Stunting (broadcasting) (fictional)

Stunting is a practice in radio broadcasting, which occurs when a station begins, abruptly and without advance announcement, to air content that is seemingly uncharacteristic compared to what they normally play. The tactic is most commonly used when a station is about to undergo a major change, such as a change in format, branding, frequency, ownership or management, or occasionally as a simple prank on listeners and rival broadcasters. Either way, stunting is intended as a publicity stunt to generate a greater amount of media publicity and audience attention, by virtue of its shock value, than a straightforward format change could provide. Depending on the station's situation and its management's preference, stunt formats can last anywhere from a few minutes to several weeks before the permanent change is launched.

To a lesser extent, stunting has also been seen on television, most commonly in conjunction with April Fool's Day.

Continuous loop
A station may stunt by repeating the same song or songs over and over on a continuous loop:
 * The song(s) in question are commonly in relation to the coming format or branding; in August 2016 the station KIRN-FM stunted for five days with a loop of "Hot for Teacher" by Van Halen, which led into it's impending flip from a simulcast of 's Persian-language programming to an active rock format as a new version of legendary L.A. rock station KMET-FM. The stunt notably attracted mainstream media attention, with the hashtag "#halen993" being used to discuss the event on Twitter.
 * For a week in late-March 2020, conservative talk station KDRC-FM/ 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)", interspersed with comedic segments such as "Washing Your Hands for Dummies" and "How to Survive a Pandemic" to poke fun at the COVID-19 pandemic.

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 2003, after it's sale to Clear Channel, WWKV in dropped its contemporary Christian music programming for a stunt format it dubbed "Marx FM", featuring left-leaning protest songs (such as "Killing in the Name", "Eve of Destruction", "War", and "Imagine"), Communist propaganda music (such as the State Anthem of the Soviet Union and "The Internationale"), and Russian-language Europop tracks. The stunt led into its relaunch as Top 40/CHR station WCFR-FM 100.7 KISS FM.
 * WJAX-FM/ used an unbranded Hot AC format as part of its transition from an all-news format to active rock as JAX 95.9 in 2016. The stunt's playlist featured a song with "rock" in the title (such as LMFAO's "Party Rock Anthem") at the top of each hour, which teased its upcoming format.
 * On August 2, 2017, after playing "Bye Bye Bye" by NSYNC, WSPV-FM in dropped the AMP Radio Top 40 CHR format for a stunt format it called "Z-666", featuring songs about hell (such as "Lake of Fire" by Meat Puppets, "To Hell with the Devil" by Stryper, "Highway to Hell" by AC/DC, "Hotter Than Hell" by Kiss, and "Burn in Hell" by Twisted Sister) and songs overlaid with screaming and burning sound effects. The stunt led into the return of it's 1990s "Rock City 99.5" active rock format (the last (edited) song played under the Z-666 stunt format, "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A." by John Cougar Mellencamp, acted as a hint to the new format).
 * On the first weekend of May 2009, WBNB-FM of stunted as "Beatles Radio" (playing nothing but songs by The Beatles). The stunt led into it's relaunch as adult hits station 97.5 Jack FM.
 * Multiple stations in the United States and Canada have stunted with Chinese music under the branding Kung Pao, such as WXJJ (which led into a flip to variety hits), WWSA-FM (which led into its relaunch as Hot AC Z-101), WOXA-FM (which led into a flip to country music as WBTC-FM Boston's True Country 104.7), and WKFZ (which led into a flip to a Top 40/CHR format).
 * On March 31, 2019, WWSA-HD2/W231CD, 94.1 Jack FM, in announced that "Jack" would be "taking a mental health day" on April 1 (April Fools Day) and that his "little brother " would "take over while he's out". On April 1 at 4:50 a.m., WWSA-HD2/W231CD stopped playing their regular Jack FM format and flipped to Stan FM for the day, only playing songs by Ariana Grande and various K-Pop artists. The Stan FM stunt came complete with on-air kayfabe-style complaining from "Jack's buddies" Chris Zoboli and Kenesha Roy, with constant counter-arguments by "Stan". The Stan FM format lasted until 4:45 p.m. when "Jack" reappeared, argued with "Stan" before "booting him out of the studio", and made a quip about how he should never let "Stan" control the station, also noting "Oh, and never take a day off on April Fools Day or something. April Fools to me, I guess."

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 has sometimes been used as a transitional period between formats. Sometimes, Christmas music is used as a more blatant stunt format outside of the holiday season.
 * On November 17, 2017, WEEK-FM/ abruptly switched from it's AMP Radio Top 40/CHR format to Ho! Ho! 98.3 for the holiday season. The all-Christmas music format lasted until the morning of December 25, when the station relaunched under the franchise as 98.3 Jack FM.
 * In 2017, conservative talk station KHXK, America's Talk 1540, laid off it's on-air staff and flipped to Christmas music for the season as Rudolph 100.3 (marketing with the frequency of it's translator on 100.3 FM) before emerging on New Years' Day as Rhythmic Hot AC  Party 100.3.

On television
In March 2020, ESPN El Kadsre began airing a non-stop marathon of sports movies and the animated TV series Hurricanes due to the cancellation of all live sporting events caused by the coronavirus pandemic. At the same time, ESPN2 El Kadsre began a non-stop run of the "ESPN8 - The Ocho" format, a homage to the sports comedy DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story, to entertain sports fans disappointed by the cancellations, with ESPN2 (as "ESPN8") airing events that were "almost a sport" including, but not limited to: chess boxing, roller derby, Gaelic games, table tennis, pickleball, sack races, sambo, competitive cheerleading, demolition derbies, the Tough Guy Competition, dodgeball, lawn mower racing, khuresh, runnings of the bulls, Little League baseball, beauty pageants, and karaoke contests.

Since 2015, one of the El TV Kadsre Television Network channels in El Kadsre has stunted as "El TV Krusty 1" during the mid-to-late-summer to show the annual Every.Simpsons.Ever. marathon. The stunt was originally held on El TV Kadsre 5 in 2015, then on the El TV Kadsre Parliamentary Channel in 2016 and 2017 (the NRTA gave approval to the stunt on both occasions, as the Parliament of El Kadsre was in recess, so the channel had no other programming to broadcast) and on El TV Kadsre 4K since 2018.