delivered a VIP Instinct to her, too.
    And Rocket's take? "I'm the only one who paid for one."