Stunting is a type of

publicity stunt In marketing, a publicity stunt is a planned event designed to attract the public's attention to the event's organizers or their cause. Publicity stunts can be professionally organized, or set up by amateurs. Such events are frequently utilize ...

radio broadcasting Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radi ...

, where a station—abruptly and often without advance announcement—begins to air content that is seemingly uncharacteristic compared to what is normally played. Stunting is typically used to generate publicity and audience attention for upcoming changes to a station's programming, such as new

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create a ...

ing,

format Format may refer to: Printing and visual media * Text formatting, the typesetting of text elements * Paper formats, or paper size standards * Newspaper format, the size of the paper page Computing * File format, particular way that informati ...

, or as a soft launch for a newly-established station. Occasionally, a stunt may be purely intended as publicity or a protest, and not actually result in a major programming change. Stunts often involve a loop of a single song, or an interim format (such as the discography of a specific artist,

Christmas music Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or, in the case of carols or songs, may employ lyrics whose subject m ...

, a specific theme, or

novelty song A novelty song is a type of song built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, a piece of humor, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with comedy songs, which are more explicitly based on humor, and wi ...

s), which may sometimes include hints towards the station's new format or branding. To a lesser extent, stunting has also been seen on television, most commonly in conjunction with April Fool's Day, or to emphasize a major programming event being held by a channel.

Types of radio stunting and noted examples

Continuous loop

A station may stunt by repeating the same song, playlist, or other content on a continuous loop: * The song(s) in question are commonly a clue towards the incoming format or branding, such as was the case in March 2014 when San Francisco

Regional Mexican Regional Mexican is a Latin music radio format encompassing the musical genres from the different parts of rural Mexico and the Southwestern United States. Genres include banda, country en español, Duranguense, grupero, mariachi, New Mex ...

station KVVF/ KVVZ stunted with a loop of " Hot in Herre" by Nelly for three days. This led into the stations' relaunch as

rhythmic contemporary Rhythmic contemporary, also known as Rhythmic Top 40, Rhythmic CHR or rhythmic crossover, is a primarily American music-radio format that includes a mix of EDM, upbeat rhythmic pop, hip hop and upbeat R&B hits. Rhythmic contemporary never uses ...

''Hot 105.7''. The stunt notably attracted mainstream media attention, with the

hashtag A hashtag is a metadata tag that is prefaced by the hash (also known as pound or octothorpe) sign, ''#''. On social media, hashtags are used on microblogging and photo-sharing services such as Twitter or Instagram as a form of user-generated ...

"#nelly1057" being used to discuss the event on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

. ** In late June 2022,

CKKS-FM CKKS-FM (107.5 FM, ''Sonic'') is a radio station licensed to Chilliwack, British Columbia and serving Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. Owned by Rogers Sports & Media, it broadcasts a modern rock format. The station's main studio ...

Greater Vancouver Greater Vancouver, also known as Metro Vancouver, is the metropolitan area with its major urban centre being the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The term "Greater Vancouver" is roughly coterminous with the geographic area governed ...

similarly faced mainstream media attention when it played a loop of "

Killing in the Name "Killing in the Name" is a protest song by American rock band Rage Against the Machine, and appears on their 1992 Rage Against the Machine (album), self-titled debut album. It was released as the lead single from the album in November 1992. It f ...

" by Rage Against the Machine as part of its transition from

hot adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet ...

''Kiss'' to modern rock ''Sonic''. The loop included staged segments of DJs discussing their repeated playing of the song, and "callers" either requesting "Killing in the Name" or asking for a different song—which led to a false impression that its employees had commandeered the station to protest staffing changes associated with the format change. * Oftentimes the song chosen for the loop does not pertain to either the old or new format: in one of the oldest radio stunts recorded, WNOE-AM/

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

In 2013, the new Toronto radio station

CIND-FM CIND-FM, branded as ''Indie88'', is an FM radio station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, broadcasting at 88.1 MHz. The station, which broadcasts an adult album alternative format, had its "soft launch" on July 31, 2013, and had its official launch ...

played a loop of Rick Astley's " Never Gonna Give You Up" in reference to the Rickroll meme, prior to its official launch as

adult album alternative Adult album alternative (also triple-A, AAA, or adult alternative) is a radio format. See pages 9 and 10Mills, Joshua. "A New Radio Music Format: Rock for Prosperous Adults" New York Times, Feb 28 1994, p. 2. ProQuest. Web. Accessed September 4, 2 ...

''Indie 88''. * For four days before the July 8, 2012, relaunch of KOKE-FM/ Austin — a station which popularized progressive country in the early 1970s, a live recording of Dale Watson's "Country My Ass" played in a continuous loop. This example of stunting is notable for the station-specific nature of the song's lyrics; Watson re-recorded the song for the occasion, adding a new coda in which he sings, "Now Austin's on track, 'cause KOKE-FM's back." * In May 1990, the staff of

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

radio station

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greater emphasis on broad ...

staged an

industrial action Industrial action (British English) or job action (American English) is a temporary show of dissatisfaction by employees—especially a strike or slowdown or working to rule—to protest against bad working conditions or low pay and to increa ...

, after its news director was suspended for playing a clip of the

N.W.A. N.W.A (an abbreviation for Niggaz Wit Attitudes) was an American hip hop group whose members were among the earliest and most significant popularizers and controversial figures of the gangsta rap subgenre, and the group is widely considered ...

song " Fuck tha Police" in a segment discussing its subject matter (despite the full song having been played by the station before without incident). During the action, Triple J played another N.W.A. song, " Express Yourself" (whose lyrics criticize

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...

of rap music), 82 times in a row. Triple J paid homage to the event during the April 30, 2014 relaunch of digital radio station ABC Dig Music as Double J, which was preceded by a loop of different versions of "Express Yourself" (including the original recording, and covers of the song by Australian musicians). * WJMP/ Kent, OH, in a protest over the Major League Baseball players' strike, continuously played two versions of " Take Me Out to the Ball Game" sunrise-to-sunset (the station operated only during daytime hours), for two months (and 57,161 total plays) from August to October 1994. The stunt merited WJMP an entry in the '' Guinness Book of Sports Records''. * In honor of the alleged Mayan apocalypse, modern rock station CFEX-FM/

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...

stunted with a loop of R.E.M.'s song " It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" on December 21, 2012, interspersed with "Apocalypse Survival Tips" and "Get to Know a Mayan" segments. *In a non-music example, the launch of Black Information Network—a chain of

iHeartMedia iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...

news radio stations targeting African Americans—featured its initial stations playing a loop of speeches by prominent African Americans, mixed with

sweepers A street sweeper or street cleaner may refer to a person's occupation or to a machine that cleans streets. Street sweepers have been employed in cities as "sanitation workers" since sanitation and waste removal became a priority. A str ...

promoting the launch date, and containing the tagline "Our side of the story is about to be told."

Temporary formats

Occasionally a station dropping an old format will stunt with a transitional format, either containing clues and previews relating to the new format (such as songs referencing its new branding, and artists who may be included in the eventual format), or having little to do with it. This can include songs based on specific themes (such as a single musician), or novelties that would not be viable as a permanent format. In some cases (sometimes referred to as a "wheel of formats"), a station may cycle between multiple formats during the stunt until the new, permanent format launches. * In 2006, after its sale to new owners, KFYE in

Kingsburg, California Kingsburg is a city in Fresno County, California. Kingsburg is located southeast of Selma at an elevation of 302 feet (92 m), on the banks of the Kings River. The city is from Fresno, and about from the California Central Coast and Sierra Ne ...

, dropped its

contemporary Christian music Contemporary Christian music, also known as CCM, Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christian faith and ...

programming for a stunt format it dubbed "Porn Radio", featuring songs with sexually-suggestive lyrics, and songs edited to include moaning sounds. The stunt led into its relaunch as rhythmic adult contemporary ''Sexy 106.3''. * In May 2009, WSKS/ Utica, NY, announced that due to "financial constraints" its CHR format would be replaced by the

beautiful music Beautiful music (sometimes abbreviated as BM, B/EZ or BM/EZ for "beautiful music/easy listening") is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in North American radio from the late 1950s through the 1980s. Easy listening, elevator m ...

format similar to what was broadcast on sister station WUTQ. The "change" came complete with on-air

kayfabe In professional wrestling, kayfabe, as a noun, is the portrayal of staged events within the industry as "real" or "true", specifically the portrayal of competition, rivalries, and relationships between participants as being genuine and not staged. ...

-style complaining from the station's staff. The "new format," however, lasted for only two hours before WSKS management came clean, restored the CHR format, and confirmed the stunt was a way to promote the station's new lineup. * As a publicity stunt for the program by local broadcaster

Global Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to: Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989 * ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015 * Bruno ...

, Toronto radio station CIRR-FM (which usually broadcasts a CHR format targeting the

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term i ...

community) temporarily rebranded as ''Glee FM'' on April 12, 2010, adding

music Music is generally defined as the The arts, art of arranging sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Exact definition of music, definitions of mu ...

from the U.S. musical comedy-drama series ''

Glee Glee means delight, a form of happiness. Glee may also refer to: * Glee (music), a type of English choral music * ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy * ''Glee'' (Bran Van 30 ...

'' to its playlist. On August 16, 2010, British radio station ''

Oxford's FM 107.9 Hits Radio Oxfordshire (formerly known most recently as Jack 2 Hits and Jack 3 Chill) is an Independent Local Radio station broadcasting in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom on FM and the Oxfordshire DAB multiplex, as part of the Hits Radio network ...

'' held its own ''Glee FM'' stunt, leading into its August 18 relaunch as ''Glide FM''. * Over

Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...

weekend in 2010, WJZX-FM/

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee i ...

, stunted as ''Tiger 106.9'', featuring songs about cheating (in reference to an infidelity scandal involving golfer

Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records. * * * Woods is widely regarded as ...

). The station was expected to change to a

top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or "conte ...

format with the new call letters WNQW—with the new calls suggesting that its branding would involve the name "Now". However, competing station WQBW abruptly moved to introduce the same format and branding as ''97.3 Now'', preventing WJZX from using the name. The station continued airing temporary formats (such as patriotic music and

The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developm ...

' discography in alphabetical order), before settling on a permanent format in June 2010, as

classic country Classic country is a music radio format that specializes in playing mainstream country and western music hits from past decades. Repertoire The radio format specializes in hits from the 1950s through the early 1980s, and focus primarily on inn ...

station WZBK-FM (the station eventually adopted a rhythmic top 40 format in September 2012 as ''Energy 106.9''). * In 2011, WWWN/

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

and WEMP/ New York—which had recently been sold to Merlin Media—transitioned from

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

to all-news radio as ''FM News''. As a transitional format, both stations aired a format branded as ''FM New'', which featured

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet ...

music interspersed with news, traffic, and weather updates from personalities who would serve under the new ''FM News'' formats. * On October 8, 2014, KROI/Houston ended its all-news format and began stunting as ''B92'', playing only music by Houston-native Beyoncé. The stunt led into its relaunch as classic hip-hop ''Boom 92''. * KEGY/

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

used an unbranded mainstream rock format as part of its transition from CHR to a new hot talk-oriented format in 2018. The stunt's playlist featured

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philosophical lyrics an ...

's " Welcome to the Machine" at the top of each hour, which teased its eventual branding as ''The Machine''. * Multiple stations in the United States and Canada have stunted with Chinese music under the branding ''

Kung Pao Kung Pao chicken (), also transcribed Gong Bao or Kung Po, is a spicy, stir-fried Chinese dish made with cubes of chicken, peanuts, vegetables (traditionally Welsh onion only ), and chili peppers. The classic dish in Sichuan cuisine origi ...

'', such as KDOG (which led into a flip to classic hits), WVHT (which led into its re-launch as CHR ''Hot 100''), and CIGM (which led into its flip to a CHR format as ''Hot 93.5'').

Christmas music and other holiday formats

The popular practice of radio stations playing all-Christmas music during the lead-up to (and occasionally the week after)

Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

has sometimes been used as a transitional period between formats. As of 2022, there were over 660 radio stations in North America that stunt Christmas music throughout each holiday season, with 627 stations in the United States and 33 stations in Canada. Sometimes, Christmas music is used as a more blatant stunt format outside of the holiday season, in a similar spirit to ironic " Christmas in July" promotions. * In April 2008, new

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Yellowhead Highway, and has served as ...

radio station

CFWD-FM CFWD-FM is a radio station in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Owned by Harvard Media, it broadcasts a rock-leaning classic hits format branded as ''96.3 Cruz FM''. History Licensed to Harvard Broadcasting on May 28, 2007, the station was origina ...

stunted with Christmas music as ''Santa FM'' as part of its soft launch, accompanied by a promotional campaign in which publicists in

Santa Claus Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring children gifts during the late evening and overnigh ...

costumes paraded through the city. The station officially launched as CHR-formatted ''Wired 96.3'' on April 11. In November 2012, the station laid off its airstaff and flipped to Christmas music for the season, emerging as adult hits ''96.3 Cruz FM'' on December 26, 2012. * In late-September 2015, Duluth's WEBC dropped its

sports radio Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sport, sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often-low comedy ...

format in favor of ''Ho Ho 106.5'', before emerging in early-October as

classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, prim ...

''Sasquatch 106.5''. *On October 7, 2015, as a parody of Christmas creep and stations trying to achieve notoriety for being the first to switch to Christmas music, WURV/ Richmond ''103.7 Play'' briefly stunted for 12 hours with "inappropriately early" Christmas music. **WURV's sister station WJSR conducted an unusually-long Christmas music stunt lasting from October 13, 2020 to March 4, 2021 as ''Santa 100.9'', after having initially stunted with snippets of songs as "Short Attention Span Radio" from October 1. After just over five months of stunting in total, WJSR flipped to classic hits ''Awesome 100.9'' on March 4, 2021. *In November 2017,

CBS Radio CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, and Infinity Broa ...

and Entercom merged, bringing Seattle's two country music stations, KMPS and KKWF, under common ownership. On the day the merger was completed, KMPS switched to Christmas music, ostensibly for the holiday season. However, on the morning of December 4, 2017, KMPS abruptly ended the all-Christmas programming and flipped to

soft adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet s ...

as ''94.1 The Sound''. The following year, Entercom's Detroit station WDZH emulated the flip, with the station dropping its ''Amp Radio'' CHR format for ''The Rudolph Network @ 98.7'', before becoming soft AC ''The Breeze'' three days later.

Other

* On October 2, 2009, following a half-hour retrospective marking the end of its smooth jazz format, WVMV/

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

purportedly revived its previous WLLZ ''Detroit's Wheels'' branding as a

station. However, in the midst of playing " Welcome to the Jungle" by

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band comprised vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff ...

, the song was interrupted by a sequence referencing

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

's interruption of a

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bo ...

acceptance speech at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. The bait-and-switch led into the soft launch of a CHR format, under the branding ''98.7 Takeover''; listeners were invited to guess the station's new name over the weekend, which was revealed as ''98.7 Amp Radio'' the following Monday. * On January 7, 2019, country station KSED/ Sedona began stunting with a speaking clock counting down to 6:00 a.m. on January 14, 2019. The stunt—which led into a rebranding with no change in format—prompted the Flagstaff Police Department to issue a statement clarifying that, despite concerns from residents, this was a promotional event with no harm intended. * In 2018 and 2020, iHeartMedia used multiple stunts as part of its repositioning and relaunch of CHR station KBKS-FM in Seattle. ** In late-October 2018, the station dropped its existing personalities, and began to air promos hinting at the discontinuation of its existing ''Kiss'' format, interrupting songs with a demonic voiceover stating that "''Kiss'' is dead", and teasing an announcement on October 31. At that time, the station announced that it would revamp its on-air lineup, explaining the prior stunt by stating that they were "dead serious" about finding "Seattle's Funniest Person" for its morning show (as part of an accompanying contest). ** In July 2020, KBKS announced that it had hired Jubal Fresh, the former co-host of KQMV's nationally-syndicated morning show ''Brooke & Jubal''—to host a new morning show on the station. On August 3, 2020, the station temporarily rebranded as ''Jubal 106.1'' to promote the impending launch of ''The Jubal Show'', after which it adopted its new branding—''Hits 106.1''—on August 20 to coincide with its premiere.

On television

Cartoon Network has broadcast its share of stunts over the years, many on

April Fools' Day April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day is an annual custom on 1 April consisting of practical jokes and hoaxes. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fools!" at the recipient. Mass media can be involved in these pranks, which may b ...

. On April 1, 1997, the network aired a stunt where it had purportedly been taken over by Screwy Squirrel, and subsequently broadcast the Screwy Squirrel cartoon "Happy-Go-Nutty" for 12 hours straight. Numerous complaints were received about this particular event, generally fielded by Cartoon Network's cable providers, who had been left in the dark about the stunt. Later April Fools' Day stunts on Cartoon Network have included an 11 hour '' Cow and Chicken'' marathon in place of a scheduled '' Chowder'' marathon on April 1, 2009, and 14 hours of programming edited to have googly eyes on April 1, 2017. Cartoon Network's late-night block

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as dult swim'' and often abbreviated as s'') is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programmed by its in-house ...

has held a number of their own April Fools' programming stunts, such as promoting a television premiere of '' Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters'' before its theatrical release (but displaying it in a comically-small

window A window is an opening in a wall, door, roof, or vehicle that allows the exchange of light and may also allow the passage of sound and sometimes air. Modern windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent mate ...

over regularly-scheduled programming), airings of the Tommy Wiseau film '' The Room'', episodes of '' Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' and ''

Rick and Morty , creator = Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon , developer = , voices = {{plainlist, * Justin Roiland * Chris Parnell * Spencer Grammer * Sarah Chalke * Kari Wahlgren , composer = Ryan Elder , count ...

'' redubbed by children ("Adult Swim Junior"), and an airing of its

anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...

block Toonami with programs in their original Japanese audio with subtitles (including an airing of Masaaki Yuasa's 2004 experimental film '' Mind Game''). The stunts have sometimes included unannounced previews and premieres of new and existing series, such as additional episodes of '' Perfect Hair Forever'' after its supposed series finale, the third season premiere of ''Rick and Morty'', and an unannounced world premiere of the first episode of '' FLCL''s third season before its second season had even premiered in the U.S. yet. For 35 days in early-1998,

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

's CBS affiliate

WBMG WIAT (channel 42) is a television station in Birmingham, Alabama, United States, affiliated with CBS and owned by Nexstar Media Group. The station's studios are located on Golden Crest Drive atop Red Mountain, next to the American General ca ...

—which had recently been acquired by

Media General Media General was an American media company based in Richmond, Virginia. The company's origins can be traced back to 1887 when Richmond attorney Joseph Bryan acquired ''The Richmond Daily Times'', which later became ''The Richmond Times-Dispatch ...

—stunted during the usual timeslots of its local newscasts with a clock counting down to a major relaunch of the station (and its fledgling news department) on February 5. Nick Jr. Too, a sister to the British Nick Jr. channel, has occasionally aired long-term marathons of '' Peppa Pig'', during which it has branded as "Nick Jr. Peppa". In a similar manner,

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It h ...

has also temporarily rebranded some of its channels to devote them specifically to certain major events, such as The Ashes series in

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

(Sky Sports Ashes), the PDC World Darts Championship (Sky Sports Darts; in 2015, this used the Sky Sports F1 channel, since

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship ...

was in its off-season), and golf's Open Championship (Sky Sports The Open). In January 2019, Sky Sports Action was temporarily renamed "Sky Sports USA", with programming focusing on the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues i ...

(coinciding with the playing of the NBA Global Games series in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

), and the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eit ...

and

Super Bowl LIII Super Bowl LIII was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2018 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots defeated the National Football Con ...

. At least three networks have used stunting-type events prior to their formal launches: G4, for example, aired a 7 day long game of '' Pong'' before its formal debut on April 24, 2002. This stunt would later be referenced by the network in its final minute on air on December 31, 2014, as well as in the video announcing its 2021 return. MLB Network aired a continuous loop of baseball highlights and promos as a "soft launch" in the weeks before its formal debut on January 1, 2009. Canada's Sun News Network employed an on-screen countdown clock graphic in the hours before its April 18, 2011, launch. Since 2017, one of

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

's networks has stunted as " ESPN8" on or near August 8 (8/8), carrying a marathon of programming featuring obscure and unconventional sporting events and competitions, such as chess boxing,

disc golf Disc golf, also known as frisbee golf, is a flying disc sport in which players throw a disc at a target; it is played using rules similar to golf. Most disc golf discs are made out of polypropylene plastic, otherwise known as polypropene, which ...

dodgeball Dodgeball is a team sport in which players on two teams try to throw balls and hit opponents, while avoiding being hit themselves. The objective of each team is to eliminate all members of the opposing team by hitting them with thrown balls, cat ...

, esports, Highland games, kabaddi, lawn mower racing,

mini-golf Miniature golf, also known as minigolf, mini-putt, crazy golf, or putt-putt, is an offshoot of the sport of golf focusing solely on the putting aspect of its parent game. The aim of the game is to score the lowest number of points. It is playe ...

, and

roller derby Roller derby is a roller skating contact sport played by two teams of fifteen members. Roller derby is played by approximately 1,250 amateur leagues worldwide, mostly in the United States. Game play consists of a series of short scrimmages (j ...

. The stunt pays tribute to a fictitious eighth ESPN network of the same name portrayed in the 2004 sports comedy film '' DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story'' (nicknamed "The Ocho", in reference to

ESPN2 ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%). ESPN2 was initially ...

being nicknamed "The Deuce" on launch), which carries coverage of competitions that are "almost a sport". The stunt was originally held on

ESPNU ESPNU is an American multinational digital cable and satellite sports television channel owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between the Disney Media Networks division of The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and the He ...

—a channel that normally carries college sports events during the academic year, but moved to ESPN2 beginning in 2018. ''DodgeBall'' has also been screened as part of this lineup since 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stunting (Broadcasting) Radio broadcasting Radio formats Publicity stunts